July 6: Blackstone LaunchPad Partnership to Expand Entrepreneurship

Blackstone LaunchPad Partnership to Expand Entrepreneurship

Spelman College, along with Clark Atlanta University and Morehouse College, recently announced a new partnership with Blackstone LaunchPad to make the development of entrepreneurial skills more accessible to students in the Atlanta University Center Consortium.

Developed with support from the United Negro College Fund Inc., the largest scholarship provider for students of color, Blackstone LaunchPad’s expansion is the latest step in the Blackstone Charitable Foundation’s commitment to increase career mobility for a more diverse set of students through entrepreneurship training and skill-building.

“Spelman’s goal is to provide our students with the competitive edge they need to excel in any field,” said Mary Schmidt Campbell, Ph.D., president of Spelman. “Providing access to entrepreneurial insight, training and mentoring through high caliber partnerships, Blackstone LaunchPad is an innovative program that our scholars will benefit from for years to come. We are grateful for the investment in our students by Blackstone LaunchPad, which aligns with our new Center for Black Entrepreneurship, and will result in diversifying the pipeline of owners and leaders.”

The partnership is part of the Blackstone Charitable Foundation’s $40 million, five-year commitment to expand Blackstone LaunchPad from 30 to 75 colleges and universities that have a majority diverse population or serve under-resourced communities. Blackstone LaunchPad will facilitate access to a global network of mentors and advisors, deliver proven startup resources and offer unique virtual and physical convening opportunities. Students will also have the opportunity to participate in pitch competitions, fellowships and a live speaker series.

Juniors Present Virtual Spelman Founders Day at ED Games Expo

Four Spelman computer science majors presented a virtual Spelman Founders Day scavenger hunt, which they developed for the ED Games Expo, the Department of Education's annual public exhibition and celebration of innovation.

Rising juniors Kailon Jackson, Briya Philip, Erica Holloway and Ratziel Ogburu developed the scavenger hunt game in collaboration with Jaye Nias, Ph.D., assistant professor of computer and information sciences.

While navigating through the gamified campus environment, which was developed by the student team in Microsoft Education Edition, players learn and experience the varied rich cultural and historical nuances of Founders Day that makes Spelman unique.

“Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the student developers, who have yet to experience Founders Day firsthand, felt this was a great opportunity to virtually recreate this beloved Spelman tradition,” said Dr. Nias. “They faced and overcame obstacles around learning a new platform and working collaboratively to create and test the game through the physical limitations of distance. They also worked to utilize the highly medieval aesthetic of the Minecraft assets to create a modern and diverse campus environment”

The presentation can be accessed online by using your OneSpelman log-in.

AUC Woodruff Library Awarded Grant to Advance Archiving of Social Justice Initiatives

The Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library, in partnership with Project STAND, received $750,000 from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

The gift will support “Building Capacity, Ethical Documentation and Archiving of Student Activism in BIPOC Communities,” a three-year project to advance community archiving of social justice initiatives among former and current college and university students of color.

The partnership enables the establishment of archivist residencies, workshops on personal archiving and ethical documentation for student activists and social justice organizations.

"We look forward to continuing our partnership with Project STAND and the network of institutions and advocates involved in the work documenting and preserving the activism and social justice records of BIPOC college students,” said Loretta Parham, CEO and library director. “The AUC Woodruff Library stands on a legacy of student engagement that began with the Atlanta Student Movement in the AUC during the civil rights period. The vision and expertise of the involved archivists is significant and the support of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation is to be celebrated."

Alumna Joins Leadership Teams of Community Organizations

Ayana Gabriel, C’99, is the new vice president of community impact for Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta.

In addition, Gabriel has recently been selected as the new board chair-elect of redefinED atlanta, an education nonprofit dedicated to ensuring that every student in Atlanta has the opportunity to attend a great public school. The appointment is effective January 2022.

Gabriel has more than 10 years of experience in planning and executing complex projects across varied cross-functional teams. Much of her work is rooted in her passion for improving opportunities through education and civic leadership.

Most recently, Gabriel was program officer for the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, where she managed more than $1.5 million in education grant funding. There she led education initiatives and oversaw the foundation’s work around social justice.

Prior to the Blank Foundation, Gabriel worked as a chemical engineer before becoming a teacher in Atlanta Public Schools.