The Humbl Hustlr Foundation awarded three Black male high school students with nearly $2K in scholarship dollars during the 2020 Hustl Print Summer Entrepreneurship Pitch Competition and Vince City community cleanup, which was held at the Russell Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. The event was sponsored by community-based corporations including Dunkin’ Donuts, State Farm, Atlantic Capital Bank, Miller Morris Homes, TJ Facts, and AJ Crimson Beauty. The Rev. Dr. Jamal Bryant of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church kicked off the event with a motivational prayer and words of encouragement for all the young Black males in attendance.
“Programs like these are needed worldwide. I’m honored to serve as a judge and be a part of this experience,” said Shamran Kurani, Dunkin’ Donuts franchise owner, who invests a lot of time and money into uplifting community youth.
Isaiah Waller, of Booker T. Washington High School, won first place in the competition, taking home the $1,000 prize. The second-place prize of $500 went to Jordan Jackson of Luella High School and Aboubacar Barrie of Therrell High School won third place and a $250 prize.
The high school participants were Bobby Mosely (Booker T. Washington High School), Gerald Barnes (Stone Mountain High School), Jaylon Westry (Luella High School), Landon Hall (Booker T. Washington High School), Tevin Tyler (Luella High School) and Tyler Rayford (Lithonia High School ).
“Hustl Print will be a part of my success story and it also inspired me to give as this program did. So if the goal was to lift up young Black men, you guys did your job on my side. When an opportunity is there, take it. No matter what the results are, learn from everything. So thank you once again and it’s time to make greatness happen,” Westry said.
The Humbl Hustlr was started by entrepreneur Lorenzo Gordon. “I started the brand because I knew there was a need to highlight the movers and shakers behind the scenes that are humbly elevating in their career. When you come across a photo of a celebrity on the red carpet, you don’t see the hairstylist that did his [or] her hair, you don’t see the makeup artist that did his [or] her face, and you don’t see the stylist who actually styled them. Those are the people I want to showcase,” Gordon said.
Gordon was extremely pleased with the event, but wants to go even bigger next year. “My mission is to not only improve the quality of you by young Black men but also to change the narrative,” Gordon said. “Our curriculum is proof that a lot of young brothers have amazing business ideas. They just need someone to help build out the vision, and that’s what Humbl Hustlr Foundation is about.”
The foundation currently impacts almost 100 young men throughout the metro Atlanta area.
You can learn more about the Humbl Hustlr here: https://humblhustlr.com/pages/hustl-print.
