TD Canada Trust, as part of the 2021 TD Ready Challenge, has awarded $1m to Tech Spark Canada, and $750,000.00 to The Reading Partnership. This is part of a larger TD funding effort that will distribute $10M to 15 non-profit and charitable organizations in Canada and the U.S.

These grants were awarded to organizations that aim to help support students most affected by school closures due to COVID and virtual learning disruptions. Tech Spark Canada and The Reading partnership are both led by Black women.

Tech Spark Canada plan to bolster their Spark Plug program, which uses artificial intelligence, to provide predictive learning experiences to increase engagement in reading and math for racialized students in grades 6-12.

Tamar Huggins, Founder and CEO of Tech Spark Canada, in an interview with the Caribbean Camera said that she was rather proud to be “the first woman to successfully lead the development of an edtech platform using data science, AI, culture and equity in North America.”  She indicated that the million-dollar investment from TD “will allow us to scale our work into 500 schools and reach 40,000 students across North America.”

Huggins, a multi-award-winning tech entrepreneur, published author and education advocate, commended TD for its generosity: “This investment from TD is definitely a career milestone for myself

and my company; and it’s not even about the money, so much as it is about TD’s willingness to support innovation.

“There are people that say they want to support a Black woman changing the face of technology, but when it came time to give me what I asked for, I heard a lot of back peddling from other banks. I am so grateful for the doors that were abruptly closed in my face last year. Sometimes, those who don’t get it, aren’t supposed to. TD gets it. Now, we’re really going to make some good trouble.”

The Reading Partnership, which is under the leadership of Founder and Executive Director Camesha Cox, was awarded a $750,000 grant to advance their Reading Partnership for Parents (RPP) program. The program helps parents teach their kids in grades K-1 to read, and equip other organizations to deliver RPP as well. The Reading Partnership is affiliated with the Canadian Children’s Literacy Foundation.

According to a statement issued by The Reading Partnership: “With support from TD through its annual TD Ready Challenge, we will expand ‘Reading Partnership for Parents’. This evidence-based program has engaged Black, Indigenous and racialized families in East Scarborough for 10 years, and by expanding, we will reach 736 families in high-potential, low-income communities across Canada.”

Registration for the Reading Partnership for Parents program is now open, and is currently enrolling families in the Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library free book gifting program.