Hennessy

The Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) in partnership with the Hennessy brand of Moet Hennessy introduced a groundbreaking new program called Hennessy Fellows for HBCU students working towards an M.B.A. graduate degree. This program is made possible because of a $10M investment over 10 years. Selected Fellows participate in a 7-day professional development boot camp. Fellows receive up to $40,000 in need-based funding that will be applied to two academic years of study and have an opportunity to devise a capstone project pitching for up to $10,000 to make an impact in a desired community during the TMCF Leadership Institute.

Each Fellow receives a senior executive mentor and career strategist/coach throughout their experience. The Hennessy Fellows program is an unprecedented, transformative professional development experience that accelerates participants potential focusing on the core competencies needed to unlock the C-Suite.

“Thanks to Hennessy, and the Thurgood Marshall College Fund’s Hennessy Fellows Program, I was provided access to invaluable networking and mentorship opportunities. I established strong connections with great companies leading to an amazing offer from Louis Vuitton to launch my Supply Chain management career.”
— Jonathan Jones, Florida A&M University graduate and Hennessy Fellow

Ally Financial, Inc.

The Thurgood Marshall College Fund’s (TMCF) Innovation and Entrepreneur Division teamed up with Ally and the Sean Anderson Foundation to find the best and brightest entrepreneurial minds among Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Ten (10) HBCUs were selected to participate in the Moguls in the Making competition. Of the ten schools selected to compete, five students from each school made up their teams to represent their institution. The two-and-a-half-day business competition was both challenging and rewarding. Students were tasked to develop solutions to economic problems facing various industries in Detroit and then pitched their ideas to a panel of expert judges comprised of successful entrepreneurs, business leaders and the rapper ‘Big Sean’. Competition winners were Florida A&M University (1st Place), North Carolina A&T University (2nd Place), and Morgan State University (3rd Place).

“We are incredibly proud at Ally to have formed a strong relationship with TMCF through the Moguls in the Making program. That experience has fueled a passion at our company for this organization and the work they do in nurturing the talent and potential of the HBCU community. We are excited to continue this journey together as we launch second year for the Moguls in the Making program.”
— Jeffrey J. Brown, Chief Executive Officer, Ally Financial, Inc.

We partnered with Cultural Vistas to increase students’ access to global exchange experiences. As a result, students at TMCF member-schools can participate in Cultural Vistas’ 30-plus exchange programs in over 130 countries around the world. Together, we also plan to establish a cadre of STEAM students, who are studying in the fields of science, technology, engineering, the arts or mathematics, and are interested in gaining an enriching overseas educational and cultural experience.

American Airlines

Ten students from various HBCUs travelled to the headquarters of American Airlines in Dallas, Texas to participate in the new American Airlines immersion Program. The program is designed to be a robust professional experience exposing students to the intricacies of the day to day life of American Airlines employees and operations. The program consists of an assortment of professional development experiences, networking opportunities and best practices that will allow students to leave with a better insight of American Airlines culture, career functions, and business strategies, while expanding their professional toolkit.

Schools represented in this inaugural program:

19th Annual Leadership Institute

Since 2000, this national program has developed students’ leadership skills, introduced various career opportunities, created a community of scholars, provided companies access to a talented and diverse student population, and helped students make connections that lead to internships and full-time positions. Each year, the conference gives students attending the 47 publicly-supported HCBUs a first-hand professional development experience. Students are interviewed during the spring and fall semesters, and those selected as “TMCF Scholars” attend a four-day conference in Washington, DC where they have the opportunity to learn from and exchange ideas with some of the world’s top leaders in business and government.

The conference culminates with the students participating in a recruitment fair where they meet with companies, government agencies, and graduate program representatives offering job, internship and continuing education opportunities. Successful leaders of industry, government, and higher education invest in their education, further developing their talents. The secrets to developing professional skills and leadership are unearthed at this annual conference presented by Wells Fargo.

Boeing | TMCF Scholar Program

The Boeing Company’s 2018 announcement of $6 million investment into TMCF for the future technical workforce was monumental. The investment’s key goals were to fund scholarships, internships, on-campus engagements and immersive “boot camp” programs that will introduce students to Boeing’s collaborative culture and career paths. Currently in year two of the partnership, our Boeing | TMCF Team has welcomed two Cohorts via the Boeing | TMCF Scholar Program and has achieved exponential growth of full-time and intern hires via Boeing’s partner HBCUs.

