Power of Good

E PowerofGood.com | Winter 2014 1 Each grant, Each scholarship awarded by the Alabama Power Foundation tells a story. In 25 years, the foundation has given thousands of grants and scholarships totaling more than $150 million. That makes for a lot of good stories, and stories of good. Stories like: • The Mobile Area Education Foun- dation – one of dozens of education groups the Alabama Power Founda- tion has supported – in its 22 years has helped rally a civic army that continues pushing to transform Mobile County schools from embarrassing to inspiring. • Horseshoe Farm in Greensboro provides programs and activities for elderly and mentally disabled mem- bers of the community, as well as tutoring and mentoring programs for schoolchildren while teaching leadership skills to current and recently graduated college students. • The YWCA Central Alabama, which targets its programs toward affordable housing, child care, domestic violence services and social justice, has worked with other nonprofits, merchants, residents, schools and churches to revitalize the Woodlawn neighborhood near downtown Birmingham. It has been my privilege these past two years as the president of the foun- dation to help make good stories like this happen and, as Alabama Power's vice president of Public Relations and Charitable Giving, to ensure that we share many of these stories of good. Almost since its beginning more than a century ago, Alabama Power has worked to make this state a better place – part of our founder's charge that the company "be developed for the service of Alabama." The foun- dation's creation in October 1989 formalized and enhanced the com- pany's efforts to improve the quality of life in Alabama. Originally funded with a donation from shareholders, the foundation distributes grants and scholarships from what it earns on assets of about $135 million. Rate- payer dollars have never funded the foundation's programs. Thousands of grants and scholar- ships and $150 million later, how do you measure the impact? I would suggest one difference-making grant or scholarship at a time, whether it is funding a camp for sick kids, pre-kin- dergarten for 4-year-olds in high-need communities, or a scholarship that allows a bright disadvantaged student to be the first in her family to attend college. Those examples are just a fraction of the many ways the foundation has helped Alabama in 25 years of fulfilling its mission: "to improve the lives and circumstances of Alabamians and to strengthen the communities in which they live." Now what? Our 25 th anniversary is a fitting time to consider the foundation's, course over the next quarter-century. Specifically, what can the foundation do to create an even larger, more last- ing impact on Alabama? How can we be more strategic in our giving to get the most out of our dollars? Toward that end, we have formed a committee to study what our stra- tegic focus should be. We are looking for best practices to put in place here and are visiting foundations that have had great success working with non- profits and community partners. Where will that lead us? Maybe in the same direction we've been head- ing for the past few years. That means identifying needs head on rather than reacting to them, and encouraging our community partners to work together on great ideas. As we focus on the foundation's future, rest assured our mission will not change. We remain committed to improving the lives and circumstances of Alabamians and to strengthening our communities. Our goal is to do that even better these next 25 years. John O. Hudson III Vice president, Public Relations and Charitable Giving; president, Alabama Power Foundation; executive director, Alabama Business Charitable Trust Fund. the goodnews

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