Our Strategy

The Moody’s Foundation’s primary focus is mathematics, finance and economics education with an associated focus on workforce development. We also support local health and human services, civic and arts and culture organizations for the benefit of our employees and all members of our communities.

Total Community Investments:

$5,949,390

1 Represents calendar year 2015, paid in Q1 2016
2 Represents Q4 2015 (paid in Q1 2016) and Q1-3 2016

The Moody’s Foundation 2016 Grants

Achievement First
Bank Street College of Education
Columbia University
The Council for Economic Education
Girls Inc.
Girls Who Code
Gladesmore Community School
High School of Economics & Finance
National Merit Scholarship
The Posse Foundation
Prep for Prep
The Society for Industrial & Applied Mathematics
Vocação
Working in Support of Education
Youth About Business

Brunel University
Career Ready
Center for Talent Innovation
The Cooke Center for Learning & Development
Coro New York Leadership Center
Kiva
National Academy Foundation
Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship
Stewart Ivory

American Museum of Natural History
Battery Conservancy
Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Children’s Museum of Manhattan
Exploratorium
The Franklin Institute
Metropolitan Museum of Art
New York Botanical Garden
Old Vic Theatre
San Francisco MOMA
Staten Island Children’s Museum
Tate Foundation
Whitney Museum of American Art

Hamilton Family Center
Hetrick-Martin Institute
KELY Support Group
Place2Be

East London Business Alliance
European Volunteer Centre
HandsOn Bay Area
New York Cares
Points of Light

Team Rubicon

How Our Grants Impact Students Today & Tomorrow

Impact in education comes when students see a path they didn’t see before, such as a high school girl realizing that computer science isn’t “just for boys,” but something that she likes and is good at. Or when a student seeks a solution to a real-world problem using applied mathematics and for the first time envisions a career using these skills every day, such as in finance or economics.

Education and workforce development are inextricably linked. We approach our education grants with a long-term goal of helping students gain life skills, such as critical thinking, as well as academic skills. That’s why we measure more than increases in test scores—we also measure the difference in student attitudes and behavior whenever we can.

Take our Generation Giga Girls (G3) program with Girls Inc. of New York. While the classroom instruction focuses on teaching high school girls how to analyze and interpret data, the underlying goal is to open their minds to higher education and career possibilities that use math or data analytics. Following the G3 program, 83% of girls scored higher on Common Core-aligned standards and the percentage of participants considering taking math in college jumped from 34% to 75%. Participants’ confidence in their ability to do well in math also soared, from 48% to 86% by the end of the program.

Then there is our Moody’s Numeracy Project with Vocação in São Paulo, Brazil. Numeracy is the ability to use mathematics in everyday life. Like literacy, numeracy is tied to an individual’s confidence and self-esteem. The Moody’s Numeracy Project approaches the problem of low numeracy in two ways: teaching the children and training the teachers. Targeted to young people from 15 to 18 years old, the program teaches practical math skills as well as critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Program evaluations show that the students have indeed improved in math. Over 18 months, students’ mathematical skills increased 23% based on standardized assessments. The evaluations also show that they have gained self-confidence, self-awareness and persistence in situations involving mathematical logical thinking.

Similarly, Moody’s Analytics Knowledge Services sponsors the “Math-e Magic” Project with the Learning Links Foundation in Delhi, India. The project’s goal is to spark children’s interest in studying mathematics and to make it meaningful by helping them build connections between mathematical concepts and real world applications. Math labs have been established in three government schools, building student engagement with math and increasing the learning outcomes of more than 800 students.

At Gladesmore Community School in London, Moody’s has been funding a booster program in math for many years. The original grant provided small group mathematics tutoring for children at the secondary school. In recent years, the UK secondary curriculum and examinations have been putting more emphasis on students solving word problems, so the program has grown to include reading proficiency. By including literacy skills in the curriculum, students will be better equipped to understand the text of the questions and then solve the underlying math problems.

“The Moody’s data analytics program, Generation Giga Girls, has been a real game changer for the girls in our programs. It has exceeded our wildest expectations. The girls love the digitized animated characters created to present data analytics in interactive situations they can relate to. Most exciting of all: The girls perform significantly better in math, and 89% report an interest in a career in data analytics or math, a 124% increase from when they started the program.”

Pamela J. Maraldo, Executive Director, Girls Inc. of New York

Moody’s Mega Math (M3) Challenge, an applied mathematics competition for high school juniors and seniors, reached an important milestone in 2016. The contest expanded to a national footprint, with all US states, territories and Department of Defense Educational Activity schools being eligible to participate.

