The Corvias Foundation Aims to Help Military Families Thrive
An infrastructure and energy management solutions firm based in Warwick, Rhode Island, Corvias draws on its trademarked Solutions Through Partnerships to facilitate growth, development, and housing stability for higher education institutions and members of the military throughout the United States. It is one of the largest providers of on-campus student housing in the country, and it was one of the first private firms to partner with the US military when the Army began pursuing privatization. It has installed solar facilities on military installations in keeping with the Department of Defense’s renewable energy goals (facilitating the development of nearly 35 megawatts of solar power), and continues to find ways to support its partners and help them to lower costs.
In addition to its range of services, Corvias actively seeks opportunities to give back to its community. These include encouraging volunteerism by Corvias employees; making matching employee donations to charitable causes with a 2:1 donation match program; partnering with local businesses run by veterans, women, and minorities; and providing annual scholarships to deserving children of Corvias employees. Over the years, the company and its employees have donated more than 35,000 hours of volunteer time and spent $2.8 billion with local and small businesses, as well as veteran-, woman-, and minority-owned businesses.
Support for Military Families
In addition to these various give-back programs, Corvias operates the Corvias Foundation, which has spent the last two decades supporting the educational and career-development goals of military families. Recognizing the various social and logistical challenges that the families of military members face (including frequently moving and being uprooted, absent parents during deployments, PTSD and other mental health issues caused by combat deployments, spouses’ job insecurity, educational and emotional instability among children, and external stressors such as financial challenges and healthcare access), the Corvias Foundation has implemented a multi-faceted approach to strengthening the military community and helping military families to thrive.
Programs operated by the Corvias Foundation include a community platform that allows families to connect and access educational resources, opportunity hubs that provide access to educational and skill-building opportunities, literacy support, college counseling, career guidance, and school success programs.
Variety of Educational Scholarships
In addition, the foundation provides educational scholarships each year. It partners with a number of like-minded organizations to support military families in their pursuit of education, including the Army Scholarship Fund (a volunteer-run organization founded by veterans in 2001 to provide educational scholarships to the families of soldiers) and the National Military Family Association (which advocates for military families through partnerships with the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense, in addition to providing scholarships through its Military Spouse Scholarship program).
Founded in 2006, the Corvias Foundation has provided over $15 million worth of educational scholarships over the last 19 years to more than 450 deserving students and military spouses. The Corvias Foundation scholarship provides awards of between $5,000 and $50,000 each year. The organization is overseen by a board of directors that includes president Jen Sousa, secretary Michelle Audley, treasurer Tanja James, and Al Aycock.
A Look at Executive Director Julie Allen
In April 2024, the foundation hired Julie Allen as its executive director. Over the past year-and-a-half, Ms. Allen has faithfully served the organization, its mission, and its stakeholders, ensuring that the Corvias Foundation continuously strives to achieve its objectives and empower military families to reach their educational and career goals. Possessing expertise in college and career preparation, Ms. Allen is a natural fit for a foundation that channels the majority of its resources toward these areas. She draws on four decades’ worth of experience in the educational and nonprofit sectors, and has led the Corvias Foundation through an impressive year-and-a-half-of service to the military community.
Upon joining the foundation as executive director, Ms. Allen said, "I am honored to join Corvias Foundation in its mission to support the educational dreams of military families. I look forward to leading the foundation into its next chapter, as we continue to make a meaningful impact on the lives of these remarkable individuals and their communities.”
Prior to accepting her current position with the Corvias Foundation, Ms. Allen served as the executive director of Engineers in Action, a nonprofit organization that helps to develop infrastructure and sustainable systems in underserved communities. She also founded her own nonprofit organization, Lead Up, and served in a leadership role at Boys Hope Girls Hope International. In addition, she has worked with a number of other educational facilities. In preparation for her career in education and nonprofit work, she earned a bachelor of music from Nebraska Wesleyan University and a master of arts from the University of Denver.