Benedict College News February 25, 2019 Benedict College Student Selected as a Mary Ellen Pleasant Entrepreneur Fellow The Center for Minority Serving Institutions (CMSI), in partnership with The Whether, a minority-owned recruitment marketing platform, recently announced the inaugural cohort of fellows in the Mary Ellen Pleasant Entrepreneur (MEPE) Fellowship program. Benedict College Senior Monica Geter was one of 25 students chosen to serve as a fellow in the Entrepreneurship program. "I am very proud of Monica and our Career Pathways Initiative team that have prepared her for this unique and rigorous experience," said Dr. Roslyn Clark Artis, President and CEO of Benedict College. "Monica and CPI represent the hard work and transformational educational experiences that are being cultivated at Benedict College. "Being part of this entrepreneurship program will give me the experience and confidence I need to take on further leadership opportunities in my career!" said Monica Geter, a senior psychology major from Queens, New York. "Through the fellowship program, I will be able to guide other individuals like myself, to become their BEST selves in their careers." Following graduation from Benedict College, Geter plans to pursue a Master's degree in Public Relations. She is currently an active member of Aspiring Black Psychologists, Collegiate 100 of BC, Sister Act, The Sigma Alpha Pi Chapter of National Society of Leadership and Success and the 20/20 Leaders of America. The MEPE Fellowship aims to increase the number of future entrepreneurs from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and is part of a $775,000 Innovations in Career Advising<https://postsecondary.gatesfoundation.org/areas-of-focus/innovation/technology-enabled-advising/> grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. In the program, HBCU students have the opportunity to build a peer advising startup through a 10-week virtual fellowship during the Spring 2019 semester with the assistance of The Whether's virtual business and marketing-focused curriculum and the scientifically-validated Clarity Assessment. "This fellowship is distinct because it has been developed particularly for HBCU students to serve HBCU students; we are so excited to offer this opportunity and to work alongside The Whether," says Marybeth Gasman, the Judy and Howard Berkowitz Professor of Education at the University of Pennsylvania and Director of the Center for Minority Serving Institutions. The Clarity Assessment<https://check.thewhether.com/clarity/> is focused on sharpening student's and helping them to focus and identify growth tracks and articulate career goals. The fellows will be responsible for introducing the assessment on campus to professors, student organizations, and individuals. Per the grant, fellows will gather feedback and help their peers in the assessment process. The Whether Founder and CEO, Chris Motley shares, "We received over 300 applications with more than 80 making it to the interview round. Our team made a very conscious effort to consider a diverse set of criteria that went beyond major and GPA." The result was a class with 64% women, 40% having a dominant professional value of Taking Risks (compared with < 5% on average) from 14 different schools. Throughout the fellowship, fellows will learn key startup principles and the components to successful and sustainable entrepreneurship, participate in a virtual curriculum on marketing, the customer funnel, virtually collaborate with the Whether's peer advising platform across partner institutions, and experiment with innovative techniques to assist students on campus in identifying career paths and interests. Fellows will keep track of their impact on campus by measuring the number of students they've reached, those who have completed their Clarity assessment, and those who have provided feedback about the effectiveness of their peer advising startup. The program will allow fellows to earn up to $2,500 based on metrics and feedback from their campus community. 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/ sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org%3cmailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org>> Honor the ancestors, honor the children. Follow us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hbculibraryalliance1/ and Twitter https://twitter.com/HBCULibAlliance Check out "PULSE!" The HBCU Library Alliance's News Source! - https://hbculibraryalliance.wordpress.com/