Buckingham Grants $70,000 to Nonprofits Supporting Community Economic Development Initiatives

ST. LOUIS (December 16, 2021) – Seven nonprofit organizations have been awarded funding in 2021 as part of Buckingham Strategic Wealth’s Pillar Grant Program. The Pillar Grant Program, an annual philanthropy effort launched in 2015, is the firm’s dedicated philanthropic initiative and seeks to support the missions of organizations working to better the lives of people in the communities that Buckingham calls home.

“Buckingham is proud to recognize and support the important work of the nonprofits awarded the 2021 Pillar Grants,” said Adam Birenbaum, CEO, Buckingham Strategic Wealth. “These organizations are doing the right thing in their communities and we look forward to their continued positive impact.”

The Buckingham Pillar Grant committee seeks to recognize organizations whose projects demonstrate three key pillars of the Buckingham experience — conscientious planning, carefully articulated evidence and a commitment to “doing the right thing.” In 2021, the grant committee considered organizations and programs whose primary objective is to promote sustainable economic development in their communities. Qualified programs worked to revitalize communities by undertaking projects that include job training and placement programs, programs that support small business creation and infrastructure/rebuilding projects that help better residents’ lives.

The important work the firm’s 2021 Pillar Grant recipients will pursue includes:

Beyond Housing, St. Louis, MO: Their Minority Small Business Owners Support Program serves minority business owners focusing on business planning, technical assistance, coaching and counseling. It provides its participants education, a peer community and contributes to the economic success of the neighborhoods where these businesses are located.

Conservation Corps North Bay, Novato, CA: Their Careers Pathway Program helps move disadvantaged youth from poverty to gainful employment by providing training, benefits and higher than minimum wage jobs in the fields of conservation, natural resource management and recycling. A win-win for the participants and the planet.

Father’s Support Center, St. Louis, MO: The Employment Development and Mentoring Program not only provides critical support for formerly incarcerated men seeking employment in the form of education, job-skills training, interview prep, etc., but the Father’s Support Center also incorporates parenting and co-parenting classes as well relationship counseling so that Fathers can support their children emotionally and financially.

Greenwood Project, Chicago, IL: Greenwood is committed to removing barriers to entry to the financial services field to Black and Latinx students through extensive summer training, ongoing-year round enrichment, rigorous financial literacy and investment training and a wide variety of soft skills training all in service to prepare them for placement at a financial services firm post-college.

Ladies Empowerment and Action Program, Miami, FL: Leap Prison to Community Initiative helps incarcerated women transcend their past and re-enter society by providing transformational education, entrepreneurial training, housing and employment.

Mission: St. Louis, St. Louis, MO: EACH1 (Employment and Community Health as One) is a wrap-around service project that pairs job training and employment placement with ongoing critical services with in-house partners (on-site legal, banking and housing) to help people get—and keep—a meaningful job.

We Care Incorporated, Bethesda, MD: Feed the Fridge partners with local restaurants to provide meals that fill fridges that are strategically placed in high unemployment/low-income communities. Through that model, they are able to create meal security and invest in the local economy via their restaurant partners.

The $70,000 in Pillar Grant funding is in addition to a $100,000 contribution funded jointly by Buckingham and Focus Financial Partners this fall to Operation Breakthrough, a nonprofit in Kansas City, MO. The Operation Breakthrough gift was made possible with the partnership of Stephanie Guerin & Kelly Hokanson (formerly The Planned Approach) when they joined the Buckingham Strategic Wealth team in the fall of 2021. Additionally, Buckingham Strategic Wealth joined with eight other registered investment firms in 2021 as part of the Foundation for Financial Planning’s RIA Impact Partners program. As a part of this program, Buckingham Strategic Wealth committed $25,000 to extend the reach of FFP’s pro-bono financial planning services to more at-risk Americans.

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About Buckingham Strategic Wealth

Buckingham Strategic Wealth (“BSW”), a Securities and Exchange Commission registered investment advisor providing an extensive range of fiduciary financial advisory services, supports individuals, families, nonprofits and organizations. With a passion to progress, serve, and do the right thing for clients at all times, Buckingham Strategic Wealth helps to fulfil client’s financial dreams using the organization’s proprietary Design. Build. Protect.™ methodology and an array of evidence-driven investment and planning strategies.

Headquartered in St. Louis, MO, Buckingham Strategic Wealth has 44 offices in 22 states. BSW along with the community of independent advisors that make up Buckingham Strategic Partners collectively manage or administer more than $60 billion dollars of assets (as of June 30, 2021). For more information, visit www.BuckinghamStrategicWealth.com.