Damion Miller.

MEET DAMION MILLER, NATIVE OF GARY, 

2016 ANTHEM CORPORATE SCHOLAR GRADUATE 

UNCF understands the importance of giving students the opportunity to come back home. In 2015, UNCF recognized Damion Miller, a first-generation college student from Gary, attending UNCF-member Wiley College and a 2015 Anthem Corporate Scholar. Because of Damion's exposure and experience, as of 2016 Damion is now a full-time employee at Anthem, doing what he loves in his hometown of Gary.

Diona Richardson

MEET DIONA RICHARDSON, NATIVE OF INDIANAPOLIS, 

2017 UNCF INDIANAPOLIS SCHOLAR

My name is Diona Richardson and I am a sophomore, Health Science Major at Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia.  After completing my undergraduate studies, I hope to attend dental school. Ultimately, my career aspiration is to become a practicing orthodontist. I recently returned from my study abroad trip to Budapest, Hungary. Being able to have the opportunity of studying abroad was amazing. I fell in love with the architecture, the history, and the culture of Hungary. Budapest was such a beautiful place and I was able to learn new information as well as grow as a person through that wonderful experience. 

I am grateful for the opportunity to be an Indianapolis UNCF Scholar and a recipient of two UNCF scholarships my Freshmen year.  Thank you all for your generous support for students like me.

From left: Dr. Archibald Vanderpuye, Huston-Tillotson University; Binh Thuy Do, Director of Projects, Education Design Lab; Wanda Blair-Jones, LeMoyne-Owen Colleg e

How can historically black colleges and universities provide meaningful employment to struggling students and alumni? Leaders of 24 institutions serving them are answering this question in Atlanta this week as part of a conference hosted by United Negro College Fund's (UNCF)  Career Pathways Initiative (CPI).

The program seeks to close the ever widening chasm between the professional outcomes and economic mobility of black and white college students. Jim Shelton, former Deputy Secretary of Education in the Obama administration and president of Education at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative who kicked off the event, said the pace of change is critical. "The ability to learn at the pace of the fastest learner is the key to success," he said. The 54,000 students served by these institutions are some of our country's most vulnerable.

Improving African American's economic mobility through education and professional development represents one of today's most urgent social justice challenges. "A lot of these students come from low-income backgrounds," explains Michael Lomax, UNCF president and chief executive officer. "They attend college to change their economic status and that of their families. It's a perverse outcome when they borrow significantly, go to school, work hard, and then can't get good jobs after they graduate." Lomax believes that by "moving the goalpost from graduation to employment" and designing for "practical and pragmatic outcomes" the organization can lead in industry traditionally resistant to change.

From left: Michael Lomax, Jim Shelton (Source: Craig Huey Photography)

The data paint a complex picture of HBCUs. According to  the Center for Economic Policy Research, the unemployment rate for African American graduates, ages 22 to 27, was 12.4 percent in 2013, more than twice the rate of their white counterparts. In 2016, the  Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the overall unemployment rate for African Americans is 8.4 percent, almost double than their white counterparts at 4.3 percent.  Research also shows black students borrowing more, and carrying a higher debt load.

Yet despite facing higher underemployment and debt, HBCU graduates also report feeling greater satisfaction with their experience than their peers at predominantly white institutions. A recent  Gallup-Purdue poll reports 55 percent of black HBCU graduates agreed their college experiences prepared them well for outside of college, compared to less than 30 percent of their non-HBCU black counterparts.

Ask any of the 180 attendees who convened at Atlanta's downtown Marriott and they will agree. "It's [a] lot of money," says Oakwood University President Leslie N. Pollard, Ph.D. Oakwood, founded by the Seven Day Adventist Church in Huntsville, Ala., received over $2.75 million from the Lilly Endowment to redesign their career offerings. These grants are significant gifts for these institutions. Pollard and his HBCU president peers face a challenging mandate: to create efficient, scalable, innovative programs that are sustainable after the five-year grant term ends. "It's a burst of creative resources that jumpstarts our work for greater purposes."

To ensure these funds are put to the best use, UNCF hosts a gathering of grant recipients every year to design their programs, share best practices, and work collaboratively. This is the second annual conference. For three days, attendees have been heads down in an capacity building design sprint led by  Education Design Lab.

In the ballroom, groups huddled around oversized sheets of paper and sticky notes, creating student journey maps, identifying patterns and themes, and scrutinizing the plans they've proposed: is the process integrated into the curriculum? Is it measurable and data-driven? Does it respond to the needs of all students? Does it deliver a network of social and cultural capital that's necessary to be successful in the world of, "It's who you know, not what you know"?

The ideas they generate could be industry-changing. Here's why: The CPI grantees are being forced to take risks, experiment, iterate, put student success first, and design agile services for a 21st century economy. This group of innovators is being forced to "disrupt themselves" and adopt new strategies to replace traditional, legacy practices like career fairs, administrative and departmental siloes, and an emphasis on one-on-one student and career counselor advising.