Two-time Emmy and Three-time NAACP Image Award-winning, television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed Ashley Christopher.
She is a multifaceted individual: a dedicated mother to her son, Ryan, a CEO, an attorney licensed in Pennsylvania, and a stroke survivor. She founded the HBCU Week Foundation in 2017 with a mission to promote enrollment in Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), provide scholarships, and create pathways for students from undergrad to corporate America.
HBCU Week, a central initiative of her foundation, aims to immerse high school students in the history and legacy of HBCUs, encouraging them to consider these institutions for higher education. The cornerstone of the program is a unique college fair where students can gain immediate acceptance and scholarships based on their eligibility. To date, the event has facilitated over 10,000 on-the-spot acceptances and awarded nearly $100 million in scholarships, partnering with organizations like the NFL and Capital One. Notably, Ashley spearheaded a substantial partnership with the American Chemistry Council, which will provide 1,000 $40,000 scholarships for students pursuing STEM majors at HBCUs.
As a proud alumna of HBCUs, having attended Howard University and the University of the District of Columbia Law School, Ashley is deeply committed to guiding young people toward higher education opportunities. She views her role as crucial in demonstrating that success is attainable from HBCUs. Above all, her favorite role remains that of a mother, guided by her faith and the belief that she can inspire others while advancing her own career.
Company Description *
HBCU Week was founded in 2017 by Ashley Christopher, Esq. and is managed by the HBCU Week Foundation, Inc., a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. HBCU Week consists of multi-day events held throughout the nation each year, designed to encourage high school-aged youth to enroll in HBCUs, provide scholarship dollars for matriculation and sustain a pipeline for employment from undergraduate school to corporate America. A highlight of our events is the College Fair, which offers on-the-spot college acceptance and scholarships to qualified high school seniors. For more information, visit www.HBCUWeek.org.
Talking Points/Questions *
Entrepreneurship & Nonprofit Leadership
Entrepreneurship and nonprofit leadership demand grit and hard work. Despite challenges, a heartfelt commitment makes the journey worthwhile. This content is aimed at companies and organizations eager to learn the essentials of building and managing a business with a small team.
DE&I & Social Impact
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I) is a pivotal topic in today's discourse. It's crucial to educate individuals and companies on its real benefits. Diversity should be viewed as essential for upward mobility, not merely as an act of charity. The audience includes organizations dedicated to understanding and expanding diversity initiatives.
Self-Care & Self-Awareness
As a mother, entrepreneur, attorney, and stroke survivor, Ashley recognizes the significance of prioritizing health and listening to our bodies. It’s vital that everyone learns to care for themselves mentally, physically, and emotionally. This message targets individuals aged 16 and older who are passionate about adopting a healthy lifestyle and pursuing personal growth.
#BEST
#STRAW
#SHMS
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi. I am Rashan McDonald, a host of weekly Money
Making Conversation Masterclass show. The interviews and information that this
show provides are for everyone. It's time to stop reading
other people's success stories and start living your own. If
you want to be a guest oh my show, please
visit our website Moneymakingconversations dot com and clip the be
a guest button. Press submit and information will come directly
(00:23):
to me. Now, let's get this show started. I've known
her for a while now, and I'm just gonna be
honest with you. She's spectacular. I don't know if I
can say words like that, you know, because it's saying nice,
upply positive things about people. Can't say certain things on NPR.
I guess created the HBCU Week Foundation in twenty seventeen
with a mission to promote enrollment and historically Black colleges
(00:46):
and Universities, which is HBCUs, provide scholarships, and create pathways
for students from undergrad to corporate America. To date, HBCU
Week has facilitated facilitated over ten thousand listen to y'all,
ten thousand on the spot acceptance to HBCUs, and awarded
(01:08):
nearly one hundred million dollars in scholarships to HBCUs. If
that's not spectacular, I don't know what it is. Please
work with the money Making Conversations Masterclass, the one and
only Ashley Christopher. How are you doing, Ashley?
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Hey?
Speaker 3 (01:23):
Hey or Shine?
Speaker 2 (01:24):
Good to be here? How are you?
