Morehouse College News February 22, 2021 Bank of America to Launch New Center for Black Entrepreneurship at Morehouse College and Spelman College The Black Economic Alliance Foundation, Morehouse College, Spelman College and Bank of America announced<https://newsroom.bankofamerica.com/content/newsroom/press-releases/2021/02/bank-of-america-helps-fuel-black-innovation-with-launch-of-the-c.html> plans to develop the Center for Black Entrepreneurship, the first-ever academic center to assemble, educate, and empower a new class of Black entrepreneurial talent. Co-located on the Morehouse and Spelman campuses, the Center for Black Entrepreneurship (CBE) is powered by $10 million in funding from Bank of America, which will support the development of an academic curriculum, faculty recruitment, co-curricular programming, and the development of new physical space. "Morehouse's priority is empowering leaders to impact society, including entrepreneurs of color who produce new business models, create new industries, and disrupt the status quo as innovators, inventors, and paradigm shifters," said Dr. David A. Thomas, president of Morehouse College. "The Center for Black Entrepreneurship adds important capacity to support our work with minority-owned businesses and current or future entrepreneurs who are gaining access to capital, creating jobs, leveraging technology, and developing the products and services that enhance the standard of living for us all. We are proud to partner with Spelman College, the Black Economic Alliance, and Bank of America to educate and strengthen the entrepreneurs who will lead change." The CBE seeks to eliminate barriers among Black entrepreneurs, professional investors, and business builders by leveraging education, mentorship, access to capital and opportunity. Its funding comes from Bank of America's $1 billion, four-year commitment<https://newsroom.bankofamerica.com/press-releases/bank-america-announces-four-year-1-billion-commitment-supporting-economic> to advance racial equality and economic opportunity, which includes support to minority entrepreneurs, as well as a focus on education, jobs, health, and housing. "I would like to thank Bank of America for this $5 million gift to Morehouse College," said, Monique Dozier, vice president of the office of institutional advancement. "Many of our scholars come to us with an entrepreneurial mindset or having had some experience with business. Morehouse has a nationally acclaimed business program that has launched students into careers at Fortune 500 companies, but we do not have an entrepreneurship major. This contribution will allow us to expand our offerings to meet the needs of students who want to create businesses and jobs in communities of color and achieve personal prosperity." "Morehouse and Spelman are two of the nation's leading liberal arts colleges primarily serving the Black community and have some of the highest social mobility rates in the country," said Wendy Stewart, Atlanta market president for Bank of America. "Partnering with these historic institutions will be instrumental in supporting our next generation of entrepreneurs that will ultimately create economic opportunity and generate jobs in Atlanta." Sandra M. Phoenix HBCU Library Alliance Executive Director Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library 111 James P. Brawley Drive SW Atlanta GA 30314 404-978-2118 (office) 404-702-5854 (cell) http://www.hbculibraries.org<http://www.hbculibraries.org/> sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org> Honor the ancestors, honor the children and those yet to come. Building Capacity for Humanities Special Collections at HBCUs - Become an ally and partner with us to protect, preserve and share a more authentic record of American history. Follow this link http://hbculibraries.org/humanities-2019.html for more information. Follow this link http://hbculibraries.org/ and click on the Donate Now button to invest in this project. Your support is appreciated. Follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/hbculibraryalliance1/ and Twitter at https://twitter.com/HBCULibAlliance Check out "PULSE!" The HBCU Library Alliance's News Source! - https://hbculibraryalliance.wordpress.com/