Boys & Girls Clubs of America and Raymond James Financial announced a three-year, $10 million partnership aimed at helping young people become leaders and advance their education. The investment is designed to help students thrive not only in the classroom but also in their communities.
Andrea Masterson is the vice president of community impact at Raymond James and she said the company strives to make an impact beyond the Tampa Bay area.
“We spent a lot of time digging into the needs of the Tampa Bay community, and education became a very clear front running priority,” Masterson said.
In 2025, the company launched Ready For School, a flexible education-focused initiative. Raymond James also invested in 11 nonprofit organizations that year.
“We talked to our partners that we’ve been working with for a long time. We found the need and so we focused on organizations that supported students and their ability to read by the third grade and do algebra by the ninth grade,” Masterson said. “Also offering support outside the classroom, have mentorship programs and we really felt the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Tampa Bay was one of those inaugural partners.”
The relationship between Raymond James and the Boys & Girls Clubs did not begin in 2025. Employees have long supported the organization through volunteer work and board service– like Chief Human Resources Officer, Chris Aisenbrey and Vice President of Compliance, Nicole Burroughs
Masterson said the company wanted to expand its educational efforts beyond Tampa Bay, which led to the national partnership announced in January.
“We’re thrilled about this partnership as well. Especially the opportunity to scale what's worked well locally to more clubs in a nationwide partnership,” said National Director of Youth Development programs at Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Chrissy Chen.
Chen said education has faced significant challenges since the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I think the concept of gaps and inequities in math and reading scores has gotten a lot of publicity. It’s also important to us, as people that are advocates for young people, the gaps in engagement of young people saying that they don’t feel connected at school,” Chen said.
This partnership will focus on advancing academic success through programs such as Project Learn.
Project Learn is an evidence-based strategy designed to promote academic success. Chen said it begins with enrichment and hands-on learning to foster a love of learning, then helps students apply those lessons to build academic and social skills.
“With this significant investment, clubs can also move the needle on remediation and help young people pick up on some of the skills that they might need for extra reinforcement," Chen said. “Also implementing some of those advanced programs goes beyond what young people might have access to in school.”
Chen said she is excited to grow Project Learn and Summer Brain Gain through the partnership.
The collaboration focuses on three key areas: academic success programing, Summer Brain Gain implementation and employee engagement and volunteer support.
Academic success programming is a model which includes programs that young people ages 6 to 18 participate in. Chen said it also shows the professional development behind supporting the youth.
“This is all part of the evidence-based strategy, Project Learn, which has been evaluated and demonstrated positive impact,” Chen said.
Summer Brain Gain implementation provides up to six weeks of educational programs during the summer, to keep students engaged academically. The project-based curriculum features weekly themes and emphasizes STEM education — science, technology, engineering and mathematics — along with literacy.
“It’s a really meaningful time for young people to come together with their friends and engage in fun and learning,” Chen said.
In 2024, there were about 484,000 young people at over 3,000 club sites nationwide that were a part of Project Learn, Chen said. The Summer Brain Gain had 170,000 young people at over 1,800 clubs nationwide.
In Florida, 197 Club sites offer Project Learn to nearly 35,000 youth and 146 Club sites offer Summer Brain Gain to nearly 15,000 youth
The employee engagement and volunteer support will increase Raymond James employee involvement in the programs
“We know to truly make an impact both on the kids that attend a Boys & Girls Club, but also our own colleagues. This driving engagement needs to be a priority,” Masterson said.
Masterson said the company is working to identify ways employees across the country can volunteer with Project Learn and Summer Brain Gain programs, as well as connect directly with local clubs.
“We've been really focused on identifying ways to get our employees to volunteer with the Project Learn program or a Summer Brain Game program. But also meet the clubs, get to know them, take a tour and understand how the company employees can make their own individualized impacts,” Masterson said.
Both Masterson and Chen said the partnership is especially meaningful because it supports young people who will become future leaders.
The Youth of the Year showcase will take place in April in Tampa. The event is the highest honor a Boys & Girls Club member can receive, recognizing leadership, service, academic excellence and dedication to health and well-being.