Speaker 1 (01:25):
You know, Ashley, I built it up and you just hey, hey, Shane,
how you doing?
Speaker 2 (01:29):
How you doing?
Speaker 3 (01:30):
I'm doing?
Speaker 1 (01:30):
What conversation on a ten thousand people? Now, young people,
you know that you've owned the spot registration at your
event one hundred million dollars in scholarships, because that's what
we talk about now, getting out of college, not carrying
that debt own for the rest of their life. Talk
(01:53):
about the HPCU week what is it exactly? And also
playing to my audience, what is on the spot acceptance?
Speaker 3 (02:04):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (02:04):
So, I mean our on the spot acceptance process happens
every year at our college fair. So we do a
week long activation which emulates an HBCU homecoming experience. It's
a week long, it's in Wilmington, Delaware. We do all
the exciting things like concerts, comedy shows, the Battle the Bands,
Channel discussions, block party, but the cornerstone event is the
(02:27):
College Fair, because that's where students can get accepted into
college on the spot and receive a scholarship award. So
if you come as a graduating senior and you have
the requisite SAT or ACT score and GPA, you could
be admitted right there. And unfortunately, we have been able
to provide that kind of access for ten thousand students
since twenty seventeen.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
When did you realize, First of all, let's talk about
your background, your double hbcure right, Look, give everybody your
academic background, and what did you start, right, and why
did you choose an HBCU.
Speaker 3 (03:05):
Well, the funny thing is I was fortunate enough to
grow up in a household where my parents encouraged me
to choose an HBCU. My high school didn't necessarily do that,
they didn't even discuss or acknowledge HBCUs, but because of
my parents, I already knew in my mind that that
was the direct direction I wanted to go.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
I did go to an all girls Catholic high school.
So even though I really did want to go to
Spelman at first, that quickly became a non negotiable for me.
I didn't want to do the all girls thing.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
Again.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
So after that, Howard Howard became their first choice, and
it was the best decision I could have ever made.
So I went to Howard University for undergraduate school, and
then I went to the University of DC Law School,
finishing up there in twenty thirteen.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
Now, when you talk about these different scholarships that you
are dealing with and putting out there, how did you
start the HBCU week and what was the to the
original goal? Because now it's huge, you know, but you
have to start somewhere in there, usually by yourself when
you starting out, so and you have this insane idea
(04:09):
to change the world. Talk about those early days before
before it was ten thousand on the spot bresidents acceptance,
and before there was one hundred million dollars in scholarships
to attend HBCUs.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
Well, you know, I think the stars kind of aligned.
And I was, you know, trying to figure out what
my thing was at the moment. I had recently finished
to law school. I was successful with the bar exam,
so I was licensed to practice in Pennsylvania and New Jersey,
and I'm trying to figure out what my next step
is going to be. So I ended up meeting the
(04:44):
newly elected mayor in the city of Wilmington, and we
struck a really good relationship very quickly. So what we
did was we ended up working together and as an
employee of IS, he asked me to come up with
some programming that was pointed directly at some of Wilmington's
most underserved communities. So I wanted to lean into education,
(05:07):
and in doing that, I came up with this concept
of HBCU Week. As a former chairman or chairwoman of
Howard University Homecoming, that gave me a clear backdrop for
large scale event planning, and that coupled with my love
for HBCUs and wanting to just expose students to the
same experience I had, that's what led me to create
(05:29):
this foundation.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
Now, this foundation initially started. Now this is what I
always love people. You know, when you hear something that
you're accomplishing. You're doing this in Wilmington, Delaware. Okay, that's
not a major city, as we all know, just not
at all of Philadelphia, you know, and right there along
you go, did you see it getting this big?
Speaker 3 (05:53):
Oh?
Speaker 1 (05:53):
You were just starting an initiative that you dreamed of
and you felt that you could impact just the community locally,
because you're impacting the country now, not just the community
of Delaware. Wilmington, Delaware.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
Yeah, And to be honest with you, I had no idea,
and honestly, the goal wasn't even for this to be
a national event. The goal was to take care of
the students in my hometown, to get them the exposure
that they needed because I knew, you know, a lot
of people where I grew up don't even think college
is an option. So I wanted to make sure that
(06:29):
they were taken care of. And doing that, it.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
Was very easy to show or demonstrate the passion and
authenticity behind the mission and getting the students.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Involved and excited about it, and it just kind of
caught on to all the surrounding areas, students from different schools.
