Pitney Bowes Foundation Awards Grant to HCC

The Pitney Bowes Foundation awarded Housatonic Community College (HCC) a grant to advance literacy and education through the creation of a Science Technology Engineering Art and Math (STEAM) Center of Excellence.

The creation of a STEAM Center of Excellence will build upon the College’s robust STEAM program offerings. Currently, HCC students can choose from more than 60 associate degree or certificate options within the STEAM disciplines. Through active hands-on learning, students build skills to advance their qualifications and support movement to higher education and better paying jobs.

"The Pitney Bowes Foundation is investing in the future workforce and helping to prepare our students for essential careers in the STEAM fields,” said Dr. Paul Broadie, Housatonic Community College President. “This Center of Excellence will ensure that HCC students are prepared to succeed and ultimately strengthen our STEAM workforce.”

The Center will be based on best practices. A team of STEAM faculty and students reviewed Center of Excellence models from across the country to determine how best to prepare students to become successful leaders in STEAM fields of study. The Center, which will be located on campus, will offer opportunities for collaborative problem-solving and provide access to models and project space to prepare students for practical exams.

“We are pleased to support this exciting new center of learning at Housatonic Community College; one that has been thoughtfully designed to engage students with innovative, holistic and effective learning approaches” said Kathleen Ryan Mufson, President of the Pitney Bowes Foundation.

“Providing a space for collective problem solving from differing viewpoints is an essential part of preparing for the workforce,” said Robin Avant, Dean of Academic Affairs. “Having that space focused on STEAM disciplines on a community college campus is nearly unheard of. We’re grateful to the Pitney Bowes Foundation for their support of this innovative learning initiative.”

To learn more about HCC’s STEAM offerings, visit http://housatonic.edu/degrees-and-certificates/steam or contact Rachel Cain, STEAM Coordinator at RCain@housatonic.edu.

About Housatonic Community College Foundation: Founded in 1990 by a team of business and arts leaders from the greater Bridgeport community, the HCC Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that solicits, secures and manages contributions from the private sector through individuals, corporations and foundations for the benefit of HCC. The HCC Foundation distributes resources in the form of full and partial scholarships to students with proven academic performance and demonstrated financial need.

About the Pitney Bowes Foundation: The Pitney Bowes Foundation is a private entity with a mission to support education and the diverse community interests of Pitney Bowes employees. We commit our resources to closing the opportunity gap and preparing the workforce of tomorrow. For information about these programs and other Pitney Bowes Corporate Citizenship and Philanthropy initiatives, please visit pb.com/community.

About Pitney Bowes: Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI) is a global technology company providing commerce solutions that power billions of transactions. Clients around the world, including 90 percent of the Fortune 500, rely on the accuracy and precision delivered by Pitney Bowes solutions, analytics, and APIs in the areas of ecommerce fulfillment, shipping and returns; cross-border ecommerce; presort services; office mailing and shipping; location data; and software. For nearly 100 years Pitney Bowes has been innovating and delivering technologies that remove the complexity of getting commerce transactions precisely right. For additional information visit Pitney Bowes, the Craftsmen of Commerce, at www.pitneybowes.com.