ImpactAlpha, July 28 – Most historically Black colleges and universities were formed during the Reconstruction era. In the more than a century since, Spelman, Howard, Tuskegee, Morehouse, Xavier and other HBCUs have become hubs of talent, means of economic mobility and sources of solutions of challenges from climate to public health.
HBCUs are public and private, rural and urban, two-year and four-year, and graduate schools. “There’s a diversity of HBCUs, which means there’s a diversity of experts, there’s a diversity of innovations,” Mirtha Donastorg, a reporter at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, who led the HBCU innovation beat at The Plug, said on this week ImpactAlpha call.
Watch the replay.
HBCUs as solution centers
Xavier University, for example, produces the most black doctors of any higher educational institution in the country. “Our schools have a long and storied history of hitting far above our weight class,” said Carla Whitlock, who serves on the board of trustees of Tuskegee University in Alabama.
“Investing in them, giving to them, increasing their endowments, is only going to push our community and our nation forward,” said Troy Duffie, who leads Milken Institute’s HBCU Fellows Program.
Added Taj Eldridge of Jobs for the Future, “HBCUs are not only educating the students, but they’re also taking care of the community.”
Plugged in
The call also served to welcome readers of The Plug to ImpactAlpha. Sherrell Dorsey, who founded the pioneering publication covering the Black tech ecosystem, has joined ImpactAlpha as a contributing editor to extend The Plug’s coverage, including of HBCUs, a special focus.
”We’ve worked together on several initiatives in the past,” Dorsey said on the call. “Being able to partner up with ImpactAlpha – all the great work that you all have been doing, the work that we accomplished at The Plug – it’s just such an honor to be in the room again with you today.”
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Resources shared on the call
- Social returns on investments in HBCUs rise as affirmative action recedes (ImpactAlpha)
- Klean Energy Kulture aims to bring swagger to climate to activate Black communities (ImpactAlpha)
- A $25 million plan to upskill and diversify the climate workforce (ImpactAlpha)
- Google’s program for Black college students suffered disorganization and culture clashes, former participants say (CNBC)
- Gridiron to Groceries: Small Texas College Converts Its Football Field Into Small Farm to Grow Produce for a Food Desert (Progressive Farmer)
- HBCU Innovation at The Plug
- A Call to Action for HBCU Investment (Brookings Metro)
- The case for investing in HBCUs (Goldman Sachs)
- Kirchner Fellowship
- The HBCU Founders Initiative
- HBCU Strategic Initiative and Fellowship Program
- Climate-Resilient Employees for a Sustainable Tomorrow, or CREST
- Klean Energy Kulture
