Morgan Stanley commits $20 million for education initiative

(Reuters) – Morgan Stanley on Monday made a $20 million commitment to an education and career initiative for students from low-to-moderate income backgrounds, the latest move by the Wall Street bank to address under-representation of specific groups.

The bank said the initiative, which will impact over 30,000 students, was aimed at tackling the systemic inequities in education and career outcomes faced by high school and college students.

The bank will spend the $20 million over the next five years.

The move comes a year after Morgan Stanley unveiled a scholarship fund for students in historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd. It committed to spending $12 million over four year for this purpose.

The initiative also includes partnerships with notable non-profit organizations including A Better Chance, Hispanic Federation, SEO and others.

Morgan Stanley launched its Institute for Inclusion in November last year with a $25 million initial commitment and an advisory board of 11 members from business, academic and philanthropic communities.

The body was formed in an effort to support diversity, equity and inclusion within the bank and in communities outside of it.

(Reporting by Sohini Podder in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)