I have some bittersweet news today. ADC Foundation is making its final round of technology grants. ADC has long been a supporter of technology projects in the Twin Cities. Earlier this year they were purchased by Tyco Electronics. So I’m delighted to report the funding and sad to add that it’s the last round.

I saw some of the recipients of the funding earlier this week at the Digital Inclusion conference; they are doing great work. Congratulations to the recipients!

Here is the press release…

For Immediate Release
Contact: Bill Linder-Scholer, ADC Foundation
bill.linder-scholer@adc.com
952.917.0580

ADC Foundation Makes Final Round of Grants

Contributions Reflect Foundation’s Strategic Community Partnerships
and Intent to Achieve Deep Impact

MINNEAPOLIS, December 10, 2010 – ADC Foundation announced today that it will make a round of strategic grants totaling $3.75 million to five community partners in the Twin Cities and Juarez, Mexico. Each grant will be $750,000. The Foundation’s grants will be used to promote transformative change in engineering education programs and effective use of computing and communications technologies to better serve disadvantaged populations.

ADC Telecommunications, Inc., parent company of the ADC Foundation, was recently purchased by Tyco Electronics Ltd. (NYSE: TEL). As part of the acquisition-related merger process, the ADC Foundation will make this final round of grants to five key organizations the ADC Foundation has partnered with in the past.

“ADC has a long and strong history of community involvement,” said Robert E. Switz, former chairman and CEO of ADC and also former chairman of the ADC Foundation. “We believe these focused contributions through the foundation will honor that legacy. By supporting our strategic community partners one more time and in a concentrated way, we hope to deepen the impact of our giving over the past several decades.”

ADC Foundation grants will go to the following organizations:

• Community Technology Empowerment Project (St. Paul, MN) This grant will underwrite expansion of CTEP’s AmeriCorps program that places technology specialists in more than 20 Twin Cities neighborhood organizations, expand CTEP’s public outreach, and facilitate the development of community leadership for technology and communications.
• Fondo Unido de Chihuahua (Juarez, Mexico) With Fondo Unido, a United Way affiliate acting as fiscal agent, this grant will underwrite engineering education scholarships and general operating support for several colleges and organizations in the cities of Juarez and Delicias.
• MAP for Nonprofits (St. Paul, MN) This grant will underwrite a comprehensive community technology needs-assessment, provide multi-year funding for expansion of MAP’s current technology assistance services, and support capacity-building outreach efforts.
• Minnesota High Tech Foundation’s Engineering Education Scholarship Program (Roseville, MN) This grant will help the organization increase the number of engineering education scholarships awarded to Minnesota undergraduates each year, support the creation of collaborative workforce development strategies and programs, and provide for public outreach efforts to increase student interest in science and engineering-related careers.
• University of Minnesota’s College of Science and Engineering (Minneapolis, MN) This grant will underwrite undergraduate scholarships in engineering and the sciences, provide significant support for the College’s efforts to transform the nature of its undergraduate education programs, and establish a student program fund.

In addition to these five strategic grants, the ADC Foundation will also pre-fund the undergraduate scholarship program for children of company employees currently in the program. This action will ensure that students who hold scholarships for the current academic year will be eligible for annual renewal awards up to their graduation date.

Established in 1999, the ADC Foundation has supported employee giving and volunteerism and made charitable grants in communities in the U.S. and six other countries. Grant-making by the ADC Foundation has been strategically aligned with ADC’s interests by focusing on mathematics and science education as well as information and communications technology assistance for nonprofit organizations.