We would like to express our sincere thanks and appreciation to those who were able to attend Sidley’s 150th Anniversary Celebration on Thursday, June 16 at the New York Public Library. We hope you enjoyed the evening as much as we enjoyed having you there.
In addition to marking this milestone, we were privileged to have our nonprofit partners, New York Cares and United Way of New York City, in attendance. These organizations make a difference every day in New York City and have played an integral role in Sidley’s efforts to enhance reading programs in New York City public schools.
Please know that we greatly value our clients and friends, and are grateful to count you among them.
About Sidley’s Corporate Social Responsibility Program
Sidley is dedicated to building stronger communities through partnerships and to providing our skills and resources to promote positive change. Our Corporate Social Responsibility Program enables us to create opportunities for our professionals to dedicate their talents to serving those in need. We regularly partner with our clients on volunteer projects that aid the underserved in our community, including our initiative to promote education and reading for at-risk students by donating books and school supplies to elementary school children.
In 2014, Sidley commemorated the centennial of our New York office by giving back to the community with a $1 million donation to benefit New York Cares and United Way of New York City. Sidley has long provided leadership on the boards of both of these prominent New York organizations. This donation has been used to further enhance reading programs in New York public schools.
About United Way of New York City
United Way of New York City (UWNYC) works with children, families, schools and community partners on a shared goal of improving literacy rates and overall academic achievement. For centuries, New Yorkers have come to this City to create a new and better future for ourselves and our families. UWNYC supports this tradition by bringing key sectors and stakeholders together to build a City of possibility for all New Yorkers. They combine our dollars and cents with their scale and expertise to get results, accelerating the pace of progress and impact on our communities. Propelled by Sidley’s 2014 gift, UWNYC is working with local partners to double the number of children reading on grade-level by third grade in neighborhoods of concentrated poverty in New York City by 2020.
New York Cares is the city’s largest volunteer management organization, running volunteer programs for 1,350 nonprofits, city agencies and public schools. Driven by Sidley’s gift in 2014, New York Cares has launched a five-year expansion comprised of three pillars of programming: two existing New York Cares education programs—School Success and College Access—and College Success, a new pilot initiative focused on civic engagement for students entering the CUNY system. New York Cares’ strong relationships with public schools and service agencies, along with their ability to deploy trained volunteers to address multiple areas of community need, uniquely positions them to provide deep support to disadvantaged students. The program expansion commenced during the 2014–2015 school year will continue through 2019, spurring the launch of a campaign to raise $1.5 million in additional funds for education. By 2019, New York Cares will annually serve 77% more students than in the 2013–2014 school year.