Chrysler Brand Strengthens Posse Support

Chrysler Brand and the FCA Foundation, the charitable arm of automaker FCA US LLC, will further strengthen their support of Posse by providing a second year of $250,000 in funding to The Posse Foundation.

One year ago, Chrysler Brand and Posse established its partnership with a $250,000 grant to help students realize their academic potential and ensure strong future leaders. FCA also hired a Posse Scholar summer intern and company executives volunteered their time and talent working with Scholars and staff.

“Chrysler Brand is proud to collaborate with Posse in supporting the academic pathway for rising student leaders who are committed to making a difference on campus and in their communities,” said Timothy Kuniskis, the head of passenger car brands—Dodge, SRT, Chrysler and FIAT, FCA—North America. “We’re fully committed to building a robust, meaningful and effective partnership, including the involvement of our Chrysler Brand team in a variety of volunteer opportunities with Posse across the country.”

Connecticut College Scholar Chakena Sims was a 2015 summer intern in the External Affairs department at FCA US headquarters in Auburn Hills, Michigan. She will graduate from college in December and hopes to develop her own business and some day run for Congress.

“FCA allowed me to apply my community organizing skills in a corporate setting and exposed me to the intersection between government and business relations,” says Chakena. “My team valued my insight and reminded me that I wasn’t just an intern; I was an employee."

Posse is pleased to have Jody Trapasso, the senior vice president of external affairs for FCA North America and president of the FCA Foundation, serving as a career coach to Bucknell University Scholar Ty Chung, and welcomed Chrysler Brand executives who volunteered as part of the selection process for new Scholars in Washington, D.C., Boston and Chicago.

“We are grateful to the Chrysler Brand and FCA U.S. Foundation for their enthusiastic and significant support of Posse and its Scholars,” says Posse President and Founder Deborah Bial. “Chrysler’s commitment to developing a more diverse network of leaders for the workforce is right in line with Posse’s mission and we are thrilled to call them a partner.”