ST. LOUIS (Feb. 28, 2023) – Today, Ameren is announcing a $500,000 pledge to Cardinal Ritter College Prep High School. The donation is part of the company's Equity in Education initiative to support equitable, attainable education for students in some of the most vulnerable communities within Ameren's service territory.
Ameren has long supported Cardinal Ritter College Prep's work in driving inclusive economic opportunities for historically underrepresented students in the St. Louis region through academic excellence and leadership development. As the company works to align philanthropy more strategically, the partnership with the high school furthers its focus on inclusive economic empowerment.
“The strength of the school's leadership, programming and student achievement rates were absolutely instrumental in our decision to partner with this outstanding institution," said Gwen Mizell, senior vice president and chief sustainability, diversity and philanthropy officer for Ameren. "As an urban high school consistently serving a majority of minority students at the highest level, their efforts align well with Ameren's focus on driving equity of educational access for vulnerable communities we serve in both Illinois and Missouri."
On Thursday evening, Feb. 23, Mizell presented a ceremonial check to Cardinal Ritter College Prep officials at the 14th Annual Celebrating Success in Urban Education Gala. The multiyear gift will support tuition assistance for 250 Cardinal Ritter Prep students over the next five years.
“We are immensely grateful for Ameren’s long-standing partnership on behalf of our scholars," said Tamiko Armstead, president of Cardinal Ritter College Prep. "Ameren has partnered with Cardinal Ritter for more than 20 years, providing our students internship opportunities and a real seat at the table, in addition to scholarship support. This transformational gift represents a new chapter in our partnership, which will create generational impact for years to come."
The Ameren Corporation Charitable Trust was established in 1944 to serve as a principal source of the company’s philanthropic investments in community projects and programs. Allocations from the Trust come entirely from corporate earnings and are not charged to customers as a business expense.
About Cardinal Ritter College Prep
Cardinal Ritter College Preparatory High School (CRCP) was established in August of 1979 as the first and only African American co-educational Catholic college prep high school in the country. CRCP has provided an exemplary college preparatory educational experience for more than 40 years. CRCP graduates are prepared to succeed in college and life based upon a strong foundation of academic excellence, faith development, and leadership training. The graduating class of 2022 achieved 100% college acceptance rates, and CRCP college persistence rates of 82% are higher than the average of all high schools nationally. Learn more about Cardinal Ritter College Prep at cardinalritterprep.org.
About Ameren Corporation
St. Louis-based Ameren Corporation powers the quality of life for 2.4 million electric customers and more than 900,000 natural gas customers in a 64,000- square-mile area through its Ameren Missouri and Ameren Illinois rate-regulated utility subsidiaries. Ameren Illinois provides electric transmission and distribution service and natural gas distribution service. Ameren Missouri provides electric generation, transmission and distribution service, as well as natural gas distribution service. Ameren Transmission Company of Illinois develops, owns and operates rate-regulated regional electric transmission projects. For more information, visit Ameren.com, or follow us on Twitter at @AmerenCorp, Facebook.com/AmerenCorp, or LinkedIn/company/Ameren.