WARREN, Ohio – Ultium Cells and the GM Cares Foundation presented a $50,000 2025 Chevrolet Express passenger van to Inspiring Minds to help the organization transport its students.
“We recognize the transportation deficit in the area,” said Dominick Brown, business planner at Ultium Cells. “They
have 200 kids that are a part of their program, and so being able to get them from point A to point B – they had transportation issues. So we thought that it would be a good thing to partner with them to benefit from the fundraising efforts.”
The presentation Friday was through a partnership with Spitzer Chevrolet in Lordstown.
GM Cares, Ultium Cells and Inspiring Minds conducted fundraisers through September and October, raising $25,000. Through a corporate match, GM Cares contributed the remaining $25,000. Brown said the foundation has a program called Dollars for Doers, paying $450 per employee for 15 hours of community service.
The whole effort, which also included contributions from the Wean Foundation and assistance from Valley Partners and other groups, raised more than $54,000.
Tom Gallagher, Ultium vice president of operations, said the organization has been contributing to community organizations since Ultium started in the Mahoning Valley.
“We’ve invested, since we’ve been in the community, more than $250,000 across a variety of different efforts,” Gallagher said. “We typically do STEM, workforce development and then community needs. We prioritize our gift giving and fundraising in those spaces.”
The company recognized Inspiring Minds’ need and was inspired by the work the organization does, he said.
“And I think Dominick brings up a great point, that transportation to and from the school programs and others were a real need, and we’re a transportation company with solutions,” Gallagher said.
Inspiring Minds, which started in Warren 20 years ago and has chapters in Youngstown, Columbus, Dayton, Philadelphia, New York City and Raleigh-Durham, N.C., provides after-school and summer enrichment programs for students from third grade through graduation. Many stay involved with the organization through those years.
Founder and CEO Deryck Toles said the organization needs transportation because of the amount of work it does.
“We’re transporting kids home and to the building,” he said. “We go on a lot of college visits. We also go visit a lot of different companies, so there’s also a lot of travel incorporated. Having access to reliable transportation is huge.”
The program also is growing, exacerbating its transportation needs. Since recently moving into its building on Woodland Street Northeast, the Inspiring Minds’ Warren chapter has increased from 100 to about 500 students.
“We have that many more students that we have to move around, so having this van is priceless,” Toles said.
Across the organization’s chapters, he estimates that more than 6,000 students have been served. During the school year, Inspiring Minds takes students to visit colleges monthly, alternating those with company visits. During the summer, college visits happen weekly. For at least 90% of the students who take those trips, the college visits they make with the organization are their first, the founder said.
Toles said the biggest difference Inspiring Minds makes in the lives of children and teens is access.
“I think when you get access to the world and you get access to opportunity and then you have some people who ride with you and wrap their arms around you is when you realize truly that anything’s possible,” he said. “And I think that’s been the role that we play. It’s just being there for our students.”
Pictured at top: From left are Tom Gallagher, Ultium Cells vice president of operations; Deryck Toles, Inspiring Minds founder and CEO; Dominick Brown, Ultium business planner; and Sarra Mohn, owner of Jet Creative.