Our College Fair started to attract everyone from the Delaware Valley,
not just Wilmington, but Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, even
as far as Connecticut and as far south as Kentucky.
(07:00):
We had a bus from Kentucky drive up to the
College Fair.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
So I mean.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
I think that it speaks volumes when you love what
you do and you have a real passion and drive
behind just the impact it catches on and people just
I think naturally get excited about it.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
Yeah, I'm talking to Ashley Christopher her HBCU foundation that
she started in twenty seventeen. Passion is to grow the
brand awareness of HBCUs, but more importantly than attendance, and
also to put students in a position where Tier one students,
in particular, they can go to school via scholarships. So
(07:42):
far just twenty seventeen, ten thousand on the spot acceptance.
That means when these students bring the act SAT and
they transcript to the college fair, they'll meet with a
counselor at this particular HBCU and they can be accepted
on the spot. I've seen it own ads. I've seen
these kids walk away with a number of four rides
(08:05):
partial scholarship offers right there. I've seen long lines. I've
seen it so many times. And one hundred million dollars
in scholarships. Can you tell people basically you have other
scholarships that you are making available, especially in the STEM area.
Can you discuss that with us on air?
Speaker 2 (08:24):
Ashvill Oh, yeah, yeah, I would say that my most
popular scholarship is the STEM scholarship. It's the Future of
STEM scholars Initiatives, and it is a forty thousand dollars
award available to students that are committed to attending HBCU
and declare a STEM major. So it's able to broker
a forty million dollar partnership with the American Chemistry Council,
(08:47):
so that forty thousand dollars scholarship is available to one
thousand students. We've given away just under six hundred of
those awards so far, with North Carolina and t being
the premier HBCU STEM school.
Speaker 3 (09:00):
We have about one hundred and twenty five C.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
Scholars there, followed by seventy eight at Howard University, and
there are forty six HBCUs that have fac scholars enrolled.
So that's our most popular one, the forty thousand dollars
STEM Scholarship, and that application goes live every September on
hbcweek dot org. So if there are any students listening
that are aspiring HBCU students that want to study STEM,
(09:24):
please look out for that opportunity to go live this year,
it'll be September the twenty six.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
So what do I love about you? Ashley? You just
threw out forty million dollars Avery Sean I broke with
this forty million dollar scholarship opportunity. You know, forty thousand
dollars scholarships, one thousand of you know, and uh okay,
tell my audience, how how do we do this? We
(09:54):
got we got people out there who are cutting scholarships,
who are cutting grads, who are cutting and they hadn't
got the hpc US yet. I can't wait til that
that that the administration comes over to the hbc U side,
because they've told d I and act like all black
people on D E I like nobody else is tied
the d I but us. I know you have a
(10:14):
comment about that. Please give us off your feedback when
you hear the word d I D E D E
N I being being slanted soon in the direction of
black people.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
Mm hmm, well, you know, to be honest, we all
know that black people were never the primary beneficiary of
the e I to begin with.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
So we have to ask ourselves what are we really
honestly losing. I know a lot of us in the
nonprofit space, in the social impact space, when this racial
reckoning happened with George Floyd, and there were so many
companies that just wanted to pour dollars into any black
effort they could find. We knew that that moment was
(11:03):
the energy was like get what you can while you can,
because this.
Speaker 3 (11:05):
Is a moment in time.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
This isn't going to last, right, So maybe there was
some short term impact with the whole DEI waves, but I.
Speaker 3 (11:14):
Think everybody know wasn't necessarily sustainable, nor was it primarily benefiting.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
Anybody of color.
