Time Warner Cable Connect a Million Minds

In fall 2008, Time Warner Cable (TWC) approached Cone to assist in developing a plan to re-focus the company’s philanthropic strategy on an issue aligned with its core business. The team identified science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education as an issue of critical importance, and developed an initiative that would enable TWC to deepen its impact and relationships at the community level.
The result was Connect a Million Minds (CAMM), a $100 million cash and in-kind effort launched in November 2009.

Nationally, CAMM launched in conjunction with the announcement of President Obama’s “Educate to Innovate” effort, a call-to-action from the Administration for cross-sector partnerships to address the STEM crisis. President Obama held an event at the White House to announce the initiative and lauded TWC in his remarks. TWC also developed an interactive platform to engage important TWC stakeholders to participate and become involved via the CAMM website to pledge and find out more ways to connect youth to STEM opportunities. Other CAMM elements included a consumer awareness push, development of an advisory board and the creation of an employ volunteerism strategy.

CAMM has achieved incredible success to-date. Specific metrics include:

• Secured more than 130M media impressions since the inception of the program, including the New York Times
• Dedicated in excess of $2 million of air-time to promote CAMM nationally; and an additional $187,220 locally
• Secured 25 proclamations in 10 states declaring an official CAMM Week
• More than 160,000 consumers visited the CAMM Web site since the launch of the program
• Developed “Cracking the Codes in the Digital World,” a first of its kind curricula using cable technology to teach youth STEM subjects
• Consumers pledged to connect more than 175,000 youth to STEM opportunities
• CAMM’s Facebook page has more than 2,536 fans
• Locally, more than 2,000 youth were engaged in community launch events, and TWC markets distributed greater than $100,000 in cash and in-kind grants to local STEM partners around the launch timeframe alone