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Merrill Lynch to Invigorate "Principal for a Day" Program in Los Angeles
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| Greg Mech, left, and Eddy Bayardelle |
Merrill Lynch announced it will lead the building of corporate participation in the Principal for a Day program in Los Angeles. In recent months, the company has expanded its role in the program beyond New York City to add Chicago, Atlanta and Broward County, Florida.
Harry McMahon, vice chairman, Executive Client Coverage Group, who is based in Los Angeles, hosted a luncheon on October 17 at which he said Merrill Lynch will work to increase participation in the program by its clients and by local corporations.
During the luncheon, he and Merrill Lynch banking, investment and philanthropy executives discussed their plans with senior representatives of the city's superintendent of schools and the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, which coordinates the program. Glenn Gritzner, special assistant to Roy Romer, the superintendent of Los Angeles schools, attended the luncheon and said the Principal for a Day program is in line with the superintendent's initiatives.
Principal for a Day in Los Angeles, set for March 28, will bring local executives into the schools as honorary headmasters, so they can talk about improvements and encourage student achievement.
"The Principal for a Day program offers Merrill Lynch employees a firsthand look at public education and serves as a springboard for working with Los Angeles public schools on other initiatives such as the Investing Pays Off curriculum, Global Classrooms® partnership with the United Nations Association of the United States of America, and WorldwideKids, Merrill Lynch's partnership with Sesame Workshop," said Eddy Bayardelle, head of Global Philanthropy.
"It's a very exciting program that has been a terrific success for us in other geographies," said Mr. McMahon, "so it's long overdue for us to get involved in the city of Los Angeles, which is second only to the New York metropolitan area in terms of high school students in need of mentorship. It makes sense that we get involved." Mr. McMahon, a 22-year employee, said the goal is to have Merrill Lynch executives constitute a third of the program's participants.
"There are few issues more important than education in our urban communities in this country, and there's nothing more fulfilling than to provide a modicum of mentorship and guidance for future generations." Mr. McMahon said.
The Principal for a Day program is sponsored by Public Education Needs Civic Involvement in Learning (PENCIL), a New York-based organization founded in 1995 to boost civic involvement in education.
Greg Mech, managing director of GPC's Western division, said he is committed to getting Merrill Lynch clients and the Los Angeles business community involved. "If we can coalesce the business community around the priority of educating the children in the cities we work and live in, the benefits to the cities and the market as a whole are significant," he said. Mr. Mech was a principal for a day at a school in Chicago for several years and keeps in touch to see how he can help.
"Merrill Lynch has demonstrated success in our endeavors is other cities, and we can use that success as a template to help the Los Angeles program achieve its potential," he said.
Other colleagues at the luncheon were VP Tracy Murphy, divisional sales manager for GPC's Western division, and Bradley J. Dykes, regional managing director of GPC's Greater Los Angeles region, who Mr. Mech said can help marshal the volunteers the Principal for a Day program needs.
Devon Baranski, director of the Private Banking and Investment Group's Southwest Mountain region, who has participated in the Los Angeles program, praised Merrill Lynch's commitment to the program. Mr. Baranski became involved with the program at the suggestion of Garrett Gin, director of community development, who also attended the luncheon.
In prior years, when ML was just a participant in the program, Mr. Baranski said, interest and momentum seemed to wane soon after the program ended. But "with Merrill Lynch involved, it feels like there's going to be a true relationship developed, a true partnership between Merrill Lynch and the Los Angeles education community," he said, adding that he looks forward to helping to teach the Investing Pays Off curriculum in Los Angeles schools.
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| From left, Glenn Gritzner, special assistant to the superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District; Brad Dkyes; Greg Mech; Alma Salazer, manager, Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce; Devon Baranski; Dale Petrulis, director of the school district's Adopt-A-School Office; Harry McMahon; Eddy Bayardelle; David Rattray, vice president, Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce; Tracy Murphy and Garrett Gin |