Net Literacy Alliance

The Clowes Fund (www.clowesfund.org), a family foundation, seeks to enhance the common good by encouraging organizations and projects that help to build a just and equitable society, create opportunities for initiative, foster creativity and the growth of knowledge, and promote appreciation of the natural environment.

The Clowes Fund pursues these goals by awarding grants in three areas: the arts, education and social services.  We also recognize the special value of efforts that create links among these areas.  The Clowes Fund has a special interest in supporting projects that strengthen the communities in which Clowes family members and the foundation’s directors live and work.

During the fourth quarter of 2009, the Clowes Fund honored Net Literacy (www.netliteracy.org) as their Grantee of the Quarter (http://www.clowesfund.org/index.asp?p=48).  During the last two years, the Clowes Fund has provided Net Literacy $30,000 which has increased computer access to over 10,000 individuals and directly impacted thousands of children by placing computers in nonprofits so that the computers could establish public computer labs, place computers in classrooms, build additional computer labs, and provide computers to the families of students on free or assisted lunches without a computer at their home so that they could be more effective at school.  More about the Clowes Fund – Net Literacy relationship can be found at www.netliteracy.org/indy.

As banking, investments choices, scholarship opportunities, and fraud migrate to the Internet, Net Literacy’s (www.netliteracy.org) student board believed it important to develop a fifth core program focusing on financial literacy. 

Thanks to the generous funding from the Lilly Endowment, Old National Bank, and Bright House Networks, students from six schools worked together at IUPUI to develop a novel website that is scheduled to be launched on September 22nd.   

The website, located at www.financialconnects.org, will contain 200 “best of class” interactive games, videos, calculators, and applications based upon an exhaustive review of 5,000 financial literacy websites.  Supplementing the “best of class” content are 20 original financial literacy videos created, produced, and edited by the student volunteers.  Chairman of the House Education Committee Greg Porter and Lt. Governor Skillman also have videos on the site that were produced by the team of student volunteers that explain why the Indiana General Assembly enacted new legislation requiring students in 6-12 grade to receive financial literacy education and how they believe this initiative will impact Indiana students. 

Stay tuned for more information on Financial Connects – the official launch of the website will be announced on this site (www.netliteracyalliance.org).   All of Net Literacy’s content is available at no cost to all Net Literacy Alliance partners.

Three Net Literacy student board members will be representing Indiana at the America’s Promise Alliance’s (www.americaspromise.org) Grad Nation Action Forum in Washington, DC, on September 16th-18th.  During the Grad Nation Action Forum the Net Literacy student board members will be involved in networking with other youth, Alliance partners, funding partners, and community representatives about the leadership work Net Literacy has been involved throughout the Midwest.  In addition to serving as a resource to the Forum’s attendees on the “young leader” perspective around increasing the nation’s graduation rates, we will be providing the youth perspective at breakout sessions.