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Chris Crane, CEO of PECO’s parent company, Exelon, recently surprised seven young women—including two from the Philadelphia region—with full-ride college scholarships.

Each of the recipients attended Exelon STEM Leadership Academy programs and had applied for the scholarship, but had no idea it would be a full ride. Asata Mander of Philadelphia, PA and Samantha Booher of Yardley, PA, were among the lucky recipients.

Samantha is an alumna of the 2019 STEM Philadelphia Leadership Academy held at Drexel University and has been involved with PECO since middle school, starting off in the PECO PEEP Program (PECO Energizing Education Program), and then attending and graduating from the STEM Leadership Academy. She plans to attend Worcester Polytechnic Institute in the fall, majoring in Mechanical Engineering.

Asata is a 2020 alumnae of the STEM Leadership Academy, which was held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and is currently a dual enrollment student at The George Washington Carver High School for Engineering and Science and the Community College of Philadelphia. She will be attending Villanova University in the fall.

“PECO is committed to supporting the communities we serve and powering opportunity, and that means investing in these communities and the engineers, scientists and mathematicians of tomorrow,” said Mike Innocenzo, President and CEO at PECO. “We are thrilled to be able to help support Asata and Samantha.”

Exelon will pay all of their costs associated with college, including tuition, room and board and all other expenses that aren’t covered by other confirmed scholarships, family contributions and work-study grants. The total value of the seven scholarships is approximately $1 million.

This effort underscores Exelon and PECO’s commitment to workforce development, which is how PECO powers and transforms the communities that need us most. Through our long-established Corporate and Community Relations partnerships, we support workforce development initiatives across the Greater Philadelphia region to enhance the employability of those who reside in the communities we serve, with particular emphasis on the underserved. Our strategic priorities are focused on igniting STEM in young minds; eliminating barriers to economic empowerment; equipping work-ready adults and youth for family-supporting careers and engineering new ideas. People are key to the success of our business and the driving force behind the work we do, and we are committed to providing exposure and access to the emerging job opportunities within the energy industry as a whole.

The video of the scholarship recipients being told the news is available to download and view here.

For more information about PECO’s available college scholarships, internships and training programs, please visit https://www.peco.com/SafetyCommunity/Education/Pages/Default.aspx/  


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