As a sophomore, Jonathan Jones hit an academic rough patch. He almost gave up on his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering.
Now he’s a graduate student at Florida A&M University pursuing a double master’s in business administration and supply chain management, while running an event planning business on the side. He also just won $10,000 to spearhead a personal community service project at the Thurgood Marshall College Fund’s 19th annual Leadership Institute, a selective networking event for over 400 historically Black college and university students.
“This institute gives opportunities that weren’t there,” Jones said. “It opens doors that would’ve otherwise been closed.”
Jones went to the Leadership Institute in Washington D.C. as one of ten Hennessy fellows, a new program for MBA students that includes professional development trainings, scholarships of up to $20,000 per academic year, a $10,000 annual stipend for other school-related expenses and the chance to compete in a pitch contest to fund his capstone project.
For Jones, the contest is just one of the opportunities presented by the Leadership Institute this week. The four-day event offers a series of sessions – hosted by representatives from major companies like Microsoft, JP Morgan Chase and Co., Boeing and others – on personal finance and professional development. The goal of the Leadership Institute is to provide HBCU students with strategies to advance in the work world while connecting them with companies looking for diverse talent.
Thursday, the first full day of programming, featured a plenary on financial literacy, hosted by the event’s presenting partner Wells Fargo, followed by smaller breakout sessions on the topic with a variety of company leaders. Later, a lunch plenary delved into office diversity and inclusion, and afternoon sessions ran through case studies on problem solving in the workplace.
For some students, like Texas Southern University junior Durmerrick Ross, just seeing so many Black business leaders in one place had an impact.