Speaker 3 (11:22):
The primary beneficiary to DEI, just as welfare benefits Medicaid
SNAP is all white women. So I mean, yeah, we can,
we can try to play that game and say that
it's a black thing, but it's really not. So we
got to stay focused on what the goal is. They
laser focused on the goal and just.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
Keep doing the work. That's what we have to do
under these circumstances.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
Now, let's get back to the Ford a million, you know,
mislaser focus. I have so many people contacting me, shant,
can you help me with a grant? Can you grant
grant writing? How do you, Ashley Christopher, get a forty
million dollar opportunity out of a company that benefits all
(12:09):
youth today and then convince that same company that there
is better served that that money goes to students who
go to attend HBCUs.
Speaker 3 (12:20):
You know, it all worked to my benefit somehow.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
I really just being in the space that I'm in
and experiencing the success that I have in such a
short period of time.
Speaker 3 (12:33):
I can't take credit for it. I'm a person of
strong face and I know that.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
But for you know, my relationship with God, this wouldn't
be a thing. But specifically the forty million dollar partnership.
While I was in Wilmington and figuring out how we
were going to activate hbc U week, there were some companies,
Wilmington based companies that were excited about my idea that
wanted to jump in and participate. One of those companies
(13:01):
was the Komores Company. My dear friend, who is the
former president and CEO, Mark Vergnano, wanted to jump in
and help with scholarships because he told me personally that
the STEM industry is experiencing a serious deficit with jobs,
and by twenty twenty five, which is now, they were
facing a deficit of a million jobs, and he wanted
(13:22):
to do what he could to fill those spaces with
diverse candidates because he knows STEM makes the world go around,
there's questions and problems that needs to be solved. If
everybody around that table looks the same, we're in trouble.
So Mark Vignano was actually on a mission to diversify
the field of STEM. So he jumped in initially with
(13:43):
seven forty thousand dollars scholarships.
Speaker 3 (13:45):
That's how this.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
Scholarship started with selling seven.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
It started with seven and it grew to one thousand
after Mark told his colleagues in the American Chemistry Council
what we were doing, and we had a few meetings,
told them, you know how actual that this scholarship opportunity
would be, and sold the idea to get the American
Chemistry Counsel to participate. So it was just kind of
(14:08):
a waiting game, and then they came back and said, hey,
we're in for forty million. I mean, I don't I
don't even have the words for how I felt when
that happened to grow from seven forty thousand dollars scholarships
to one thousand after just a few conversations. It's divine.
There's really no other explanation for it.
Speaker 4 (14:31):
Please don't go anywhere, We'll be right back with more money.
Making Conversations Masterclass. Welcome back to the Money Making Conversations
Masterclass hosted by Rashaan McDonald. Money Making Conversations Masterclass continues
online at Moneymakingconversations dot com and follow money Making Conversations
(14:54):
Masterclass on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
In my interview, interview that I'm having right now is
with Ashley Christopher background HBCU week Foundation she started in
twenty seventeen. I'm just getting everybody popped up because for
a person to do in less than eighty years to
have registered ten thousand students on the spot at her
career fairs and awarded these individuals over one hundred million
(15:21):
dollars nearly one hundred million dollars of scholarships, got a
forty million dollars STEM program where they have for a thousand,
forty thousand dollars scholarships where over six hundred students have
fulfilled those. It means that they have students and they
have slots right now for your child is interested in
(15:43):
STEM that wanted to attend an HBCU, this is the
person you need to be talking to. She's providing real
opportunity tier one students and your child is going to
be taken care of. Now when I go back to Ashvill, Ashley, Ashley,
you are also participating in a very worldly manner with
the Disney organization and Toms. Tell us all about that.
(16:06):
Tell us a little bit about that.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
Yeah, So we were blessed to have the opportunity to
bring Steven A. Smith on as our brand ambassador.
Speaker 3 (16:16):
Through a few connections between my team and his we
were able to have a conversation, invite Stephen down to
some of our events, get him acclimated with what we do,
and make the formal ask for him to be an ambassador.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
And it's been a fantastic time. He has mentioned our
brand on the number one sports show in the world
several times.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
He's brought so many lights.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
I think you interviewed on the number one sports show,
my friend, thanks last time.
