Propel Center Achieves Milestones, and Sees Consistent Progress in 2022 with a Host of New Offerings for HBCU Students
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Posted By: Kennedy Williams on April 29, 2022 Propel Center, the global HBCU technology and learning accelerator, is achieving indisputable milestones and building momentum. Thus far this year alone, there has been a consistent drumbeat of good news from the organization with $3 million in first-round Impact Grant funding announced, $1 million in Health Innovation & Research Grants, another $1 million in Student Impact Scholarships and 100 healthcare internships offered, with more still to come in the weeks and months ahead. Establishing impactful and mutually beneficial national partnerships since the start of 2022 has been a key component of this progress. Fueled by the model of Propel's relationships with co-founders Apple and Southern Company, other entities that have come to the table include the Black Directors Health Equity Agenda (BDHEA), which is aligned with Propel in a joint vision to reimagine health equity and foster collaboration among top health systems, and the respected 50-year old organization INROADS, all working together as part of an initiative to ensure that HBCU students have the access and ability to achieve their full healthcare career potential. Another noteworthy Propel partnership is the work underway with Cityscape Ventures, an all-African American led, Atlanta-based real estate development and investment company, plus other alliances yet to be announced. Building upon this steady stream of headlines benefiting the nation's Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and their students, Propel has grown and strengthened its board of directors with the naming of two prestigious new members, announced today by founder and chairman Anthony Oni. Given the accomplished backgrounds, passion and skill sets that each bring to Propel's board, the pair are expected to have an immediate impact, significantly enhancing the board's makeup of committed professionals contributing to the Propel vision. The newest members are John O. Hudson, III, a seasoned energy executive and senior vice president of federal policy, regulatory and government affairs at Entergy Corporation, a Fortune 500 utility holding company headquartered in New Orleans, and Lamell McMorris, the respected head of policy in the Regulatory and Government Relations practice with investment and financial services firm Edward Jones. Hudson – who has responsibility for Entergy's Washington, D.C. office and several enterprise-wide functions such as corporate social responsibility, environmental policy, corporate philanthropy and sustainability – recently joined Entergy after a 22-year career at Southern Company. He served in several notable executive leadership roles at Southern Company subsidiaries, including president and CEO of Nicor Gas, executive vice president of external affairs of Southern Company Gas and senior vice president of marketing and business development at Alabama Power Company. Before ascending the corporate ladder, his HBCU foundation was established at Alabama A&M University and the Miles College School of Law, where he earned his undergraduate degree and law degree, respectively. He additionally holds an MBA from the Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business. McMorris, a Morehouse College and Princeton Theological Seminary alum, was formerly founder and CEO of his own Washington, D.C.-based consulting firm and is actively pursuing a doctorate in Law and Policy from Northeastern University. Both leaders, who were part of the initial, foundational conversations and concepting of Propel, are humbled and inspired by their new board roles and the unique opportunity to serve that it represents. "The work that's happening at Propel is really important," says Hudson, who has served as a trustee at Alabama A&M, Miles College and Miles College School of Law. "As we consider the skills and academic training that will be required of professionals in the future, I think Propel is positioned perfectly, right there in the gap, to make a way for those students. Innovation is critical in every field of human endeavor. How can you leverage technology advances to create new revenue streams and shareholder value? Propel is going to train the next generation of students to think that way. It's what the future is about and I'm excited to be a part of it." McMorris, a Chicago native, concurs. "As an alumnus of a historically Black college, and a former trustee of Morehouse College as well as a current trustee of Miles College, any opportunity we have to foster and create a pipeline of Black entrepreneurs and tech innovators, and do so in, and through the Propel Center HBCU Consortium, we should do it," he emphasizes. "I commend Southern Company, in partnership with Apple and all of the Propel partners for their vision. Faith and works go hand-in-hand, so institutions like Propel help match word and deed, and help us to ensure that we continue to be our ancestors' wildest dreams." SOURCE PropelCenter.org If you enjoyed this article, Join HBCU CONNECT today for similar content and opportunities via email! |
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Kennedy Williams
From Loganville, GA Spelman College class of 2020 Member Since July 2016 |
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