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Community Involvement

Time Warner’s corporate philanthropy is focused on education and the arts. In these two arenas we support not-for-profit organizations that are:

• Providing opportunity for diverse talent to grow and succeed; and
• Broadening public access to arts experiences.

Our investments reflect our commitment to promoting equality in Time Warner’s workplace and in the communities where we live and do business. As part of this effort, we ask the non-profit organizations that receive Time Warner’s financial support to tell us how they address diversity as part of their larger mission – including board membership, programs, and organizational policies and hiring practices.

Providing Opportunity for Diverse Talent to Grow and Succeed
A diversity of opinions and ideas is critical to the future of our business, our country, and the world. Through our grant programs, we nurture diverse talent and enable new voices to be heard.

In the Arts
Diverse Voices in the Arts Initiative
In early 2004, Time Warner launched our Diverse Voices in the Arts Initiative to help nurture emerging storytellers that represent diverse perspectives. Included in this initiative are Time Warner supported programs at three renowned New York City theaters known for their work in cultivating emerging playwrights: Playwrights Horizons, the Public Theater, and Second Stage Theatre. In 2007, in conjunction with the Sundance Institute, we launched the Time Warner Storytelling Advancement Fund, a new program which seeks to cultivate the works of diverse writers so their stories may be brought to the stage or film.This program was conceived and developed with the input of executives from HBO and Warner Bros.

To help meet the needs of smaller arts organizations, we created the Diverse Voices Small Theater Fund which provides support to community based theater and arts groups in NYC that present or develop work by artists from diverse backgrounds.

Youth Media and Creative Arts Initiative
Through the Youth Media and Arts Fund, launched in 2005, the company supports high-quality New York City-based after-school programs that engage underserved youth in a variety of arts disciplines – from visual arts to performing arts to filmmaking. These programs work with teens to give them the opportunity to develop and express their voices while using the arts to help them acquire learning skills that prepare them for success in school, work and life. A 2006 independent survey of Time Warner’s youth-focused grantees conducted by Policy Studies Associates indicated that, as a result of Time Warner funding, 71% of youth arts grantees reported increased self-confidence and self-esteem in their students and 64% of grantees reported improved learning skills of participants. In 2007, annual reports from two Time Warner grantees, Reel Works and Urban Word NYC, stated that 86% of Reel Works alums are still in high school or higher education and 90% of Urban Word’s core students finished high school and went on to college.

In Education
We believe that the long-term success of our communities and company depends on growing a college-educated workforce that reflects the diversity of the global marketplace.

With this in mind, we launched two thriving initiatives dedicated to increasing college access among underserved youth.

Time Warner College Prep Initiative
Since 2005, Time Warner has supported a select number of college preparatory programs in New York City that work to increase the academic performance of under-served middle and high school students and help them make a successful transition to college. These programs include rigorous academic components and communicate high expectations to students. In addition, we strengthened ties between the company’s (STARS Students Taking a Right Step) internship program and highly successful college preparatory nonprofit groups with the long-term goal of creating a pipeline of talent into the company.

Time Warner National Scholarship Initiative
The Time Warner National Scholarship Initiative supports the work of several nationally recognized scholarship organizations, including the Hispanic Scholarship Fund (HSF); the Point Foundation, which focuses on Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) youth; UNCF; and the American Indian College Fund.

Broadening Access to the Arts
Time Warner has a long tradition of supporting the arts. Our funding is directed toward opportunities that support our company’s efforts to reach new and diverse audiences. Two examples:

CityParks Theater
In 2006, Time Warner and the CityParks Foundation developed and launched a pilot program that brought free theater performances to parks in New York City’s Harlem and Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhoods. New locations and additional park performances were added in 2007, and plans are underway to continue growing the program’s community appeal in 2008.

Ticket Initiative at Signature Theatre Company
In 2005, Time Warner launched a ground-breaking ticket program in partnership with one of the New York City’s most respected not-for-profit theaters. Through the partnership, Time Warner funded the theater to make every seat for every performance in its season available for $15. Between the end of 2005 and the spring of 2007, the Signature Theatre Ticket Initiative gave more than 50,000 people the chance to see quality theater at an affordable $15 price, including a trilogy of plays by the late August Wilson. This opportunity was marketed through community groups across New York which helped attract new audiences, many experiencing live theater for the first time. The program received a great deal of press attention and its success is being modeled in other cities as an innovative example of corporate involvement in the arts. In 2007, Time Warner re-committed to another four years of funding for the Signature Theatre Ticket Initiative which will keep tickets for all seats at all performances at $20 through 2011.

Students participate in Prep for Prep, one of the college-readiness nonprofit organizations supported by Time Warner.


As part of our effort to broaden public access to the Arts, Time Warner funded the launch of Signature Theatre's $15 ticket initiative, making every seat for every performance available for the price of a movie and a popcorn.