Speaker 3 (16:46):
I check that's up.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
I saw you on the on the booth right there
with Steven H. Fifth so that's not it. Well, I
will not let you do ask on this show. Money
making conversation. Mastically, you are changing lives and somewhere along
the line, you are blessed. We all are blessed to
be here having this conversation. But you're doing what some
people consider impossible. And every time I meet you, every
(17:12):
time I see you, I admire you because you are focused,
you are laser focused, and you can walk on stage,
you can control a room, and you sit down. I
saw you sit down with Stevid A and the team
talking about this booking as a just Oprah could have
been sitting there in that chair that you're talking just
(17:33):
about our confidence. That's how you are. And so and
I won't let you come on this show because I
think if you understand what you're doing, people won't understand
the magic and the accomplishments. So let's do a reset
and talk about what you're doing with Disney. Okay, okay.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
So, through our partnership with Steven A.
Speaker 3 (17:54):
Smith, he was able to get us in front of
some key executives at Disney and when they witnessed what
we were doing in the impact wea sustained. With Stephen A.
Smith being so excited about our organization, we're able to
have some conversations about bringing HBC Week to the Walt
Disney resort and as a result, we've been able to
activate HBC Week twice at Walt Disney World and we
(18:15):
look forward to maintaining that partnership several students. I mean,
the very first time we had the college fair there
we got about eighty five hundred students.
Speaker 1 (18:24):
Eighty yes, Orlando, Florida.
Speaker 3 (18:29):
In Orlando, yet for our.
Speaker 1 (18:31):
Delaware Now you down in Orlando, Florida.
Speaker 3 (18:34):
Now, yes, we're down in Orlando.
Speaker 1 (18:37):
Okay. That was the first time.
Speaker 2 (18:38):
First time, that was the first time.
Speaker 3 (18:40):
The second time, we got around twelve thousand students.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
Two thousand students.
Speaker 3 (18:44):
Yeah, yeah, So it's it's really garnering some excitement because
the students not only are they excited to experience HBC
and culture, but they're happy to be able to learn
that not only can they get in, but they can
find the money get them through the process. Wow.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
When I saw you on stage in Orlando, in front
of those twelve thousand students, Anthony Anderson was there. He
was there making in the parents, Steven, they couldn't make
it down there because he was doing something. So Anthony
Anderson field Dan who is also a graduate of the
recent graduate of HPC O Howard University, where his son
also graduated from. When you look out in that crowd, Ashley,
(19:30):
what do you see?
Speaker 2 (19:33):
I see purpose?
Speaker 3 (19:35):
I see potential. Often when kids don't see themselves just
the future of excitement, fun forging relationships that'll be meaningful forever,
growing their passions and their drives, deciding what the next
(19:56):
move is going to be. But having the opportunity to
do that surround by people who look like them with
the same goals and drive. You don't understand how impactful
that is until you step into it. So when I
see the students that attend these events that aspire to it,
I can almost like daydream about their lives right envision
them on HBCU campuses and joining sororities and fraternities, or
(20:19):
running homecoming or yearbook and getting the grades and the
internships and landing the jobs. It's really a dream come
true to watch.
Speaker 1 (20:29):
Cool Now, that was a dream you almost didn't see
because you came across a physical obstacle came about in
your life that you didn't see coming. Tell us about
that and how you was able to overcome that, and
we understand even more so the value of having you
in our life today and what you've accomplished and will
(20:49):
continue to accomplish in the future. Talk about that moment
in your life where you didn't see that coming.
Speaker 3 (20:55):
Oh yeah, it was a little more than ten years ago.
I woke up up one Sunday morning and I could
not feel the right side of my body after you know,
looking at my hand or my arm and my leg
and like my brain telling it to move, but it wouldn't.
I knew that there was something serious happening. So I
(21:17):
was able to get the attention of my mother, who
came to my side and put both of her hands
on my face, told me to smile, and I couldn't.
So she knew what was happening.
Speaker 2 (21:24):
And called the ambulance.
