WELLESLEY, Mass.
and WALTHAM, Mass., April 1,
2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Sun Life U.S. has partnered
with Bentley University as an
inaugural corporate sponsor for first-generation college students
within the school's FirstGen Presidential Fellows (FPF) program.
The Sun Life FirstGen Scholarship Fund, established with a
$100,000 corporate gift, will support
two FirstGen Presidential Fellows for each of their four years at
Bentley. Launched last fall,
Bentley's FPF program engages a
small group of high-achieving students from underrepresented groups
in an array of holistic offerings to promote academic, professional
and personal development. During the students' four years at
Bentley, they will participate in
program-specific workshops, and leadership and community-based
experiences that promote meaningful learning and inspire
change.
"We are excited to support the enrollment and retention of
diverse first-generation students, who will share their strengths
and perspectives with the Bentley
community," said Tammi Wortham,
senior vice president of Human Resources at Sun Life U.S.
"Bentley's goal to increase the
diversity of their student body matches our own goals, and will
allow us to be an impactful partner in driving change within the
university as well as bringing strong candidates to Sun Life and
other organizations."
The Bentley FPF program provides mentorship, development,
support, and a full academic scholarship to each student. The
program was created to offer a "transformative" educational
opportunity to high-performing, first-generation college students,
and to help grow the diversity of the growing student body.
"Bentley University is
committed to making our campus and the business world more diverse
and inclusive," said Jane De León, PhD, associate dean of Arts and
Sciences and faculty director of Bentley's FirstGen Presidential Fellows
program. "First-generation students are central to this goal
because of the unique perspectives, talents and life experiences
they bring. This program helps them further tap into those talents
while gaining academic, professional, and life skills that prepare
them to make a positive impact on the organizations they join after
graduation."
Sun Life and Bentley have
worked closely together for years. In addition to many
new-graduate hires from Bentley,
Sun Life has been a member of the university's Center for Women and
Business Executive Working Group since 2017, actively working to
foster more inclusive workplaces and examine key issues impacting
workplace gender diversity and equity.
"Bentley is an excellent school
for business and other academic areas, and we know these students
only learn and thrive," said Dan
Fishbein, M.D., president of Sun Life U.S. "We're confident
that they will be well-prepared to enter into the professional
world and achieve success."
Sun Life will engage with program students during their time at
Bentley, including potential
internships and job opportunities after graduation. Sun Life
scholarship recipients will receive notification this spring and
will begin their first semester in September
2021.
About Sun Life
Sun Life is a leading international
financial services organization providing insurance, wealth and
asset management solutions to individual and corporate Clients. Sun
Life has operations in a number of markets worldwide, including
Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Hong
Kong, the Philippines,
Japan, Indonesia, India, China,
Australia, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia and Bermuda. As of December
31, 2020, Sun Life had total assets under management of
C$1,247 billion. For more
information, please visit www.sunlife.com.
Sun Life Financial Inc. trades on the Toronto (TSX), New
York (NYSE) and Philippine (PSE) stock exchanges under the
ticker symbol SLF.
In the United States, Sun Life
is one of the largest group benefits providers, serving more than
60,000 employers in small, medium and large workplaces across the
country. Sun Life's broad portfolio of insurance products and
services in the U.S. includes disability, absence management, life,
dental, vision, voluntary, supplemental health and medical
stop-loss. Sun Life and its affiliates in asset management
businesses in the U.S. employ approximately 5,500 people. Group
insurance policies are issued by Sun Life Assurance Company of
Canada (Wellesley Hills, Mass.), except in
New York, where policies are
issued by Sun Life and Health Insurance Company (U.S.)
(Lansing, Mich.). For more
information, please visit www.sunlife.com/us.
About Bentley
University
Bentley
University is more than just one of the nation's top business
schools. It is a lifelong-learning community that creates
successful leaders who make business a force for positive change.
With a combination of business and the arts and sciences and a
flexible, personalized approach to education, Bentley provides students with critical
thinking and practical skills that prepare them to lead successful,
rewarding careers. Founded in 1917, the university enrolls 4,200
undergraduate and 1,000 graduate and PhD students and is set on 163
acres in Waltham, Massachusetts,
10 miles west of Boston. For more
information, visit www.bentley.edu.
Media contacts:
Devon Fernald
Sun Life U.S.
781-800-3609
Devon.Portney.Fernald@sunlife.com
Helen Henrichs
Bentley University
781-891-2277
hhenrichs@bentley.edu
Connect with Sun Life U.S.
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SOURCE Sun Life U.S.