Please join us for our May Broadband Interest Group meeting where we will learn about Truist Cares, a $1 million fund created by the Truist Foundation in North Carolina to support broadband initiatives. Our guest speaker Meghan Pietrantonio, director of strategic initiatives at the Truist Foundation, will share with us information about the fund and how the initiative plans to bring high-speed internet infrastructure to low-income communities, Indigenous populations and communities of color in the southeastern United States.

Join us to learn:

• How Trust Financial Corporation, the sixth-largest commercial bank in the U.S., made the case internally to connect broadband to their company goals
• The goals, strategy and desired outcomes of the Truist Cares initiative
• How the Truist Foundation partnered with the community, the Internet Society and other funders on this project
• How the funds will be used and evaluated
• Advice and guidance for working with corporations on broadband

Background

The Broadband Interest Group's goal is to gain an action-oriented understanding of the role philanthropy can play in supporting broadband access, specifically in rural, Indigenous/Native communities and communities of color in our region. This group will partner with our Tribal Broadband Learning Community, federal and state government offices, community leaders and funder networks to help our communities get improved broadband access.

Speaker 

Meghan Pietrantonio, Truist Foundation, Vice President and Director of Strategic Initiatives

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Meghan Pietrantonio is vice president and director of strategic initiatives for the Truist Foundation. Established in December 2019, the Foundation’s purpose is to inspire and build better lives and communities. Meghan is leading the design, development and implementation of the new foundation’s national grantmaking strategy and signature programs. Prior to this role, she served as first vice president and relationship manager within the Foundations and Endowments Specialty Practice at SunTrust Bank, where she guided family and independent foundations on grantmaking, succession planning, servant leadership and foundation management.  

Meghan regularly engages with the Southeastern Council of Foundations (SECF), the Atlanta Foundations Forum (Past Convener), the Georgia Grantmakers Alliance and ACCP. She graduated from the SECF Hull Fellows Program in 2011 and is an alumna of LEAD Atlanta’s Class of 2014. Meghan earned her master's degree in business administration from Georgia Tech and is a cum laude graduate of Vanderbilt University.

Please contact Lyn Hunter with any questions.