Speaker 3 (21:27):
And I was having a stroke at twenty nine, and
it was due to birth control use. I had to
learn to write again. I had to go through physical therapy,
to get on blood dinners to get my you know,
blood back to a normal level, and obviously eliminate the
use of hormonal birth control altogether. But it did.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
It did create a different sense of drive and purpose
in me because there were some moments that you know,
in that space for anybody who's listening that has experienced
something like that, where you question whether or not you'll survive,
and then if you do, what's next and you want
to make it you know the best of it, because
(22:13):
you just never know what's around the corner.
Speaker 3 (22:16):
And when I adopted that sense of purpose and drive,
it kind of just turned my ambition up a few notches.
So not only am I I focused on the foundation,
but you know, I'm particular about the things I eat
and making sure I maintain a healthy, active lifestyle. Anything
(22:36):
I can.
Speaker 2 (22:36):
Do to slow the clock down, that's that's what I'm doing.
And you can also follow us. Follow us on every
social channel at HBC week at Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok,
We're on all the socials.
Speaker 1 (22:51):
Well, Ashley, thank you. You know, you subdued self, you
know your focus self.
Speaker 3 (23:00):
Thank you for having me taking the time. I really do.
Speaker 1 (23:03):
No, You're fantastic, and I thank you. And now I
hope people hear. High value what you're doing to our
youth in America. High value your laser focus. High value
your passion because it's something you basically survived stroke, retrained
yourself twenty seventeen. You found in an organization as a
(23:25):
local cause turning into a national cause. When you started
with seven forty thousand dollars scholarships, now it's one thousand. Yeah,
you now have registered over ten thousand on the spot
students at your career fairs to go to HBCUs and
award a nearly one hundred million dollars in scholarships. If
(23:48):
I can't help toot your horn, who can? Thank you
as Christopher, You're amazing and continue to change lives for
our youth because definitely you're a blessing. Thank you for
coming no Money Making Conversation master Class.
Speaker 3 (24:00):
Thank you so much for Shaan. I appreciate the time.
Speaker 1 (24:03):
This has been another edition of Moneymaking Conversation Masterclass hosted
by me Rushawn McDonald. Thank you to our guests on
the show today and thank you our listening to audience now.
If you want to listen to any episode I want
to be a guest on the show, visit Moneymakingconversations dot com.
Our social media handle is money Making Conversation. Join us
next week and remember to always leave with your gifts.
(24:26):
Keep winning
Hi. I am Rashan McDonald, a host of weekly Money
Making Conversation Masterclass show. The interviews and information that this
show provides are for everyone. It's time to stop reading
other people's success stories and start living your own. If
you want to be a guest oh my show, please
visit our website Moneymakingconversations dot com and clip the be
a guest button. Press submit and information will come directly
(00:23):
to me. Now, let's get this show started. I've known
her for a while now, and I'm just gonna be
honest with you. She's spectacular. I don't know if I
can say words like that, you know, because it's saying nice,
upply positive things about people. Can't say certain things on NPR.
I guess created the HBCU Week Foundation in twenty seventeen
with a mission to promote enrollment and historically Black colleges
(00:46):
and Universities, which is HBCUs, provide scholarships, and create pathways
for students from undergrad to corporate America. To date, HBCU
Week has facilitated facilitated over ten thousand listen to y'all,
ten thousand on the spot acceptance to HBCUs, and awarded
(01:08):
nearly one hundred million dollars in scholarships to HBCUs. If
that's not spectacular, I don't know what it is. Please
work with the money Making Conversations Masterclass, the one and
only Ashley Christopher. How are you doing, Ashley?
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Hey?
Speaker 3 (01:23):
Hey or Shine?
Speaker 2 (01:24):
Good to be here? How are you?
Speaker 1 (01:25):
You know, Ashley, I built it up and you just hey, hey, Shane,
how you doing?
Speaker 2 (01:29):
How you doing?
Speaker 3 (01:30):
I'm doing?
Speaker 1 (01:30):
What conversation on a ten thousand people? Now, young people,
you know that you've owned the spot registration at your
event one hundred million dollars in scholarships, because that's what
we talk about now, getting out of college, not carrying
that debt own for the rest of their life. Talk
(01:53):
about the HPCU week what is it exactly? And also
playing to my audience, what is on the spot acceptance?
