Community Service Award: Kerri Melley
Worcester, MA, 6/18/18 - The Women’s Initiative of the United Way of Central Massachusetts, has received a $10,000 grant from the MassMutual Foundation as part of a national Community Service Award (CSA) program. The Women’s Initiative is one of twenty-two organizations nationally to receive an award. The MassMutual Foundation made the grant as a tribute to the volunteer efforts of Kerri Melley, a MassMutual agent with Commonwealth Financial Group in Worcester.
“We are stronger when we come together as a community, and our Community Service Awards program recognizes a group of MassMutual financial professionals who embody this spirit, working with members of their respective neighborhoods, towns and cities, helping nonprofits with which they are involved grow and thrive,” said Dennis Duquette, Head of MassMutual Community Responsibility and President of the MassMutual Foundation. “We are proud of the time and energy Kerri dedicates to bettering her community and are delighted to support the great work MassMutual financial professionals do with organizations across the country.”
The Women’s Initiative ignites positive change by promoting women’s leadership and philanthropy to support gender-specific programs that improve and empower the lives of adolescent girls in our community through financial literacy, mentoring, and educational opportunities.
“We are so pleased that the MassMutual Foundation has honored our dedicated leader and volunteer, Kerri Melley,” said Tim Garvin, President and CEO of the United Way of Central Massachusetts. “This generous grant will help to fund critical programming for adolescent girls including an anti-bullying effort, a service project group and an after-school running program.”
Kerri has been with Commonwealth Financial Group for 3 years. She has been committed to The Women’s Initiative since 2012 and has dedicated countless hours of time and talent to help the organization grow and flourish.
“I am very pleased that my dedication to The Women’s Initiative of the United Way of Central Massachusetts has been recognized by the MassMutual Foundation,” said Kerri. “One of my most meaningful experience is serving as a Dollar $cholar mentor. The Dollar $cholar program is the only one-day immersion program of its kind in Central Massachusetts. This conference teaches middle school girls the basics of responsible personal financial management. Research identifies financial independence as an important factor in self-sufficiency and violence prevention. In addition to teaching the basics of financial literacy, volunteer mentors help the girls build self-confidence and learn healthy, safe lifestyle choices. We also model a wide range of career choices they could aspire to for their future. As a financial planner, the opportunity to share this knowledge with these girls at such a young age is incredibly rewarding.”
About the MassMutual Foundation
The MassMutual Foundation strives to broaden economic opportunity for America's youth and their families by investing in financial education for middle and high school students across the United States and economic development and education locally in Springfield, Mass. The Foundation is a reflection of MassMutual’s longstanding dedication to corporate citizenship and its unwavering commitment to the communities in which we do business. To learn more about the MassMutual Foundation please visit www.massmutual.com/responsibility.
About MassMutual
MassMutual is a leading mutual life insurance company that is run for the benefit of its members and participating policyowners. MassMutual offers a wide range of financial products and services, including life insurance, disability income insurance, long term care insurance, annuities, retirement plans and other employee benefits. For more information, visit www.massmutual.com.