Almac Group Launches Partnership with Philadelphia Education Fund

Almac Group Scholarship aims to promote opportunity and remove the financial barriers to undergraduate study

Souderton, PA – 15 April 2021 – Almac Group has today announced the establishment of the Almac Group Scholarship, in partnership with the Philadelphia Education Fund (PEF). The inaugural award, renewable up to $75,000 over four years, will be made to a sole recipient in Summer 2021.

The Almac Group Scholarship is a needs-based award, open to graduates of the Philadelphia Education Fund’s College Access Program who seek to attend an accredited college or university located in Pennsylvania. The College Access Program is a comprehensive college readiness program for 9th through 12th graders in Philadelphia’s lowest graduation-rate high schools, designed to help low-income, students of color, and first generation college-goers reach their educational ambitions through one-on-one advising, college readiness workshops, financial aid counseling, and access to private scholarships.

In addition to financial assistance, the selected student will participate in PEF’s Philadelphia Scholars Program to ensure a successful undergraduate experience. The student will have the opportunity to develop a meaningful relationship with Souderton-based pharmaceutical contract development and manufacturing organization, Almac Group, gaining unique exposure to the vast range of careers available in the global pharmaceutical and biotech industry.

Support for the Almac Group Scholarship comes directly from the McClay Foundation, the sole shareholder of Almac Group. The Foundation was established by the late Sir Allen McClay, one of Northern Ireland’s most distinguished entrepreneurs and philanthropists and founder of Almac Group, with the vision to “make a meaningful improvement and advance human health,” through the contributions of Almac Group’s innovative family of companies and support to a wide range of global charitable organizations.

“Recognizing the significant barriers to education that many students face, we are honored to launch the Almac Group Scholarship, specifically designed to support local students in their educational ambitions, regardless of financial circumstance,” commented Alan Armstrong, CEO of Almac Group and Chairman of the McClay Foundation. “We are delighted that in Philadelphia Education Fund, we have successfully identified a charitable partner which shares in one of our core values —that educational opportunity has the power to transform lives and communities. We look forward, with great anticipation, to awarding to a deserving student this summer.”

“We are grateful to Almac Group and McClay Foundation for their recognition of our work, and we’re excited to be able to offer this scholarship to our students,” said Farah Jimenez, PEF’s President and CEO. “What makes this new partnership special is the career exposure opportunity that the student will have. Having a broader sense of where their degree can take them will be both guiding and motivating.”

The Almac Group Scholarship in Philadelphia is one of two programs launched in 2021 with support from McClay Foundation to support local students in the communities that Almac Group calls home. Local to our Durham facility, a partnership was launched with Triangle Community Foundation, paving way for a student in the North Carolina Triangle region to be awarded a scholarship in Summer 2021 as well.

Locally, McClay Foundation has continued to support Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, most recently by assisting the scale-up of support to children treated at CHOP’s “Community Health and Literacy Center” located in South Philadelphia. In addition, recognizing that charitable organizations had been impacted significantly as a result of the pandemic, Almac announced late last year that it had donated a quarter of a million pounds to 33 charities globally in order to support their critical work. In the Philadelphia metro area, those beneficiaries included CHOP’s COVID Relief Research & Development Fund, and Laurel House, a comprehensive domestic violence agency serving families in Montgomery County.