STEFFAN MANOR GRANTED

First Bank and members of the James F. Dierberg family announced their Education Technology Initiative, which commits $1 million over the course of the next three years to support technology needs for students and professional development for teachers.

Steffan Manor Elementary of Vallejo is one of the grantees, securing $38,000 to cover technology expenses.
To maximize the benefit to the students from technology as an educational tool, First Bank signed an agreement with St. Louis-based Maryville University to launch a program that will provide a professional development training curriculum focused on technology-assisted learning at selected schools.

Now in its fourth-generation of family ownership by the Dierberg family, First Bank has focused its philanthropic efforts since 2016 around helping children from under-resourced communities’ get the education and support they need to succeed later in life. This includes supporting schools to provide a strong educational foundation, assisting mentorship programs, supporting leadership and exploration, creating new entrepreneurship opportunities and helping kids get the most out of the world around them.

“What we knew before the COVID-19 pandemic has only been reinforced during the pandemic –students in under-resourced and minority communities are at a disadvantage relative to students in other neighborhoods,” said Michael Dierberg, Chairman of FB Corporation, the parent company of First Bank. “While all schools were unprepared for the disruption caused by the pandemic, the disruption has disproportionately impacted lower-income and minority families.”

BIG BRAIN BUCKS

Mental health and brain research non-profit One Mind raised over $3 million at its 26th Annual Music Festival for Brain Health on Sept. 12. In addition, the One Mind Board of Directors announced that direct and leveraged funds added $30 million in 2020, bringing the 26-year cumulative total to nearly half a billion dollars since 1995. Typically held over multiple days at the Staglin Family Vineyard in Rutherford, Napa Valley, the festival has established itself as the country’s most significant annual brain health fundraising event.

The all-day festival went virtual due to the pandemic and featured a scientific symposium with leading mental health researchers, followed by a streamed jazz concert performance by 10-time Grammy winner Arturo Sandoval.