To increase the number of historically Black college and university (HBCUs) students pursuing entrepreneurial career paths, the Rutgers Center for Minority Serving Institutions (CMSI) partnered with mentorship network The Whether to create the Mary Ellen Pleasant Entrepreneur (MEPE) fellowship program.
During a 10-week fellowship experience that took place online last year, 25 students from 17 partner HBCUs worked to develop entrepreneurial skills through peer mentorship. The fellowship was funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as part of the $775,000 Innovations in Career Advising grant. Fellows each ran their own career-advising business online to provide their peers with the necessary skills needed to run their own business.
“I love any kind of opportunity where you can see undergraduate students really shine. And show you their absolute best when it comes to the skills that they’ve learned,” said Dr. Marybeth Gasman, Samuel DeWitt Proctor Endowed Chair in Education and a distinguished professor at Rutgers University. “And I think this was a great opportunity for us to see that. Given what’s going on right now, [it’s] a reminder of just how much talent there is among undergraduate students. And also, you know, a reminder of how valuable HBCUs are is really important.”
To underscore the impact of the fellowship, CMSI recently released a report, “Encouraging Entrepreneurship at Historically Black Colleges and Universities.” The report featured each program fellow and highlighted their motivations and future career goals.
“My goal in part was to create an experience where students were taken out of their comfort zones and need to adapt,” said Chris Motley, founder and CEO of The Whether. “The current crisis provides yet another opportunity to tap into the learnings from the fellowship.”
A majority of the fellows had little prior experience with entrepreneurship. Many of the fellows became independently interested in entrepreneurship, seeing it as a way to further their professional careers. And for many who were passionate about social issues, it was a chance to convert that passion into a potential business idea.
The fellows each took The Whether’s Clarity Assessment, which provided insights on their decision-making and relationship building skills as well as possible career paths. The fellows’ top three key strengths, revealed the clarity assessment, were that they were “change-oriented, kind-hearted and very inquisitive.” Their key caution areas were that they “could be highly judgmental, tend to take things personally and could hold on to anger,” according to the report.