The competition challenges teams of students to tackle a real-world problem using mathematics modeling. The teams have only 14 hours to analyze data, model potential solutions, and write a solution paper. The experience mimics the professional life of an applied mathematician — working under time and resource constraints on thorny social or economic problems.

The Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, which administers the competition, surveys the participants every year. Students are asked about their intention to study math after high school and their interest in pursuing a career in mathematics and how those interests have changed as a result of their participation. While about half of the participants said they were already intending to pursue higher education and/or a career in mathematics or a related field, nearly one-quarter said they were more likely to do so after completing the Challenge.

Q&A: Living Proof of Impact

Christopher Bergman participated in the M3 Challenge in high school and is now an Associate Analyst 1 in the Structured Finance Group in MIS. We asked him how the M3 Challenge shaped his future.

Why did you participate in M3 in high school?

My school was putting together a team and they wanted team members with different kinds of math experience to prepare for a wide range of potential topics. I had done other types of academic competitions, like debate tournaments and the Federal Reserve Challenge, so I was approached because of my background in monetary policy and economics. Fortunately, our challenge problem was about the stimulus package, so I was able to take a lead role.

Your team finished in fifth place?

Yes. Because we placed in the top six, we visited Moody’s and presented our solution paper to the judges. We all got scholarships and were invited to apply for internships at Moody’s. I applied after my freshman year in college and ended up interning for three summers, joining Moody’s full time after I graduated in 2013.

Before participating in the Challenge, did you intend to study math or economics in college?

I originally planned to study engineering. I had always been interested in economics and finance, though, which is why I initially applied for the internship. I wanted to explore math from an economics and finance perspective.

What did you learn from doing the Challenge that has stayed with you?

First, I realized how important effective teamwork is. You have just 14 hours to complete the Challenge. Working in a team setting under such time pressure forces you to rely on each other. No one person is able to carry the weight of the whole team, so you need to delegate responsibility and then trust the team members will be effective at their tasks. Second, it was the first time I was able to use math modeling to create something new. In a class, you learn something and then apply what you learned. Here, we were using math to model a theory we developed without external guidance.

How would you say that participating in the M3 Challenge benefited you?

The entire arc of my career has been influenced by both the Challenge and the resulting internship with Moody’s. My internship in particular showed me additional career opportunities in finance involving math and math modeling. I saw and experienced the work that the full-time MIS employees were doing, and I became really interested in pursuing this kind of work as a career. Plus, I really liked the people I was working with and the Moody’s culture overall. After three summers as an intern, I joined the team full time.

The Joys of Volunteering

Volunteering is an activity that impacts the employee volunteer, the nonprofit where they volunteer and the nonprofit’s clients. Last year, our employees logged 13,569 hours of volunteer service, worth $804,924, through our employee engagement program. Employees in nearly every office can volunteer with their work teams and colleagues across the organization, all facilitated by The Moody’s Foundation in partnership with the local CSR Councils. In 2016, employees in Moody’s Analytics Knowledge Services were introduced to volunteering with the company. Volunteers in Gurgaon and Bangalore, India, and Colombo, Sri Lanka, completed 27 projects and logged 1,736 hours.

13,569

hours donated

3,297

volunteers mobilized

299

volunteer projects

105

nonprofit partners

offices

countries

The Difference We Have Made

“Volunteering with The Moody’s Foundation has been a great way to give back to the community. It is humbling to learn of some of the challenges those close around us face, whether it is being able to support and feed their own families, or overcoming the challenge of being an ethnic minority in a sometimes prejudiced society. At the same time, it is incredibly rewarding to discover the small (or big) things we can do to help others, and in the process learn more about our colleagues.”

Inge Roggeveen, Senior Editor, Global Communications, Hong Kong

“The Moody’s volunteers have been fantastic role models for our students showing them what is possible if you aim high and persevere. Many of their individual stories have been inspirational.”

Clive Gee, Moody’s Urban Scholars Program, Brunel University, London

“The Moody’s volunteers really make our participants feel accepted and equal. Some of our youth are on the autistic spectrum and have a difficult time fully engaging but even they came out of their shells. Having the Moody’s volunteers come in for our year-end celebration is not only fun but it gives our youth an opportunity to practice language, critical thinking and social skills amongst other things. We can’t thank you enough!”

Chester County Opportunities Industrialization Center, West Chester, PA