UNCF and P&G: The Audacity to Lead
A Partnership with Deep Roots
The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) has been a continuous supporter of UNCF since its founding in 1944. Through product donations, volunteerism and philanthropic support, P&G has a long history of demonstrating strong community impact and a commitment toward improving diversity and inclusion, gender equality, and environmental sustainability issues worldwide.
UNCF 2020 Keepers of the Flame Legacy Awardee
The 76th National UNCF “A Mind Is…” Gala was made possible by major sponsors and partners like P&G, which received the UNCF Keepers of the Flame Legacy Award. Pictured (from L to R) are Barron Witherspoon; David Taylor, CEO, P&G; Tamara Thomas; Monica Turner, Dr. Michael Lomax, president and CEO, UNCF; Shelly McNamara; Paul Gama, president, personal healthcare division, P&G, and member, UNCF Board of Directors; Amy Roberti; Crystal Harrell; and Terence Moore
How deeply rooted is the partnership between Procter & Gamble, UNCF and UNCF’s member HBCUs?
So deep that when Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune was launching HBCU Bethune-Cookman University, she turned to James Norris Gamble, the son of Procter & Gamble’s co-founder, who responded with support for an on-campus home with a promise to serve on the new school’s founding board of directors.
When Frederick Douglass Patterson and Dr. Bethune founded the United Negro College Fund in April 1944, Procter & Gamble was on its first board of directors.
When UNCF needed sponsors for its “Evening of Stars” TV special, P&G was there as sponsor of the organization’s 25th anniversary program.
When UNCF launched its Technology Enhancement Capital Campaign initiative to strengthen technology capabilities at UNCF-member HBCUs, P&G was there with a million-dollar pledge.
After Hurricane Katrina, when UNCF established its Emergency Student Aid program to help students for whom personal emergencies became major financial crises, P&G contributed.
New Scholarship Endowment Part of Tuskegee’s Engineering Women Leadership Development Initiative
Scholarships Strengthen the Partnership
With college becoming more important and more costly, Procter & Gamble has been there for UNCF students with both general and STEM UNCF scholarship programs.
P&G’s partnership with UNCF has been beneficial to thousands of students attending HBCUs in this country. They established two branded P&G scholarship programs for students majoring in the STEM fields and for students who demonstrate strong extracurricular activities, high honors and active participation in community service.
Through UNCF’s Empower Me Tour, P&G has been instrumental in providing not only financial support that allows high school and college students to attend a traveling college and career readiness road show for free, but provides program content for our Girl Talk sessions through P&G’s My Black is Beautiful campaign and our Tied to Greatness sessions for young African American males. And recently, they have piloted an HBCU Business Challenge Competition, a undergraduate virtual case competition where students majoring in business administration perform a deep-dive analysis of an actual P&G dilemma and recommend a series of solutions to a panel of P&G industry experts.
The Partnership Creates Leaders
P&G’s partnership with UNCF has been beneficial to thousands of students attending HBCUs in this country. Meet one of the students.
