Ciba Corporation is committed to being an active and welcome neighbor in the communities where we operate. At our sites across the region, we have programs to ensure open communication between site management and local residents, businesses and local and state governments. These efforts include citizen advisory councils, meetings with site management, partnerships with local schools and non-profit organizations, newsletters for local residents, preparedness drills with local emergency officials and much more.   

Ciba Foundation
Through the Ciba Foundation, Ciba reaches out to the community in strong support of science education. The Ciba Foundation is a catalyst for change, working to forge new partnerships among schools, businesses and communities. The Foundation supports programs and learning experiences which help young people make successful transitions from classroom to career and develop the scientists of tomorrow who will drive the chemical industry forward in meeting new challenges.    

Our focus on science education allows us to leverage Foundation funds on activities we believe can improve the quality of life for residents in the communities where we operate and also across the country as a whole.  Our interest in promoting greater awareness for human health and environmental issues is allowing us to use the Ciba Foundation to make a greater difference where we live and work.

Proposals for funding are invited by the foundation; unsolicited requests are not accepted.   

Foundation Contact:
Ellen Sanfilippo
Ciba Foundation
540 White Plains Road
Tarrytown, NY 10591
Tel: (914) 785-4029
ellen.sanfilippo@ciba.com   

A Summary of The Ciba Foundation Grants for 2008

ACCESS College Foundation, Norfolk, VA:  A grant from the Ciba Foundation provides funding for onsite college access advisory services in each of the Suffolk, Virginia public high schools with the intent to increase the number of students who attend college and vocational programs.

Alabama Southern Community College, Monroeville, AL:  Through a partnership among Ciba Corporation’s production site in McIntosh, Ala. and the college, Alabama Southern Community College provides two-year full scholarships to five area high school students, which is made possible through funding from the Ciba Foundation. This technical career preparation program includes internships offering hands-on industry experience and culminates in the students' attainment of an Associate Chemical Technician degree. The program has received national acclaim from educators, and two of the program's first graduates were hired by Ciba.   

The Children’s Village, Dobbs Ferry, NY: Since 1851, The Children’s Village cares for some of the most at-risk children in Westchester County and New York City, serving over 1,000 children and their families each year in residential settings and nearly 10,000 through community based programs. The Ciba Foundation supports the Job Developer position for the Village’s Work Appreciation for Youth (WAY) program, which is designed to teach the highly at –risk youth the value of education and to develop the attitudes and skills necessary to get and keep a job.

Environmental Education Center, Newport, DE: The Ciba Foundation has provided a grant to support the Town of Newport’s plans to establish an environmental education and preservation center at a tidal pool which flows off the Christina River in Northern Delaware. The project proposes to enhance the tidal pool, build an observation boardwalk with information on the wildlife supported within the Christina watershed and to provide an environmental lab and classroom setting for students to conduct water monitoring, develop river keeping skills and understand a lagoon’s importance to the habitat.

Guilford Technical Community College, Jamestown, NC:  The Ciba Foundation is supporting students interested in accounting and global supply chain logistics with this scholarship program at GTCC. The Foundation established an endowed scholarship in 1999, and funds generated from the endowment are used for full-tuition scholarships based on academic performance and interest.  The scholarship program has also funded other academic disciplines in the past and is updated regularly to meet the needs of the college and to match with the activities of the Ciba site in High Point, North Carolina.

Gulf Coast Exploreum Science Center, Mobile, AL:  A grant from the Ciba Foundation provides funding to this science education outreach center. The center features more than 100 interactive exhibits and the Ciba Lab. In the Ciba Lab, museum visitors can learn about a new topic each month in the lab units and participate in science demonstrations.

Manhattan College, Riverdale, NY:  Through an endowed scholarship, the Ciba environmental engineering scholarship is presented annually to a junior and senior who has attained excellent academic achievement in the environmental engineering program    A scholarship in the chemical engineering program is presented annually to a junior and senior who has attained academic achievement and intends to pursue a career in chemical engineering. The scholarship also includes the opportunity to participate in an internship/co-op program at the Ciba Corporation headquarters in Tarrytown, New York.

Mid-South Community College, West Memphis, AR: A grant was established at Mid-South Community College to provide funding for a workforce success counselor and work-based learning counselor, who provide critically needed guidance in career and academic preparation as part of the college’s Technical Center where high school students receive duel credit for courses taken at the college allowing them to graduate from high school and have a head start in college while also gaining career-specific skills while still in high school.   

New York Presbyterian Hospital, New York, NY:  The Foundation granted funding for future issues of their Cancer Prevention Newsletter, an international newsletter offering medical professionals, patients and healthcare consumers the latest information in the field of cancer prevention. Ciba advocates for better sunscreen protection in the US, and partners with the hospital to collaborate on sunscreen protection.

The Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA:   The Foundation established a scholarship program with the Smeal College of Business supporting graduate students earning MBA degrees with a focus on business marketing. The Ciba Scholars program targets students interested in international business and the study of business markets with the Institute for the Study of Business Markets (ISBM), which Ciba Corporation has worked with on business to business marketing in our global organization in the USA.  

University of South Alabama, Mobile, AL:  The Ciba Foundation is providing scholarship dollars for engineering students who have an interest in the disciplines of chemical or mechanical engineering. The scholarship provides funds for tuition for eligible students from the local area, with an opportunity to participate in an internship / co-op program with the Ciba Corporation site in McIntosh, Alabama.

Ciba Foundation Signature Programs

Exemplary Elementary/ Middle/High School Teacher and Principal Award: These awards are presented at the annual national NSTA conference, which attracts more than 30,000 science educators. Teachers are recognized for innovative and creative approaches to science education, and principals are honored for their leadership and support of science education in the classroom. This recognition includes a cash award of $5000 which is $4000 cash and $1000 for travel expenses to the NSTA National Meeting in March along with a one-year membership to NSTA.  The Ciba Foundation has supported science teachers and principals for more than 15 years through a partnership with National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) and the Council on Elementary Science Education (CESI). To learn more about this award please visit the NSTA website: www.nsta.org and click on Get Involved.

High School Chemistry Institute: For nearly two decades, the Ciba High School Chemistry Institute has brought together high school juniors for a high-impact two-week program in which they learn as much about themselves as they do about business and chemistry. These students, selected through a rigorous application process, must exhibit strong skills in the sciences and a passion for learning.

High School Science Awards: Each year, the outstanding graduating senior in science from area high schools in the communities where we operate in the US are presented with the Ciba High School Science Award. Each recipient receives a certificate, an award and a reception held in their honor at the local Ciba sites. Local site leadership presents the awards to students and give students and their parents a chance to learn more about the company, meet Ciba scientists, and make contact with peers who may be attending the same universities in the fall.