The Prudential Foundation provides support to innovative direct-service programs that address the needs of our communities in three areas: Ready to Learn, Ready to Work, and Ready to Live.

Ready To Learn funds the following types of initiatives:

1. Education reform efforts that strengthen public education at the elementary school level. Within this framework, we will emphasize systemic school reform; improving the quality of teachers, principals and other school leaders, and arts education.
2. Early childhood care and education initiatives, with an emphasis on programs that support professional development for pre-kindergarten through third-grade teachers or create model classrooms.
3. Strategies to improve literacy that address professional development for teachers, family literacy programs or literacy in the early years.

Ready To Work funds the following types of initiatives:

1. Job-entry skills that are acquired through initiatives that focus on school-to-career transition, and workforce development.
2. Job-creation strategies that include access to capital, nonprofit/for-profit ventures, adult and youth entrepreneurship, financial training, and business attraction/development/retention.
3. Decent, affordable housing that is created through programs that focus on either housing strategies or neighborhood-based activities. Housing strategies include investment/grant partnerships with Prudential's Social Investment Program, community development financial institutions, or technical assistance to Community Development Organizations. Neighborhood-based activities include community organizing, neighborhood strategic planning, leadership development and community security.

Ready To Live funds the following types of initiatives:

1. Community well-being, which includes initiatives that build healthy children, youth and families; community-based human services for underserved populations and high-impact national projects that address major human services issues affecting children and families.
2. Youth development programs that build skills and competencies needed for young people to function and contribute in life.It includes the Summer Youth Initiatives , which provides funding for the creation of employment opportunities for youth, recreation and culturel arts programs in Newark, Orange, East Orange, Irvington, Elizabeth, Jersey City, Paterson, and Trenton, NJ. A request for proposal is issued during the first quarter of the year.
3. The Greater Newark Aids Initiative funds HIV/AIDS prevention projects that serve neark, and the surrounding communities of Orange, East Orange, Irvington, Elizabeth, Jersey City and Paterson, NJ. Programs must focus on primary and secondary HIV/AIDS prevention among populations of highest risk, particularly youth and women or color. Grants are made through a request for proposal process.

Other Grantmaking Priorities - The Foundation emphasizes direct-service, rather than policy-oriented grants. The Foundation also has geographic priorities. In order of emphasis, we fund:

1. Programs that serve our headquarters city of Newark and surrounding New Jersey urban centers.
2. Programs in cities where Prudential has a significant presence. These cities include: Atlanta, Chicago, Hartford, Houston, Jacksonville, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Philadelphia and Phoenix.
3. The Prudential Neighborhood Partnerships - In Jacksonville, Fl, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Newark NJ, and Philadelphia, the foundation focuses its funding in designated neighborhoods.
4. National programs that further our objectives (and can be implemented or replicated in cities where Prudential has a substantial presence).