“I” is for Insurance. The insurance industry charitable foundation (IICF) has teamed with Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit educational organization behind Sesame Street, to create an early-literacy education program for underserved children.

The partnership's program will provide parents, caregivers and facilitators in low-income communities within the Midwest, Northeast, Texas/Southeast and Western United States with tools and volunteers to enhance children's literacy, conversation, reading and writing skills.

To this end, the IICF's National Grant Committee has pledged $750,000 to the Workshop over a period of three years, starting March 2013 and ending March 2016- the IICF's largest single grant in the organization's 19-year history.

H. Melvin Ming, president and CEO of Sesame Workshop, says, “Our partnership with the IICF will create an initiative that addresses these critical development needs and provide the resources available to help underprivileged children achieve what is needed for them for great preparedness and success in school and in life.”

Officially launching this fall, the program will consist of a multimedia campaign which will include Sesame Street video segments; downloadable materials for parents, educators and IICF facilitators and volunteers to engage with pre-kindergarten children; and a dedicated section on Sesamestreet.org and the Sesame Street mobile site where literacy-enhancing materials can be accessed.

“We are committed to combining the collective strengths of the insurance industry to positively impact communities at the local and national level, specifically young children at risk of illiteracy,” says William Ross, CEO of the IICF.

The IICF is directed and funded by the insurance industry to provide communities with grants, volunteer service and leadership. It has contributed over $19 million and 166,000 volunteer hours to nonprofits since 1994.

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