The Edison Charitable Foundation was established by Jeff and Leslie Edison to help PECO associates’ families realize and enjoy their educational dreams.
“By 2020 an estimated 2/3 of job openings will require post-secondary education or training. ”
Our Mission
The Edison Foundation is dedicated to helping Phillips Edison & Company’s "(“PECO”) associates’ families realize and enjoy their educational dreams.
Our Story
A few years ago, Jeff Edison, CEO and Chairman of Phillips Edison & Company (PECO), was invited to a networking event in Washington DC. During the evening, he saw someone sitting alone and decided to sit down. Imagine his surprise when he realized he was sitting with Bill Gates. They talked a bit and Jeff asked him about his philanthropy. How he chose where to be involved and where to focus his efforts. Gates said, “Don’t rush to get into things. It’s not something that you force. Be patient – you’ll find it and you’ll know it when you do.”
After that night, Jeff and his wife Leslie spent a lot of time thinking and talking about philanthropy. They went round and round about what it meant to them but kept coming back to three core issues that were important to them.
They love to be around people who are passionate. And they want to support that passion.
They felt strongly that they had benefited from a good education. They wanted to help others get that same benefit and facilitate their ability to enjoy the experience as well as the milestones.
They wanted their philanthropic efforts to benefit people they were close to - as opposed to people far away.
These three core principles and criteria led to The Edison Foundation. There is nothing in the world that people are more passionate about than they are about their kids and their families. The Edison Foundation supports the people who have helped make PECO so successful.
OUR Work
The Edison Foundation will achieve its mission through two primary initiatives:
Scholarship opportunities
Parent education regarding planning for their child's secondary education
Scholarships opportunities are available. Children, grandchildren, dependents and spouses of Phillips Edison & Company associates are eligible to apply. Awarded based on both need and merit, these funds are granted for post-secondary education including college, trade school, select development schools, similar educational programs for the disabled and post graduate education. Awards are granted for the term of the educational program provided the student continues to attend school on a full-time basis and maintains a cumulative GPA of 2.7 on a 4.0 scale.
Scholarship grants will be chosen with an emphasis on helping the student be able to afford the best education they can get. The Foundation’s primary objective in determining awards will be to make sure that every student that wants to attend college has the ability to do so. The second objective will be to ensure that students attend the best school that they can. There will be a selected number of scholarships awarded specifically on merit. The Edison Foundation has partnered with Kaleidoscope to administer its scholarship program.
All scholarship recipients will be asked to agree to mentor other scholarship recipient(s) that attend their school, helping to get them integrated into the new environment and positioned for success. The recipients will also be encouraged to “pay it forward” in the future if they are in a position to give back to the Foundation and help future generations of students. Inspiring the recipients in a manner that promotes the recipients' longer term support of the Foundation is an important part of the Foundation’s ongoing efforts to encourage leadership and growth opportunities for all recipients, and long-term success of the Foundation’s mission.
The application process is simple and straight forward. Interested and eligible students must complete the application, including all attachments. Visit our Scholarship FAQ page for more details.
Parent education will be provided to all Phillips Edison & Company associates who wish to participate in same. Developed and facilitated by Phillips Edison's in-house training and development team, PECO University, educational offerings will include topics such as starting a college savings plan, improving their experience with their school guidance counselor, understanding financial aid and creating a plan to prepare their children for post-secondary education starting early in their educational career.