Ed Equity Lab Apollo Opportunity Foundation Grant Press Release

National Education Equity Lab Receives $1 Million from Apollo Opportunity Foundation to Diversify Talent Pipelines for Business and Finance Careers

Unique College Pathway Model Helps Students in Low-Income Communities Gain Exposure to Career Possibilities and Build College Confidence, While Earning College

Credit from Top Universities

NEW YORK CITY, NY (June 12, 2024) — Today, the National Education Equity Lab (Ed Equity Lab), an education justice nonprofit that partners with the nation’s top colleges and universities to deliver college credit-bearing courses and supports to students in under-resourced high school classrooms across the country, announced a $1 million grant from the Apollo Opportunity Foundation (AOF). AOF, which launched in 2022 with a $100 million commitment from Apollo Global Management, seeks to expand opportunity in communities around the globe by deploying capital and by engaging Apollo employees to invest in career education, workforce development, and economic empowerment.

Ed Equity Lab offers more than 35 unique college courses at no cost to students through a consortium of universities that includes Howard University, Stanford University, the Wharton School, Brown University, University of California (all campuses), Morehouse College, Arizona State University, Spelman College, University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University, Wesleyan University, Barnard College, Georgetown University, Cornell University and our inaugural pilot partner Harvard University.  Since starting in 2019, the nonprofit has scaled rapidly and has served over 25,000 scholars across 31 states. Over 80% of scholars taking these courses pass, earning college credits and critical college skills, before setting foot on campus.

“This grant will enable more students to discover and demonstrate their abilities, in a moment when our country urgently needs to develop the vast talent often overlooked in under-resourced communities across the nation,” said Leslie Cornfeld, founder and CEO of the National Education Equity Lab. “We have been especially appreciative of the time, thoughtfulness, and generosity of the Apollo team. They have pushed our thinking and provided valuable insights to help us expand our reach to one million high school scholars over the next decade.”

The grant will supercharge Ed Equity Lab’s economic mobility strategies and expose students to new career pathways, including in business, data science, and finance. As part of the grant, Apollo will also lend staff time and expertise to support Ed Equity Lab’s growth and impact.

“Career education and workforce development are two of the key pillars underpinning AOF’s commitment to expanding opportunity and advancing economic prosperity. Investing in under-resourced communities and school systems across the country is a critical step for driving progress forward,” said Lauren Coape-Arnold, Global Head of Citizenship and Executive Director of the Foundation. “Ed Equity Lab has created a groundbreaking pathway to college success, creating a talent pipeline for the next generation of leaders in business and finance.”

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About Apollo Opportunity Foundation

Launched in 2022, the Apollo Opportunity Foundation (AOF) builds on Apollo Global Management’s commitment to expanding opportunity across its workplace, marketplace, and the communities where it operates. AOF was launched with $100 million to invest in non-profit organizations working to advance economic prosperity across three key pillars: Career Education, Workforce Development, and Economic Empowerment. Leading with an employee-driven approach, AOF partners with organizations that are championed by Apollo employees to expand opportunity for all.

About Apollo

Apollo is a high-growth, global alternative asset manager. In our asset management business, we seek to provide our clients excess return at every point along the risk-reward spectrum from investment grade to private equity with a focus on three investing strategies: yield, hybrid, and equity. For more than three decades, our investing expertise across our fully integrated platform has served the financial return needs of our clients and provided businesses with innovative capital solutions for growth. Through Athene, our retirement services business, we specialize in helping clients achieve financial security by providing a suite of retirement savings products and acting as a solutions provider to institutions. Our patient, creative, and knowledgeable approach to investing aligns our clients, businesses we invest in, our employees, and the communities we impact, to expand opportunity and achieve positive outcomes. As of March 31, 2024, Apollo had approximately $671 billion of assets under management. To learn more, please visit www.apollo.com.

About the National Education Equity Lab

Founded in 2019, the National Education Equity Lab is a non-profit enterprise that designs, tests, and implements new strategies to help our nation’s top universities deliver on the democratic promise of higher education by taking a more active role in developing and inspiring our next generation of leaders. These universities are leading the nation in advancing and supporting talent beyond their gates, by providing college credit-bearing courses, and supports for teacher-led high school classrooms across 31 states, at no cost to the 25,000 scholars served to date.