Partner in the Spotlight: State Farm
From helping raise the achievement level of the nation's teachers and students, to making homes and highways safe, State Farm has a long history of working on behalf of the nation’s youth. State Farm has been a partner with America’s Promise Alliance since 2005 and is the exclusive sponsor of the Alliance’s landmark research study Every Child, Every Promise (ECEP), which was released in 2006 and measures the presence and impact of the Five Promises in the lives of America’s young people.
Recently, State Farm reaffirmed its commitment to the Alliance by donating $5 million as the lead sponsor for the “15 in 5” campaign. The campaign’s goal is to improve the lives of 15 million disadvantaged young people over the next five years, providing them with more of the essential Five Promise resources needed to succeed in life.
To achieve the 15 in 5 Campaign goal, the Alliance has developed three National Action Strategies to deliver more of the Five Promises to at-risk youth, State Farm will also sponsor Alliance efforts to promote this initiative, providing funding for a national public service advertising campaign.
About State Farm
Despite its exponential growth from a small, farming-community-based mutual auto insurer to one of the world's largest financial institutions, State Farm continues to pay homage to its founder's philosophy of reasonable, yet fairly priced insurance coverage paired with fair claim settlements.
In its 85th year, the cornerstone of State Farm’s success is managing more than 75 million auto, fire, life and health policies in the United States and Canada, and more than 1.7 million bank accounts. State Farm Insurance Companies and its Chairman and CEO Edward B. Rust, Jr. are nationally recognized for their efforts to collaborate with the business community to help improve the quality of education in the United States.
State Farm has identified three focus areas—teacher quality, service-learning, and systemic improvement—for the core of its work around education and youth. Its Education Excellence program is dedicated to addressing all three of these focus areas to help schools fulfill what State Farm has identified as the “nine elements of education excellence”—safety and discipline, parent involvement, standards, assessments, learning readiness, accountability, technology, professional development and school autonomy.
“State Farm does not solely function as a leading insurance provider but also operates as a member of the community, helping our nation’s children to become successful,” said Kathy Payne, director, Education Leadership, State Farm Insurance. “We believe our focus areas and elements of education excellence are directly in line with America's Promise Alliance’s Five Promises. We will nurture this partnership to reap the best possible benefits for our young people.”
Ranked as No. 31 on the Fortune 500 list of largest companies, State Farm has 17,000 agents and 68,000 employees who work to keep the company at the forefront as the leading home insurer, and insurer of more cars than any other insurance company in North America. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company is the parent of the State Farm family of companies. For more information, please visit www.statefarm.com or in Canada, www.statefarm.ca.
State Farm's Mission, Vision and Shared Values
State Farm's mission is to help people manage the risks of everyday life, recover from the unexpected and realize their dreams.
Employees make it their business to be like good neighbors—those who continue to develop this premier company by selling and keeping promises through its marketing partnerships and who bring diverse talents and experiences serving the State Farm customer.
The company’s success is built on a foundation of shared values: quality service and relationships, mutual trust, integrity and financial strength.
State Farm’s vision for the future is to be the customer's first and best choice in the products and services they provided. The company works hard to remain the leader in the insurance industry and strives to become a leader in the financial services arena. Customers’ needs will remain first and will also determine the company’s path while State Farms’ values will “light” that path.
Comments by State Farm CEO Ed Rust, Jr.
April 1st Dropout Prevention Campaign Announcement
I’m pleased to be with you today and to challenge the rest of the business community to join us as we address the dropout crisis in the United States.
This month, we recognize the twenty-fifth anniversary of a landmark report called “A Nation at Risk.” When it was issued in 1983, it clearly outlined the education crisis that was facing our nation and called on the American public to focus attention on our youth and our educational system. 
It became a clarion call for the business community to get involved in what has become a multi-decade education reform movement. Yet today, we are no closer to meeting the needs of our youth than we were in 1983. Multiple reports outline the serious challenges facing our most at-risk children. If we are to remain competitive as a nation and prepare our young people for their future opportunities, we cannot stand here today with yet another call to the nation that goes unanswered. We must come together and support our young people with the resources necessary for them to compete and be successful in an increasingly global world. Our nation’s future, our economic well-being and the lives of our children demand that this time we are successful.
Awareness is simply not enough. It is not enough to stand here today and declare a crisis if we don’t move to action and do so quickly. When only 70% of our children are graduating from high-school – with a far lower number in our underserved and minority communities – we cannot just continue to call for action. WE must act. This isn’t someone else’s problem to solve. It is mine as a business leader and yours in what ever role you serve as a community citizen.
State Farm® is proud to be an alliance member and has committed to connecting the 144,000 people associated with State Farm across the country to opportunities in their home communities that address this crisis. Today, State Farm is committing 5 million dollars to America’s Promise Alliance to help deliver more of the 5 promises to 15,000,000 underserved youth over the next 5 years. As lead sponsor for this campaign, we also will serve as presenting sponsor for the dropout focus. Over the next 2 years, State Farm will work with the Alliance to assure that there is a dropout summit in each state and our associates around the country will help make that happen.
I ask you today to join us in delivering on the promise of a future to our children. Work collaboratively with others in your community to find a solution for those children who feel that staying in school is not for them. Help us address this crisis with deliberate action and focus so that together, 5 years from now, we will have made a difference in the lives of 15,000,000 of our most vulnerable youth. State Farm is committed to being part of the solution. Please join us.
Thank you.