The Unum Group, a leading provider of employee benefits, is one of the largest employers in the state of Maine. Long committed to corporate stewardship and social responsibility, giving back to the communities where their employees live and work is woven into the cultural fabric of the company.
Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Joe Foley has taken Unum’s corporate giving program to the next level, turning it into a focused effort to raise the overall educational level in the state. Since 2002, under Foley’s direction, the company has made a major, long-term commitment of financial and human resources to increase the educational attainment of Maine's students, and is Maine’s largest corporate funder of education initiatives, with an emphasis on K-12 and postsecondary education. “We wanted our giving program to have more focus,” says Foley. “Most of our employees reside in communities where education was a major problem; and we wanted to make the most impact. Before, we scattered resources in a lot of different places. This decision allowed us to put more thinking power and financial resources, and more employees’ time and effort, behind it.”
“We wanted our giving program to have more focus,” says Foley. “Most of our employees reside in communities where education was a major problem; and we wanted to make the most impact. Before, we scattered resources in a lot of different places. This decision allowed us to put more thinking power and financial resources, and more employees’ time and effort, behind it.”
Shifting the Paradigm
According to Foley, the economy in Maine is largely built around manufacturing, lumber, fishing and other ‘old-line’ occupations. Children and young adults could always get a job, and postsecondary education was not a requirement. In the past 20 years, economies have changed, and educational aspirations lagged behind this economic and technological shift. “Five to ten years ago, this was an acute problem in Maine,” says Foley. “The state has one of the nation’s highest graduation rates, yet one of lowest rates in kids going on to postsecondary education. We had to get beyond those barriers.”
Foley’s commitment to education now extends far beyond Unum’s corporate giving program. He chairs the Maine Compact for Higher Education, a non-profit organization whose mission is to dramatically increase the educational attainment of Maine's workforce. He also sits on the board of the Mitchell Scholarship Institute. Founded by Senator George Mitchell, the Institute awards annual scholarships to a low-income graduate of every high school in Maine – 130 high schools. The Institute offers a comprehensive program, with direct support on the student side and extensive research and policy work.
Foley is vice chair of the Alfond Scholarship Foundation, a new initiative that provides a $500 gift to the parents of every Maine newborn to start a Section 529 college savings account. He also is involved with Jobs for Maine Graduates and the Coalition for Excellence in Education, a K-12 business education advocacy group.
Getting Results
Good progress has been made in the past four to five years in raising aspirations. Survey work shows that people now understand they need to go beyond a high school education. The rate of kids going on to college is up four to five points—a significant increase. “It’s now in the high 30 to mid-40 percent,” says Foley. “We’d like it to be more.” A statewide college transition program serves 1400 low-income adults transition and matriculate from a GED certificate to additional continuing education. Growth in the community college system has been substantial over the past seven to eight years, too. The Chancellor of the community college system is a member of the Compact. Unum lets the college use its office space for their classes. The president of the company’s Maine business division sits on the University of Maine board. “You have to connect on a lot of different levels,” urges Foley. “The business community needs to take a more active role.”
The Coalition for Education, focused on K-12, has been especially supportive of Unum’s program (the company was a founding member back in the 1980’s). “Then the business and educational leaders in the state got together, and have realized success in the K-12 arena, but haven’t yet gone beyond that.”
Strategies for Business Leaders
According to Foley, leaders need to identify and employ specific strategies to be effective. “We make financial contributions, we have leadership positions, and we have our employees involved,” he says. “When you’re one of the largest employers in a fairly poor state, you have to focus and prioritize.” He encourages business leaders to stick to the ‘cause,’ and not get distracted by other organizations that want financial support. “You’d never run a business without an overarching strategy; and the state needs a comprehensive educational strategy.”
Foley admits that’s it’s easy to get pushed off in the beginning. “When we started out, it would’ve been nice to ask someone else from the business sector for advice, see how others have done it. He emphasizes that it’s easy to “be intimidated by a world which you initially won’t understand very well. Workforce development is very different from the business world. You will encounter experts who talk a different language from what you’re used to. Push past that, and you’ll find you can add an awful lot – the business mindset of measuring results, and an understanding of the breadth of how things work in the real world.”
Thanks to Joe Foley’s leadership, a corporate giving program has evolved into a dedicated mission to raise the bar for hundreds of students in Maine. His ongoing involvement in statewide educational initiatives continues to provide employees, students, educators and business leaders a model of what it means to be a business champion in the truest sense.