Manulife Helping to Bridge the Technology Gap in Education
January 25, 2021
Donates New Computers to 25 Waterloo Region Schools
Supports Wilfrid Laurier University’s Lift Off to Higher Education
WATERLOO – The pandemic has brought new challenges to classrooms across Canada, and teachers have responded by delivering innovative plans for virtual learning. Manulife sat down with teachers to learn how to help during these difficult times. The answer was more technology. With the surge in digital learning, now more than ever access to technology is critical.
As a result, Manulife is donating computers to 25 schools in the Waterloo Region, where the Company has a long history of community involvement, and where its Canadian headquarters are located.
“Teachers play an incredibly important role in shaping the future of our children,” said Mike Doughty, President & CEO, Manulife Canada. “Manulife is proud to help bridge the gap and bring more technology into classrooms as students continue adapting to virtual learning.”
In addition to helping teachers and their students stay connected, Manulife is proud to support Wilfrid Laurier University’s Lift Off to Higher Education program. Lift Off to Higher Education helps students in grade seven and eight identify their interests, build financial literacy skills and introduce them to different paths of education. At an early age, students are expected to make decisions about their post-secondary education, and with the help of Manulife, Laurier can provide helpful information and opportunities for students to better set and achieve their goals for the future.
In response to COVID-19, Manulife has focused on several critical fronts, globally. This includes ensuring food security for the most vulnerable by partnering with food banks and distribution organizations, supporting the well-being of health care workers, enabling mental health support through digital programs, and facilitating donation matching and virtual volunteer programs.
Locally, Manulife matched donations up to a maximum of $200,000 made by the residents of the Waterloo Region, raising more than $695,565 for St. Mary's General Hospital in Kitchener. And, most recently, Manulife gave each of its 35,000 employees around the world the spending equivalent of $50 CAD in their local currency to ‘pay it forward’ and create acts of kindness in their local communities this past holiday season.
About Manulife
Manulife Financial Corporation is a leading international financial services group that helps people make their decisions easier and lives better. With our global headquarters in Toronto, Canada, we operate as Manulife across our offices in Canada, Asia, and Europe, and primarily as John Hancock in the United States. We provide financial advice, insurance, and wealth and asset management solutions for individuals, groups and institutions. At the end of 2019, we had more than 35,000 employees, over 98,000 agents, and thousands of distribution partners, serving almost 30 million customers. As of September 30, 2020, we had $1.3 trillion (US$943 billion) in assets under management and administration, and in the previous 12 months we made $31.2 billion in payments to our customers. Our principal operations are in Asia, Canada and the United States where we have served customers for more than 155 years. We trade as 'MFC' on the Toronto, New York, and the Philippine stock exchanges and under '945' in Hong Kong.