In 2017, CCM launched its first Impact Awards to showcase the positive environmental and social impact from investments made nationwide on behalf of our clients, with the winning impact investment or affiliated nonprofit organization receiving a $10,000 donation.
Throughout the year, our impact and CRA committee reviews every impact investments made on behalf of clients for potential inclusion in the impact awards and later selects five finalists. Factors for selection include a variety of aspects such as fixed income sectors, geographies, and thematic diversity.
The impact awards take place annually in early December and are open to the public for voting. This year, we are excited to announce North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University in Greensboro, NC is the winner of CCM’s 7th annual impact awards.
North Carolina A&T State University was founded in 1891 as a land grant institution and became a constituent institution of the University of North Carolina in 1972. It has a 200-acre campus and is one of 107 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in the nation. HBCUs are institutions of higher education in the U.S. that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the principal mission of educating Black Americans. They were officially designated as HBCUs by the U.S. Department of Education in 1964.
The university issued a taxable municipal bond to finance a variety of school initiatives, including the costs associated with the school’s football stadium improvements as well as the construction and equipping of a student healthcare center on the university’s campus. The health center is a 27,000-square foot, two-story facility that includes treatment areas, a pharmacy, a laboratory, a women’s center, a triage area, and space for health and wellness education. Common areas at the facility include a multipurpose room, a resource room, and a dedicated immunization room.
Supporting investments in HBCUs plays an important role in working toward economic equality and racial justice. A study finds that Black students who initially enroll at HBCUs are nearly 15% more likely to graduate and have a 5% higher income by age 30 than those who do not enroll at HBCUs.[1]
To read the full stories for the 2023 impact award finalists, click here.
[1] https://www.insightintodiversity.com/black-enrollees-at-hbcus-more-likely-to-obtain-bachelors-degrees/#:~:text=A%20new%20study%20finds%20that,do%20not%20enroll%20at%20HBCUs