Series: Corporate Leaders in Education
William S. Jasien,
ING
By Joan Baum, Ph.D.
If
ever a small orange pennant were to hang not too far from
the red white and blue in American classrooms it would signal
the achievement of a financial services multinational of
Dutch origin with a 10,000 member presence in the U.S.A.
in generously supporting public education by way of national
competitions that each year award $240,000 to 100 deserving
K-12 teachers and the communities they serve. ING, short
for Internationale Nederlanden Groep–a Fortune and Forbes-listed corporation
wanting to get its brand known—calls its scholarship program Unsung Heroes,
but if the program proceeds at the extraordinary pace with which it began 9
years ago, its heroes won’t be unsung for long.
As William S.
Jasien, Senior Vice President of ING and Head of Education and Retail Market
distribution for North America notes—with infectious enthusiasm—Unsung Heroes
has his heart. He repeatedly refers to it as “pure,” meaning that
winners are chosen by “an outside, objective group of solid educators” whose
only criterion is rigorous fidelity to the Unsung Heroes goal of funding proposals
that manifest “innovative teaching methods, creative educational projects,
and [the] ability to make a positive influence on the children they teach.” This
year Unsung Heroes attracted 1,500 applicants. Discussions among board members,
Jasien says, are “spirited,” and he himself goes on site visits,
a time-consuming part of the decision process that he modestly underplays.
A specialist in finance and management, Jasien says he has always felt that
teaching is a “noble” profession (his own children go to public
schools in Virginia). And so Unsung Heroes is truly for him and for ING a “mission.” He
is “thrilled” to be working on an educational program that is as
relatively new as ING but draws on the same kind of dedication and commitment
to meeting challenges that make for success. Of course, ING wants its name
out there, wants to see the “orange” associated with such educational
initiatives because the company has a stake in America’s future: its
schools will produce potential workers and customers.
A random search
of past top winners turns up an extraordinarily diverse number of awards
in all subjects, in both urban and rural areas, and all across the country,
not just in “market
sectors” where ING has clients. As
the names of the third ($7,000), then second ($12,000) and finally first place
($27,000) 2004 winners went out on the website, it became clear that ING made
informed evaluations. Third-place winner Lizbeth Alfaro’s (Conover, North
Carolina) Hispanic K-2nd graders
will have “learning partners” in their parents. Second-place winner
Theresa Kassuba’s (Southgate, MI) Cyber Citizens’ project is engaging
high school seniors to mentor local seniors by introducing them to computers
and the Internet. And top draw Joe Charles’s (Apache, Oklahoma) project
to engage students in building an Independent Student Theatre program from “scratch” after
school, on weekends, with their own limited resources, has already paid off
in improved academic performance, not to mention team spirit.
ING Board and
staff have obviously done their homework in making the awards and in “taking on faith” applicant
statements that “clear and concisely outlined budgets” will be
adhered to during the award period and programs will thereafter be self-sustaining.
There is no formal follow-up assessment, no one-size fits all pattern of ideas
or implementation. Of course, ING hopes that winning proposals will be replicated
nation wide and to that end, Jasien notes, ING is considering an Unsung Heroes
Alumni Group that will bring together winners and help disseminate how “thinking
outside the box” can creatively affect the system. Any system.#
For applications, www.ing.com/unsungheroes. Previous
leaders: Eli Broad, Bill Gates & others at www.educationupdate.com. Coming:
Gary Winnick.
