Voya Foundation Announces First-Quarter 2016 Grant Recipients

NEW YORK, March 16, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE: VOYA), announced today that seven nonprofit organizations have been selected in the first quarter to receive grants through the company's charitable giving arm, Voya Foundation. Voya Foundation provides quarterly grants to support the educational initiatives of local and national nonprofits, which is consistent with its focus on education as key to fostering economic growth and healthy, sustainable communities.

Below is an overview of the first-quarter 2016 grant recipients:

• Chester County Futures (Pennsylvania) will use Voya Foundation funding to support Passport to College, an academic enrichment, real-world learning and student advising program designed to equip and empower motivated, economically at-risk Chester County students in grades 9-12 to graduate high school and post-secondary school. The Passport to College program provides instruction on topics such as financial literacy, study skills, career exploration, college exploration and application, goal-setting and 21^st century skill development.
• Clarifi (Pennsylvania): Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Delaware Valley will use grant proceeds to support Clarifi's Financial Boot Camp serving the Philadelphia metro area. The Financial Boot Camp is a six-month, intensive program that integrates Clarifi's financial education, one-on-one counseling and coaching programs to provide a highly structured and supportive environment to enable participants to clearly define and achieve personal financial goals. Participants are low-to-moderate income women and millennials who share the common objective of obtaining financial stability by reducing or eliminating debt; developing and maintaining a budget; and establishing long-term savings.
• Hartford Promise (Connecticut) is partnering with Voya Foundation to provide college scholarship grants to high-achieving, college-bound students attending public high schools in Hartford. The grant also reinforces Voya's commitment to the Hartford metro area where many Voya employees and clients live and work.
• Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP) Metro Atlanta (Georgia), one of Voya's new partnerships, supports soon-to-be graduates and KIPP alumni as they navigate post-high school academia. Support will be given to students to obtain scholarships and make long-term decisions that move them closer to a college degree.
• LifeBridge Community Services (Connecticut) will use Voya Foundation funding to support the LifeBridge Financial Education Program. The program will engage 300 low-to-moderate income individuals in Connecticut's Greater Bridgeport area in fundamental financial education workshops and customized financial coaching sessions. Participants will progress through six levels of financial development: setting financial goals; using a budget; tracking spending; reducing debt; setting aside for contingencies; and saving money.
• New York City Mission Society (New York) will use Voya Foundation funding to support its Keys to Success program, which creates a system of academic mentoring, career and workforce development. The program also provides an introduction to college and the college application process for at-risk high school students in Harlem.
• United Negro College Fund, UNCF (National), which works to improve diversity in the financial services industry, will use Voya Foundation funding to support college scholarships for minority students studying business or finance at historically black colleges and universities around Voya's major office locations. As a key partner, UNCF will work to ensure that scholarship recipients are graduating and prepared for careers in financial services.

Through its charitable giving, Voya Foundation supports exemplary programs in the areas of financial education and children's education to help build an educated workforce. The Board of Directors of Voya Foundation and the Community Investment Review Committee review applicants and distribute grants on a quarterly basis.

As an industry leader and advocate for greater retirement readiness, Voya Financial is committed to achieving its vision to be America's Retirement Company™ and fulfilling its mission to make a secure financial future possible — one person, one family, one institution at a time.

Media Contact:
Jeanne LaCour  
Voya Financial  
Office: (212) 309-8949
Jeanne.LaCour@voya.com       

About Voya Foundation
Voya Foundation's mission is to improve the quality of life in communities where Voya Financial® operates and its employees and customers live. Voya Foundation provides grants and establishes signature partnerships in the areas of financial literacy and children's education and fosters employee engagement to deepen our positive impact on the community. For more information, visit www.voyafoundation.com.

About Voya Financial^®
Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE: VOYA), helps Americans plan, invest and protect their savings — to get ready to retire better. Serving the financial needs of approximately 13 million individual and institutional customers in the United States, Voya is a Fortune 500 company that had $11 billion in revenue in 2015. The company had $452 billion in total assets under management and administration as of Dec. 31, 2015. With a clear mission to make a secure financial future possible — one person, one family, one institution at a time — Voya's vision is to be America's Retirement Company™. The company is equally committed to conducting business in a way that is socially, environmentally, economically and ethically responsible — Voya has been recognized as one of the 2016 World's Most Ethical Companies^® by the Ethisphere Institute, and as one of the Top Green Companies in the U.S., by Newsweek magazine. For more information, visit voya.com or view the company's 2014 annual report. Follow Voya Financial on Facebook and Twitter @Voya.

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SOURCE Voya Financial, Inc.