NEWS - Non-Profit Organizations

SBJ Staff Report

Oct 17, 2011 - Step Up Savannah will hold its annual meeting and breakfast from 7:30 – 9:30 a.m. on October 27 at Savannah Technical College’s Eckburg Auditorium on White Bluff Rd in Savannah.  And, the leading non-profit group’s event will feature a major, national speaker.

Universal college savings accounts for kindergarten children? The City and County of San Francisco has created the first national program of its kind with contributions from private philanthropy and non-profit organizations. Jose Cisneros, treasurer of San Francisco, will be the featured speaker at Step Up Savannah’s annual meeting.  He will talk about his city’s innovative financial education initiatives, including “Bank On San Francisco,” and the Working Families Credit Program that matches the federal Earned Income Tax Credit.

Treasurer Cisneros believes his role of safeguarding the city’s money extends to all San Franciscans. In 2006 he launched the San Francisco Office of Financial Empowerment, which spearheaded the first municipal “Bank On” campaign. Last summer, with Mayor Edwin Lee, the Treasurer’s office opened college savings accounts with contributions from the San Francisco Foundation and Earned Assets Resource Network for every child entering public-school kindergarten in San Francisco. “Kindergarten to College Savings Accounts,” the nation’s first universal college savings program, also rely on families making automatic monthly contributions.

At the breakfast, Step Up will announce the 2011 winner of its business award, the ‘Workplace Innovator Award.’  The award recognizes employers that are implementing a wide array of creative processes or programs to develop their low-wage workforce professionally and personally, ultimately providing tools to increase their income. These practices must add value to the employer and the employee.

Step Up Savannah reaches out to employers in the private and public sectors to inform low-wage workers about benefits such as food stamps and PeachCare that can increase families’ spending power.  The group also mobilizes resources for job training programs in Savannah’s neighborhoods, including the Construction Apprentice Program, supported by Chatham County.

A long list of governmental organizations, large corporations and non-profit groups work together collaboratively in Step Up Savannah.

Reservations are still available by calling Shawnte Tyler, at (912) 232-6747, or e-mail her at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it by Oct. 20 to reserve a place at the table.