What is this virtual institute that you are launching?
So, we are launching this platform for our fellowship with four partner HBCUs and institutions, Clark, Atlanta University, Howard University, Morehouse College and Spelman College. We’ve got four incredible HBCU partners that we’re launching with. The opportunity is for sophomores and juniors that have interest in investments and finance to apply to the Fellowship Program. It is a competitive process, but everything counts. Everything about your grades, your participation and leadership in school matters. The way you articulate your interest in financing and investing matters and you’ll come into the fellowship.
In that fellowship, you’ll have access to a coach [who] will help keep you accountable for all of the learnings that you’ll enjoy doing. You’ll have opportunities to meet professionals and leaders at organizations in the alternative finance space. This is including our three founding partners, Aries, Apollo and Oak Tree. These are firms that control hundreds of billions of dollars of assets, but are probably not a dinner table name for a lot of young students that are interested in finance and investing.
Why is this institution valuable?
Bob Johnson is a great example. He has a private equity up in Maryland and they’ve done a great job. He’s been able to translate from a media mogul to a real estate mogul and diversify his assets. That’s where the deals are really important. If you do the work and go through the process, then you’re able to scale that up from a million dollar deal to a $10 million deal to $100 million deal to a billion dollar deal.
