For the fifth year, Ally and the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, the largest organization exclusively representing the Black College community, are hosting Moguls in the Making, a pitch competition offering 60 students from Historically Black Colleges and Universities the opportunity to learn vital business skills, while competing for valuable scholarships and paid internships. In advance of this year’s program, more than 100 former Moguls in the Making competitors gathered in Detroit July 21 and 22 to celebrate entrepreneurship, collaboration, and success.
“This is our fifth year celebrating the innovation and entrepreneurship of over 200 HBCU students, whose successes have provided viable business ideas that support economic mobility in our communities,” said Natalie Brown, senior director of Corporate Citizenship at Ally. “Moguls in the Making is an ongoing commitment to increase social capital among HBCU students, while also providing access, exposure, and opportunities to elevate their success. Our Mogul alums are gamechangers, which is cause for celebration!”
During this past weekend in Detroit, program alumni participated in empowerment panels, financial workshops and celebrated their achievements. The program culminated Saturday with a Detroit community celebration and stage program featuring UnitedMasters artists Keely Crawford, Jay Pitts, and Curtis Roach.
During the Moguls in the Making competition each September, 60 students are grouped into teams of four from 15 HBCUs and asked to develop and pitch business ideas that promote economic mobility. This year’s program will take place in Charlotte, North Carolina. Charlotte-area business leaders alongside Ally and TMCF team members will serve as judges and mentors.
“Ally is committed to building an early talent pipeline with creative, diverse, highly skilled individuals from all backgrounds and socio-economic status,” said Reggie Willis, Chief Diversity Officer at Ally. “Connecting with motivated, passionate students through our Moguls in the Making program helps us do that. Creating an inclusive workplace doesn’t happen overnight. It’s a continuous, intentional effort that requires us to know our teammates well and react to the changes we see in the workplace and in society. The students have taught us so much about the next generation who want to make an impact on our world.”
More than 300 students completed the application process for this year’s competition. Those chosen to compete will hail from Alabama A&M University, Delaware State University, Florida A&M University, Howard University, Johnson C. Smith University, Morgan State University, NC A&T State University, NC Central University, Norfolk State University, Prairie View A&M University, Southern University at Baton Rouge, Spelman College, Texas Southern University, Tuskegee University and Virginia State University.
Each member of the top three winning teams will earn scholarships for $20,000, $10,000 and $5,000 respectively as well as guaranteed paid internship offers from Ally, a laptop and other prizes. All students from each of the 12 other teams will earn $1,000 scholarships for their participation in the rigorous challenge.
Moguls in the Making was developed in 2019 to provide HBCU students with career-launching business experience, networking access to executives and internships and scholarships, while also giving Ally a new path for reaching diverse talent. Since MITM launched five years ago, Ally has hired 42 of the participants as interns and 12 as full-time employees, working on teams across the company, from IT and marketing to product design and development. The nation’s largest all-digital bank has awarded approximately $700k through the program since 2019.
Photos provided.