Teacher Quality and Retention Program (TQRP)

Since 2009, Teacher Quality and Retention Program (TQRP) has provided high-caliber training and mentoring to aspiring, pre-service and new teachers from publicly-supported HBCUs and PBIs across the country. TQRP has emerged into a robust, research-based program that has impacted over 600 Program Fellows over the last 10 years across 20 different states and 45 TMCF Member Schools. In 2019 alone, TQRP Fellows have impacted over 5,000 K-12 students in high-need urban and rural areas across the nation.

TQRP provides high-quality, pre-service training, as well as personalized support once teachers enter into the classroom. TQRP offers an intense 10-day Summer Institute that convenes all three individual areas of focus (HBCU Males, STEM and New Teachers) to develop sound pedagogy, discuss and demonstrate research-based educational practice, and analyze current educational policy – all with the goal of developing the skills needed to be future teacher leaders.

The 10-day Summer Institute provided opportunities for participants (Fellows) to examine research-based strategies for effective teaching that included topics on classroom management, differentiated instruction, Standards-based instruction, instructional technology, and data/assessments.

The Fellows also had an opportunity to give back, collecting donations for the Memorial Hermann Memorial City emergency room. This year’s group was able to present Bailey Curtis, Director of Volunteer Services, with over 200 pairs of underwear, 70 t-shirts and over 400 pairs of socks.

“When teachers feel that they are effective and have the support that they need, they remain in the classroom. Over the first two years of teaching, that’s when we lose a lot of our teachers, so that’s why the TQRP was created — to support teachers in that very tenuous period of their first three years of teaching.”
— Moseka Medlock, Program Manager, Teacher Development

Apple HBCU Scholars Program

Selected Scholars for the Apple HBCU Scholars Program participated in a 12-week internship during the summer of 2019 and receive a scholarship in the amount of $25,000 applied to the 2019-2020 academic year immediately following their internship period. Each scholar will have an Apple mentor throughout their experience, receive an opportunity to develop key skills, enhance their resumes, and help launch their careers through the hands-on experience gained at one of the top tech companies in the world.

Our growing partnership with Apple, Inc. has made it possible for us to launch three new opportunities:

The Community College Pipeline Grant is an initiative to educate students about transfer opportunities at Alabama A&M University and Alabama State University with the ultimate goal of increasing baccalaureate degree attainment. TMCF will award four $75,000 grants for ideas that provide exposure for women and underrepresented minorities to STEM careers, develop an innovative academic support program that will meet the specific academic needs of STEM students, or support opportunities for students to become certified in Apple Swift Coding.

The National Coalition of 100 Black Women, Inc. Grant will allow HBCUs in Atlanta, GA; New Orleans, LA; Birmingham, AL; and Jackson, MS the opportunity to apply for one of five $75,000 grants in partnership with their local chapter of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women, Inc. The purpose of the grant is to implement programming focused on providing opportunities for women underrepresented minorities empowerment in STEM.

Creating Computer Science Scholars, is a program in partnership with TMCF’s Teacher Quality Retention Plan’s summer institute. During the 12-day institute, 40 TQRP Fellows will be exposed to coding through Apple’s Everyone Can Code curriculum.

THE PITCH 2019

Presenting partner Apple and TMCF hosted 100 future entrepreneurs from 37 HBCUs for THE PITCH 2019. The Pitch (formerly OFC I&E Program) seeks to identify entrepreneurial talent and train future innovators from HBCUs in skills needed to generate economic success through their own business or within today’s knowledge driven organizations.

This exciting entrepreneurial competition, held in Durham, NC, provided a forum for participating students to develop solutions to business, social or educational problems and pitch their ideas to an expert panel of judges including TMCF National Ambassador Terrence J.

THE PITCH 2019 offered the optimum opportunity for HBCU students to learn, engage in hands-on exercises, and develop the three C’s of an Entrepreneurial Mindset: Curiosity, Connections, and Creating value. Three students, Rayna Belem from Spelman College, Andrei Carillo from Bowie State University, and winning pitch team member, Carlos Mayers from Hampton University, won a trip to Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). In a surprise announcement, Terrence J offered Kennedy Hayden from Florida A&M University, and Jaelan Hodges from Virginia State University, an exclusive summer internship with his management company, Sunset Park Productions, in Los Angeles, CA.

