Travelers Announces 2009 Charitable Contributions of Nearly $19 Million in Community Support

The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE: TRV) and its private foundation, the Travelers Foundation, today announced its 2009 total charitable contributions of nearly $19 million in community support across the country. Travelers is committed to strengthening local communities by investing in community-based nonprofit organizations and their work serving others, specifically in the areas of education, community development and the arts, as well as providing employee volunteer support. In 2009, Travelers employees contributed 12,000 volunteer hours to their local communities.

Education Commitment
In 2009, Travelers announced that it has begun focusing a significant portion of its charitable giving on public education reform and improving academic and career success for underrepresented youth. Nearly $8 million in grants were awarded to programs specifically targeted at public schoolchildren in grades five through 12 and students in transition to post-secondary education in Hartford, Conn., and Saint Paul, Minn., where Travelers has large employee populations, and in select cities nationally.

In support of this growing effort, Travelers and the Travelers Foundation granted approximately $2.5 million to the Hartford and Saint Paul public school systems to support their reform agendas. These grants supported programs designed to increase academic achievement by middle and high school students, provide opportunities for students to transition from high school to post-secondary education and build awareness of careers in insurance. Additionally, the grants allowed for the creation of leadership development programs for school principals in both cities.

“Travelers is committed to ensuring that the students in our key markets are poised for a seamless and successful transition to college and into a rewarding career,” said Marlene Ibsen, CEO & President of the Travelers Foundation. “The Hartford and Saint Paul public school systems have laid out inspiring, measurable reform programs that should and will serve as a model for other public school systems throughout the country. Supporting their agendas will strengthen our communities by providing our future workforce with a quality education.”

Travelers also provided nearly $2.5 million in funding through Travelers EDGE: Empowering Dreams for Graduation and Employment, a program designed to remove the barriers to college that many underrepresented students face. The program provides a holistic approach to education through partnerships with colleges, universities and community-based programs to increase the pipeline of underrepresented students to college. With the 2009 addition of CollegeBound, Travelers now has partnerships with 10 organizations in Hartford, Conn., Saint Paul, Minn., and Baltimore, Md. During the 2008-2009 academic year, Travelers EDGE programs reached more than 6,700 students. Of these students, 479 students benefited from “high touch” programs, where funding supported in-depth relationships with and opportunities for students.

Volunteerism & Employee Involvement
To continue to strengthen its long-standing commitment to employee volunteerism, in 2009 Travelers launched an employee involvement program that encourages employees to engage in the community both as individuals and teams, while simultaneously making them aware of the company’s community giving priorities. As part of this plan, Travelers developed Community Connection Grants, which allow teams of employees to nominate a nonprofit organization they volunteer with to receive funding. Grant applications are judged on volunteer commitment, alignment with the company’s community relations priorities (education, community development and the arts), business connectivity and impact on the community.

The company also launched Travelers Community Connection, an internal database that matches employees with company-designated volunteer opportunities of interest to them and captures the hours employees spend volunteering, allowing the company to measure its impact on the community.

Community Development & Arts Funding
The remainder of Travelers’ charitable giving supports targeted local needs in the areas of community development and the arts in the company’s key communities of Hartford and Saint Paul as well as in other geographic regions where the company has a significant business presence.

To ensure the vitality of the communities where its employees live and work, Travelers supports programs that create and maintain stability in local neighborhoods through small business development, affordable housing and job readiness training. Highlights of the more than $2.6 million in community development giving include:

• A $60,000 grant for Our Piece of the Pie’s youth development program, which helps Hartford youth access and attain a mix of educational, employment, and personal skills.
• A CommonBond Communities grant for $50,000 to support Advantage Centers, on-site technology-based learning centers that provide residents of the organization’s housing developments in the Twin Cities access to comprehensive employment, early childhood, and after-school tutorial programs.
• A Cooperative Resource Center grant of $20,000 for affordable housing in Atlanta.

In addition, Travelers supports arts and culture organizations that contribute directly to academic learning and access for low-income and underserved communities. For example, Travelers funds organizations that incorporate the use of arts in learning, support improved academic success and achievement in local pubic schools, and encourage a multi-cultural understanding to strengthen local communities. Examples of more than $2.5 million in arts program support include:

• A Hartford Stage Company grant for $50,000 to support InterAct, an education outreach program for middle and high school students in Greater Hartford.
• A GoggleWorks grant for $5,000 to support the After School Arts Program, which prevents and reduces juvenile delinquency in at-risk youth in central and southeastern Pennsylvania.
• A Blaffer Gallery grant for $15,000 to support the Young Artist Apprenticeship Program, which serves talented at-risk high school students in Houston.

Travelers provided additional community support through charitable sponsorships, an employee matching gifts program and an employee giving campaign. Click here for a complete list of grants made by Travelers and its private foundation.

About Travelers
The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE: TRV) is a leading provider of property casualty insurance for auto, home and business . A component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Travelers has more than 30,000 employees and generated revenues of approximately $25 billion in 2009. The company provides support for charitable organizations in the community through the Travelers Foundation and with corporate funding and in-kind services. The company’s community giving is focused on education, community development and the arts. Travelers employees are consistently active in community initiatives and perform thousands of hours in volunteer time each year. For more information, visit www.travelers.com.