Open LMS Donations to Fund STEM Scholarships in Phoenix, Arizona
Open LMS is helping the local Phoenix community and matching donations to A Stepping Stone Foundation made by its Connected 2023 conference attendees and its employees.
Open LMS, a leader in the open-source learning management system (LMS) market dedicated to improving learning and education, has delivered $5,000 in STEM-focused scholarship funding to the Phoenix, Arizona-based A Stepping Stone Foundation.
Open LMS selected the foundation as its charity partner for its in-person conference Connected, held from February 28 to March 2, 2023, because of a shared goal of promoting education and making it accessible to everyone.
Phill Miller, managing director of Open LMS described the decision to partner with the foundation: “As soon as we learned about what A Stepping Stone Foundation does locally, we knew we’d found a fantastic cause to support. It’s an honor for us to be able to partner with a wonderful organization that uses education as a lever to improve lives. Through this partnership, we hope to provide opportunities for individuals in Phoenix’s community to pursue STEM education and create a brighter future for themselves.”
Thanks to the generosity of the conference attendees and Open LMS employees, the company was able to meet its pledge challenge for the scholarship fund. As of today, Open LMS has collected $1,250 in donations from employees and event attendees to match the additional $1,250 pledged by the company. In addition to the $2,500 Open LMS originally donated, this reached a total of $5,000.
Cynthia Gattorna, Executive Director at A Stepping Stone Foundation, expressed her gratitude for the donations: “This Open LMS support is so very important to the STEM students in A Stepping Stone Foundation’s scholarship program. The students who entered our preschool programs 12 or more years ago were at a very high risk of never completing high school. Now they’re attending college. The financial assistance from these Open LMS contributions can be applied to tuition, books, or supplies related to their field of study.”
About A Stepping Stone Foundation
A Stepping Stone Foundation helps children and families at the highest risk of failure at school due to low literacy in their home environment. Their approach is multi-generational: children attend a high-quality preschool program, their parents attend English and/or GED preparation classes, while younger siblings attend a nurturing childcare setting. Additionally, teachers visit each home at least once a month to practice family learning activities and discuss progress.
Learn more at asteppingstone.org