“As an entrepreneur myself, I have tremendous respect for these HBCU students competing to use innovation to find solutions through technology.”
— Terrence J, TMCF National Ambassador

“The PITCH 2019 has honestly changed my life! I’m blessed to have met so many talented students and to have been mentored by the TMCF staff and partners. My team worked so cohesively and tirelessly to build our business idea to the best of our ability, and we will bring it to fruition. Even students who weren’t on teams together plan to stay connected to collaborate on future business ideas. Thank you TMCF for giving me the opportunity, and space to grow as a business mind, I will never forget it.”
— Sydney Holness, Florida A&M University, THE PITCH 2019 winning team member

“I really enjoyed my internship at Ally Financial. My mentors (Lisa, Jasmine, Selim, Natalie, and Reggie) included me in everything. When I participated in department meetings, the team wanted to hear my thoughts regarding Digital Marketing and implemented some of them in their strategies. The team provided an abundant amount of information that even helped me with my own company. Additionally, I received a lot of insight, advice, constructive criticism, and much much more. I absolutely love that the executives, Kevin and Andrea, made it their priority to respond to all the intern’s questions. Ally Financial made sure we gave back as well through a variety of community service, which connected me with people of nonprofits outside of the firm. To this day, I am still learning and gaining so much from employees and Ally Financial. I wish I had more ways to say thank you to the company. I would recommend working at this company to anyone.”
— Brittany McCoy, TMCF Intern

“When I was chosen by Terrance J to intern for the summer at Flavor Unit Entertainment, I was shocked. Since I was a kid, entertainment, and just making people laugh with my creativity have been a passion of mine. Receiving authentic support from Terrence J since day one of my internship reminded me that HBCUs will always be family! The experience was amazing, and it was a life-changing experience. Helping write scripts and seeing what goes down in the day to day life of an actor felt like a dream. I was humbled to be an HBCU student from Virginia State University, interacting with people in Los Angeles who share the same passion as me. I now make videos with my brand JHodgesTV. The experience inspired me to make a video every week, interact with somebody every day, and connect with somebody that you know in your field. It has opened many doors to entertainers and companies noticing my talent, especially on social media. My biggest takeaway from this experience is don’t sit around and don’t watch time go by. Be active!”
— Jaelon Hodges, TMCF Intern

Future Act

After a year-long effort led by TMCF in collaboration with our partner stakeholder organizations, the U.S. Congress passed, and President Trump signed into law, the Fostering Undergraduate Talent by Unlocking Resources for Education (FUTURE) Act. Through this effort, TMCF played a pivotal role in securing $2.55 billion in permanent funding for HBCUs, Predominantly Black Institutions (PBIs) and other Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) over the next 10 years.

The critical stream of mandatory federal funding (Title III, Part F) helps eligible colleges and universities enhance their fiscal stability, improve their institutional management and strengthen their academic programming, with a particular focus on high-demand career areas, such as careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The FUTURE Act also included much needed provisions to improve the Free Application for Federal Student Aid form and application process.

“I am thankful for the leadership and collaboration of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund on the FUTURE Act and expanding opportunities for HBCU students. When we create paths for students to be more innovative and engaged, we keep colleges and universities on the path to success, creating a more promising future for all.”
— U.S. Congressman Mark Walker (R-NC)

Due to the advocacy efforts of TMCF, in February 2019, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed the HBCU PARTNERS Act which codifies previous White House Executive Orders on federal agency engagement with HBCUs. The legislation remains pending in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Congressional Engagement

With the goal of increasing congressional engagement, TMCF President & CEO Dr. Williams and our Government Relations team were busy not only in DC but regionally attending events such as Senator Doug Jones’(D-AL) inaugural HBCU Summit in Birmingham, AL as well as Congressman French Hill’s (R-AK) Bipartisan HBCU Summit in Little Rock, AK.

Dr. Williams also met with a host of Congressional leaders on both sides of the political aisle, including U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services and Chairman Elijah Cummings (D-MD). U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) shared his legislative priorities impacting HBCUs and engaged with Board members to learn of their legislative and policy priorities during the Spring 2019 TMCF Board Meeting.

“The Thurgood Marshall College Fund is an invaluable ally as we support our Historically Black Colleges and Universities and other predominantly black institutions, the students they serve and the leaders they create. Every year I’ve been in Congress, I have successfully worked with TMCF to increase investments from the Department of Defense to our HBCUs and use these additional funds to create new opportunities for research and internships, faculty development and institutional capacity-building.”
— U.S. Congressman Anthony Brown (D-MD)

3rd Annual TMCF HBCU Fly-in

On February 5-6, 2019, TMCF convened 27 of our member-school presidents and chancellors in Washington, DC for the Third Annual TMCF HBCU Fly-In.

Day One of the Fly-In included sessions on Capitol Hill, hosted by Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) and Representative Mark Walker (R-NC). The event included a panel encompassing current and former African-American members of the U.S. Senate, as well as a bipartisan discussion with U.S. House and Senate congressional staff members centered on reauthorizing the Higher Education Act.

