PSEG Foundation Supports More Than 200 Nonprofit Organizations Tackling Environmental Sustainability, Social Justice, Equity and Economic Empowerment

Apr 7, 2022 11:15 AM ET
"It is a privilege for the PSEG Foundation to support and celebrate the work of these organizations, whose generosity serve the needs of millions of people in the communities we serve in New Jersey and Long Island. Our new strategic pillars represent the true essence of the PSEG Foundation's support of underserved communities." - Rick Thigpen, Sr. VP for Corporate Citizenship & PSG Foundation Chairperson PSEG. Photo of young girl holding an un-potted plant in her hand.

Originally published on PSEG NewsRoom

NEWARK, N.J., April 7, 2022 /3BL Media/ - The PSEG Foundation is pleased to announce its new strategic pillars of environmental sustainability, social justice, and equity and economic empowerment. The PSEG Foundation funds grants to more than 200 nonprofit organizations that have an impact in communities in New Jersey and Long Island, N.Y. Over the past five years, the PSEG Foundation has awarded more than $40 million in grants through various programs including strategic partnerships, the Neighborhood Partners Program and a robust employee matching gift program to help organizations that support thousands of individuals and families across the region.

“It is a privilege for the PSEG Foundation to support and celebrate the work of these organizations, whose generosity serve the needs of millions of people in the communities we serve in New Jersey and Long Island,” Senior Vice President for Corporate Citizenship and PSEG Foundation Chairperson Rick Thigpen said. “Our new strategic pillars represent the true essence of the PSEG Foundation’s support of underserved communities.”

Most recently, the PSEG Foundation awarded nearly $1.8 million in grants to Montclair State University Foundation for its Green Teams program; Foundation for NJIT for a number of programs, including scholarships; American Red Cross for the Home Fire Campaign; New Jersey Hall of Fame for educational programming; and Community FoodBank of New Jersey for its Recovery Challenge Initiative.

This is in addition to its regular support for the Arbor Day Foundation, Greater Newark Habitat for Humanity, Hampton University, Howard University, North Carolina A&T, Rutgers University, Stevens Institute of Technology, Stony Brook University, Sustainable Jersey, The Nature Conservancy, The New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, UNCF and many more critically important organizations.

“The pandemic revealed many inequalities and inequities facing our communities,” PSEG Foundation President Calvin Ledford Jr. said. “For that reason, the PSEG Foundation has allocated $1 million to our Neighborhood Partners Program to support nonprofits working at a grassroots level. Through the Neighborhood Partners Program, the PSEG Foundation supports nonprofits that are addressing the social determinants of health, food insecurity, social and environmental justice, and other issues. The PSEG Foundation is committed to helping build sustainable and thriving communities by empowering and investing in the many diverse communities we are honored to serve.”

PSEG is a predominantly regulated infrastructure company focused on a clean energy future, powered by a diverse, dedicated and highly skilled workforce. The PSEG Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization, is the philanthropic arm of PSEG. Guided by its Powering Progress vision, PSEG aims to power a future where people use less energy, and it’s cleaner, safer and delivered more reliably than ever.

Here’s what just a few of our partners are saying:

"The PSEG Foundation is a dedicated, longstanding supporter of our mission,” said Carlos Rodriguez, president and CEO of the Community FoodBank of New Jersey. “For many years, their partnership has been essential to the Community FoodBank of New Jersey's ability to combat hunger and its root causes in service of the 800,000 food insecure people in our state. Recently, the PSEG Foundation provided generous disaster relief support for our Recovery Challenge Initiative, which will allow us to offer emergency response, to help build back communities, and to increase our investment in historically under-resourced neighborhoods."

“We are very grateful for PSEG’s vision for a socially just New Jersey and for its support of our work to achieve racial justice and equity in our state,” said Ryan Haygood, president and CEO of the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice. “PSEG Foundation has helped make possible the institute’s work to transform our broken youth justice system and to help ensure New Jersey’s young people get the mental health support they need. It has also allowed our team to travel to Selma, Alabama, for annual commemorations of the iconic voting rights march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, increasing our team’s knowledge as well as our motivation to expand New Jersey’s democracy. The PSEG Foundation’s contribution to that and other work is deeply appreciated.”

“PSEG Foundation grants are instrumental in Stevens’ efforts to support energy innovation and public service, two areas of strong mutual interest,” Stevens Institute of Technology President Nariman Farvardin said. “The PSEG Foundation's generosity has benefited scores of students, particularly underrepresented minorities and those in underserved communities — many directly due to the foundation's support for the university's Lore-El Women's Leadership Center, Stevens ACES (Accessing Careers in Engineering and Science) initiative and our pre-college program. Through the collaborative efforts of this partnership, Stevens’ faculty will continue to pioneer high-impact research in resilience and sustainability, which are of significant consequence for the future of society.”

“PSEG Foundation grants are instrumental in Sustainable Jersey’s efforts to support municipalities, schools and school districts in achieving their local sustainability goals and making progress on critical issues of statewide and global concern such as climate action,” said Randall Solomon, executive director of Sustainable Jersey. “The PSEG Foundation helps our organization strengthen the efforts of New Jersey communities as they create a new era of sustainability in New Jersey – one that secures economic, environmental and societal well-being.”

About the PSEG Foundation

The PSEG Foundation, 501(c)(3), the philanthropic arm of Public Service Enterprise Group Inc. (PSEG) (NYSE:PEG), prioritizes investments promoting environmental sustainability, social justice, and equity and economic empowerment. Headquartered in Newark, N.J., PSEG is a predominantly regulated infrastructure company focused on a clean energy future. In 2021, PSEG was named to the Dow Jones Sustainability Index North America for the 14th consecutive year, named to the JUST 100 as one of America’s Most JUST Companies, and has been listed among America’s Most Responsible Companies for 2022 by Newsweek (https://corporate.pseg.com/).