Grand Opening Corporate Sponsors

September 15, 2016
News Release
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Museum exterior

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture today announced that it has received five $2 million sponsorships from Bank of America, Kaiser Permanente, Prudential Financial Inc., Target and Toyota to support the museum’s grand-opening celebrations and inaugural events. Each is a founding donor of the museum, and the sponsorship of the museum’s opening represents additional support for the museum.

“These corporations have been longstanding, essential partners in the campaign to build this museum,” said Lonnie G. Bunch III, founding director of the museum. “Now, their support as sponsors will enable the museum to host a public celebration that reflects the historic significance of this event: the opening of the first national museum dedicated to the African American experience.”

The museum will officially open Sept. 24. President Barack Obama and other dignitaries will dedicate the museum at an outdoor ceremony beginning at 9 a.m. The public is invited to gather on the Washington Monument grounds across the street from the museum to witness the ceremony on Jumbotrons and enjoy a three-day festival. 

About the Sponsors

Bank of America is one of the world’s leading financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small and middle-market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk-management products and services. In addition to donating $2 million to the museum’s capital campaign, Bank of America also supported the development of the museum’s permanent collection and collections care.

Kaiser Permanente is one of America’s leading health-care providers and not-for-profit health plans. Kaiser Permanente is committed to providing high-quality, affordable health-care services and to improving the health of its 10 million members and the communities it serves. Kaiser Permanente also donated $5 million in support for the museum’s capital campaign.

Prudential Financial is a financial services leader with operations in the United States, Asia, Europe and Latin America. Prudential has a diverse workforce with employees who are committed to helping individual and institutional customers grow and protect their wealth through a variety of products and services. Prudential also donated $1 million in support of the museum’s capital campaign.

Target is a Minneapolis-based retailer serving guests at 1,797 stores and online at Target.com. Since 1946, Target has given 5 percent of its profit to communities, which today equals more than $4 million a week. Target also provided early support for the museum’s capital campaign in the amount of $5 million.

Toyota is a top automaker committed to building vehicles for the way people live. Over the past 50 years, Toyota has built more than 30 million cars and trucks in North America, where they operate 14 manufacturing plants and directly employ more than 44,000 people. Toyota is committed to helping community organizations and other nonprofits expand their ability to do good. Toyota has provided prior support to the museum’s capital campaign in the amount of $1 million, and the company’s sponsorship recognizes the corporation’s and the museum’s parallel commitments to education and conservation.

About the Museum

The National Museum of African American History and Culture was established as the 19th Smithsonian museum by an Act of Congress through legislation signed into law by President George W. Bush in 2003. Groundbreaking occurred in 2012. The museum occupies a prime location in Washington, D.C., on the National Mall at the corner of Constitution Avenue at 14th Street, across from the Washington Monument. Opening Sept. 24, the nearly 400,000-square-foot museum will be the nation’s largest and most comprehensive cultural destination devoted exclusively to exploring, documenting and showcasing the African American experience.

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SI-423-2016