20 Years of Inspiring Better Futures With PNC

In 2004, the PNC Foundation was faced with a challenge: it had focused grantmaking on meeting the unique needs of the communities in the company’s 12 markets. While this enabled custom solutions to local challenges, the PNC Foundation struggled to clearly articulate the impact its philanthropy was driving.

Recognizing the need to align grantmaking with one cause, the PNC Foundation first turned to employees for input. Overwhelmingly, employees expressed a passion for early childhood education. This led to the launch of PNC Grow Up Great, a $500 million, multi-year, bilingual initiative aimed at preparing children from birth to age five for success in school and life. Fast forward to today, Grow Up Great is celebrating its 20th anniversary, having positively impacted more than 10 million children through grants and educational programs across the U.S.

We invited Sally McCrady, Chair and President of the PNC Foundation, to share how Grow Up Great has sustained lasting impact over two decades. She highlighted the program’s strategic direction, driven by strong leadership engagement, active employee volunteerism, and a commitment to asking, “Is this going to help children?” By staying true to this mission and fostering a culture of service, Grow Up Great has become a powerful force for early childhood education, inspiring long-term success both within PNC and in the communities it serves.

Listen for insights on:

• Managing a philanthropic initiative so it remains relevant and impactful
• Working alongside and supporting partners in growing their capabilities and offerings
• Engaging employees through skills-based volunteerism

Listen to this and other episodes of Purpose 360 Podcast here.

Purpose 360 Podcast is a masterclass in unlocking the potential of purpose to ignite business and social impact. Hosted by Carol Cone, CEO of Carol Cone ON PURPOSE, Purpose 360 illuminates the impact of purpose, from engaging employees and fostering deeper consumer loyalty to inspiring product innovation and increasing market share.

Carol Cone ON PURPOSE (CCOP) is a pioneering social impact consultancy helping companies, brands, and nonprofits harness the power of purpose to advance their business and societal impact. CCOP's proven approach, developed over decades and hundreds of purpose assignments, meets clients at any point on their purpose journey to unlock opportunities to build reputation, inspire and engage employees, ignite organizational culture for innovation and growth, while supporting the greater good.