SYMPHONY FUND HONOR ROLL
Corporate Sponsor Spotlight: BGE
F
ounded in Baltimore more than 200 years ago as the
nation’s first gas utility, BGE has built a reputation not
only as a reliable energy provider but as a generous
corporate citizen as well. “BGE is committed to
strengthening and lifting up the communities that we serve
because not only do we work in these communities, we live
there too,” says McClure.
As BGE’s Vice President of Governmental and External
Affairs, McClure oversee BGE’s nonprofit and community
interactions, which includes financial investment—donating
more than $5 million dollars to nonprofits in 2018—employees
volunteering more than 26,000 hours of donated time last
year with a goal to surpass 30,000 hours by the end of 2019,
as well as leadership service. “It’s not just about handing over
a check. We care deeply about the impact our investments
have on the lives of the customers we serve throughout the
BGE service area,” says McClure.
WOMEN IN PHIL ANTHROPY
Valencia McClure
BGE Vice President of Governmental and External Affairs
The BSO’s 2019–20 season highlights works composed
and performed by women, chosen in part to celebrate
the centennial of women’s suffrage in America in
addition to serving as a continuation of Maestra Marin
Alsop’s commitment to championing women in BSO
programming. The BSO, under Marin Alsop’s focus on
issues of community, equality and inclusion, has forged
an even stronger partnership with one of our leading
corporate sponsors—personal volunteerism of one of
BGE’s very own prominent women, Valencia McClure,
on the BSO’s Board of Directors.
Among BGE’s core community investment focus areas are
the arts and culture. “The arts bring us together, and BGE has
long recognized the critical impact of arts and culture to a
community’s health and vitality.”
As the longstanding SuperPops Series Presenting Sponsor,
BGE’s investment in the BSO helps to bring the healing and
entertaining powers of music to audiences hundreds of
thousands strong. McClure credits the BSO’s dedication to
community, especially young people and their families in
Baltimore’s underserved neighborhoods, as the motivating
factor behind the decision to volunteer her own leadership
service to the BSO—McClure joined the Board of Directors
in 2017. “I fell in love with OrchKids,” she shared. “I had the
opportunity to go to a school and see children going through a
practice session. When Marin came in, their eyes lit up! That’s
when I saw that there is something here.”
Through her Board service McClure has made a personal
point of engaging with other BSO education programs—
under her direction, the company has sponsored a BSYO
scholarship. Her heart still lies with OrchKids, pointing to
the program’s unique ability to mentor and teach students
to not only play a musical instrument but also to build self-
confidence and discipline, with ripple effects felt across their
siblings and other family members. “I saw the pride they had
in themselves, and that was a moment that I will never forget.”
CORPORATE GIVING PROGRAM
BGE is Presenting Sponsor of the BSO’s SuperPops Series;
Platinum Sponsor of the BSO’s Annual Gala Celebration;
and a leading supporter of OrchKids
To learn more about corporate sponsorship opportunities and
customizable packages, please contact Gabriella Giannini,
Associate Director of Institutional Giving at 410.783.8022
or [email protected]
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