Day One culminated with a reception held in the Senate Visitors Center within the U.S. Capitol. Several Republican and Democrats U.S. Senators, Congresspersons, and U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos addressed the gathering.

Day Two began with a Congressional “Fireside Chat” with HBCU graduate Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA). The assembled university presidents and chancellors also participated in sessions featuring presentations on racial discrimination in higher education bond markets, the “State of TMCF” by Dr. Williams, an overview of the 116th Congress, a discussion featuring TMCF’s new partner Honeywell, and a presentation from former TMCF Board Chairman Jim Clifton.

Trump Administration Engagement

Dr. Williams and our Government Relations team continued to grow our partnerships with federal government officials and leaders, who included then U.S. Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta; U.S. Interior Secretary David Bernhardt; and others.

In addition, Dr. Williams and Sr. Vice President, General Counsel and Chief of Staff David Sheppard participated in quarterly meetings with U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and representatives of United Negro College Fund and National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education to maintain a direct line of communication with the agency and to express the needs and concerns of the HBCU Community on matters of agency policy.

“Working collaboratively with HBCU organizations like the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, we are finding more ways to make the dream of college a reality for those who wish to pursue their education.”
— U.S. Senator Tim Scott (R-SC)

TMCF 32nd Anniversary Awards Gala

The gala was hosted by TMCF National Ambassador, Terrence J, TV host and actor, and Urban One was the exclusive media partner. Special guest presenters included former Miss USA Kára McCullough, Emmy-award winning journalists, authors and philanthropists Markette Sheppard and Isha Sesay, and TV personality Candice Dillard Bassett. Thanks to gala entertainment partner Honda North America, NAACP Image Award-winning artist Kenny Lattimore treated guests to a live performance.

2019 Honorees

• CEO of the Year Award:

Jeffery J. Brown, Chief Executive Officer, Ally Financial, Inc.

• Educational Leadership Award:

Dr. Harold L. Martin, Sr., Chancellor, North Carolina A&T State University

•  HBCU Alumni Leadership Award:

Kay Coles James, President, The Heritage Foundation and Founder, The Gloucester Institute

“The Thurgood Marshall College Fund plays a crucial role in supporting HBCUs and PBIs and I am proud to serve on the Honorary Congressional Host Committee. I want to congratulate North Carolina’s own Harold Martin on receiving the Education Leadership Award. I have been fortunate to know Chancellor Martin for years, and his leadership at NC A&T is revered. I am proud of the work we have done to support North Carolina HBCU’s, and I can think of no one more deserving of this award.”
— U.S. Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC)

19th Annual New Jersey Awards of Excellence

The New Jersey Dinner Committee hosted its 19th Annual Awards of Excellence to increase awareness and raise funds that support its annual investment in TMCF’s mission. The event raised $153,120.

TMCF Scholarships

TMCF merit and need-based scholarships are designed to address the financial needs of students attending HBCUs. The awards are given to outstanding and qualified students who plan to earn a baccalaureate degree from an accredited public HBCU. In 2019, we grew scholarship awards to $4.6M.

Center for Advancing Opportunity (CAO) 

The Center for Advancing Opportunity awarded two CAO Undergraduate Research Scholarships, and five CAO Doctoral Fellowships for the 2019-2020 academic year. Each merit-based award was administered through TMCF.

The purpose of the scholarship program is to develop evidence-based solutions to the most pressing education, entrepreneurship and criminal justice issues in fragile communities throughout the United States. The undergraduate scholarship provides students with up to $7,500 for the academic year, and the graduate fellowship provides $10,000 or more for the academic year.

“The [CAO] fellowship affords me an opportunity of a lifetime to pursue a doctoral degree in social work with a strong emphasis on education. Fusing these two disciplines will allow me to ameliorate the school-to-prison pipeline by engaging parents, families and communities in the child’s educational processes.”
— Edward Bennett IV, Florida State University and CAO Doctoral Fellow

The Breakfast Club

Over $700,000 was raised through donations and pledges from for our new TMCF| The Breakfast Club HBCU Scholarship during the 3rd Annual #ChangeforChange Radiothon via IHeart Media and the Breakfast Club radio program. Major donors included Robert F. Smith, Byron Allen, Michael Rubin, Maury Povich, and Chadwick Bozeman.

The Honorable Betsy DeVos

Betsy DeVos does not take a salary from her position as the U.S. Secretary of Education. TMCF was honored to receive a portion of her annual salary through a personal donation.