Georgia Power and its foundation have announced a five-year, $75 million initiative in support of racial equity and social justice efforts in the state.

Focused on education equity, criminal justice reform, and economic empowerment, the funding is part of a commitment by Southern Company, Georgia Power's parent company, and its charitable foundations to invest $200 million over five years in support of community-based initiatives in Georgia.

To that end, the company will provide funding for scholarships for students from underrepresented groups and/or attending historically Black colleges and universities; fund criminal justice organizations working to lower incarceration rates, support the transition and reentry of individuals leaving the system into society, and create pre-arrest diversion options; build social and economic opportunity for Black-owned businesses and individuals; and help create an equitable transition to a clean-energy economy as it works to achieve net-zero carbon in its operations. To support those efforts, the company will create a team of two hundred and fifty employee mentors in the state as part of Southern Company's commitment to provide five thousand employee mentors across its footprint.

"At Georgia Power, we're standing with our communities as, together, we tackle systemic equity issues across our state," said Georgia Power president Chris Womack. "This financial investment and our commitment to mentoring, while just a part of our overall equity efforts, are so incredibly critical because they're one way we can make a real impact in distressed and disadvantaged communities. Through them we can support and partner with organizations that assist with education equity, criminal justice, and economic empowerment, as well as build personal relationships with kids now that can help shape Georgia's future leaders."