More than 90% of the world’s 1.1 billion youth, ages 15-24, live in the developing world. This is the largest youth population in history and governments and communities are struggling to provide them with high quality and relevant education and economic opportunities that support their financial inclusion and enable them to become productive members of the community. The recent economic crisis has only exacerbated these challenges with waves of young people being forced to rely on their families and the informal job market because of the lack of accessible academic and formal employment opportunities available to them. In fact, according to the International Labour Organization, this has been the sharpest increase in youth unemployment ever recorded and today there are over 81 million unemployed young people in the world. ... read more.

To Write Love On Her Arms (TWLOHA) of Cocoa, Florida was awarded a $1 million grant from Chase at the first-ever American Giving Awards (AGAs) on NBC tonight. The program, hosted by 22-time Emmy Award-winner Bob Costas, featured celebrity tributes to five charities selected through online voting. Stars including will.i.am, Miley Cyrus, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, 50 Cent, and Rodney Atkins celebrated the accomplishments of the charities.

To Write Love on Her Arms is dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide. TWLOHA exists to encourage, inform, inspire and also to invest directly into treatment and recovery.

“Winning a million dollars on national television, confetti falling down, that’s something I couldn’t even have dreamed up. It was just amazing. It was the biggest moment in our history and the best night of my life,” Said Jamie Tworkowski, Founder of TWLOHA. “The $1 million grant from Chase instantly changes what the next year will look like for us. It will allow us to be more creative than ever before in bringing our message of hope and help to the world. It also allows us to invest in treatment and recovery more than ever before.”

“The American Giving Awards was a terrific way to honor outstanding charitable work and to celebrate the spirit of giving that Chase supports in communities around the world,” said Kimberly Davis, President of the JPMorgan Chase Foundation. “We look forward to continuing the successful partnership with over 3.3 million Chase Community Giving fans on Facebook.” ... read more.

Three-year grant will help open six new schools in New York City and support the organization’s continued work in Central Harlem’s school district

The JPMorgan Chase Foundation is helping improve education in New York City by providing $2.5 million to Turnaround for Children Inc. to help open six new public schools, in partnership with the New York City Department of Education, in the city’s high-poverty districts using the non-profit’s innovative intervention model.

The three-year grant will also support Turnaround’s continued transformation of three schools in Central Harlem, which began in 2009 to help students and teachers overcome poverty-related obstacles to teaching and learning and implement whole school practices.

The new K-8 public schools are expected to open in Brooklyn and Queens by fall 2012.

“As New York’s largest bank, we are committed to investing in programs that increase economically disadvantaged children’s access to high-quality educational opportunities,” said Kimberly Davis, president of the JPMorgan Chase Foundation. “Turnaround has built a model for success by attacking the achievement gap and creating the positive school culture essential for healthy learning and growth.” ... read more.