Speaker 3 (02:04):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (02:04):
So, I mean our on the spot acceptance process happens
every year at our college fair. So we do a
week long activation which emulates an HBCU homecoming experience. It's
a week long, it's in Wilmington, Delaware. We do all
the exciting things like concerts, comedy shows, the Battle the Bands,
Channel discussions, block party, but the cornerstone event is the
(02:27):
College Fair, because that's where students can get accepted into
college on the spot and receive a scholarship award. So
if you come as a graduating senior and you have
the requisite SAT or ACT score and GPA, you could
be admitted right there. And unfortunately, we have been able
to provide that kind of access for ten thousand students
since twenty seventeen.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
When did you realize, First of all, let's talk about
your background, your double hbcure right, Look, give everybody your
academic background, and what did you start, right, and why
did you choose an HBCU.
Speaker 3 (03:05):
Well, the funny thing is I was fortunate enough to
grow up in a household where my parents encouraged me
to choose an HBCU. My high school didn't necessarily do that,
they didn't even discuss or acknowledge HBCUs, but because of
my parents, I already knew in my mind that that
was the direct direction I wanted to go.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
I did go to an all girls Catholic high school.
So even though I really did want to go to
Spelman at first, that quickly became a non negotiable for me.
I didn't want to do the all girls thing.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
Again.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
So after that, Howard Howard became their first choice, and
it was the best decision I could have ever made.
So I went to Howard University for undergraduate school, and
then I went to the University of DC Law School,
finishing up there in twenty thirteen.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
Now, when you talk about these different scholarships that you
are dealing with and putting out there, how did you
start the HBCU week and what was the to the
original goal? Because now it's huge, you know, but you
have to start somewhere in there, usually by yourself when
you starting out, so and you have this insane idea
(04:09):
to change the world. Talk about those early days before
before it was ten thousand on the spot bresidents acceptance,
and before there was one hundred million dollars in scholarships
to attend HBCUs.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
Well, you know, I think the stars kind of aligned.
And I was, you know, trying to figure out what
my thing was at the moment. I had recently finished
to law school. I was successful with the bar exam,
so I was licensed to practice in Pennsylvania and New Jersey,
and I'm trying to figure out what my next step
is going to be. So I ended up meeting the
(04:44):
newly elected mayor in the city of Wilmington, and we
struck a really good relationship very quickly. So what we
did was we ended up working together and as an
employee of IS, he asked me to come up with
some programming that was pointed directly at some of Wilmington's
most underserved communities. So I wanted to lean into education,
(05:07):
and in doing that, I came up with this concept
of HBCU Week. As a former chairman or chairwoman of
Howard University Homecoming, that gave me a clear backdrop for
large scale event planning, and that coupled with my love
for HBCUs and wanting to just expose students to the
same experience I had, that's what led me to create
(05:29):
this foundation.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
Now, this foundation initially started. Now this is what I
always love people. You know, when you hear something that
you're accomplishing. You're doing this in Wilmington, Delaware. Okay, that's
not a major city, as we all know, just not
at all of Philadelphia, you know, and right there along
you go, did you see it getting this big?
Speaker 3 (05:53):
Oh?
Speaker 1 (05:53):
You were just starting an initiative that you dreamed of
and you felt that you could impact just the community locally,
because you're impacting the country now, not just the community
of Delaware. Wilmington, Delaware.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
Yeah, And to be honest with you, I had no idea,
and honestly, the goal wasn't even for this to be
a national event. The goal was to take care of
the students in my hometown, to get them the exposure
that they needed because I knew, you know, a lot
of people where I grew up don't even think college
is an option. So I wanted to make sure that
(06:29):
they were taken care of. And doing that, it.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
Was very easy to show or demonstrate the passion and
authenticity behind the mission and getting the students.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Involved and excited about it, and it just kind of
caught on to all the surrounding areas, students from different schools.
Our College Fair started to attract everyone from the Delaware Valley,
not just Wilmington, but Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, even
as far as Connecticut and as far south as Kentucky.
(07:00):
We had a bus from Kentucky drive up to the
College Fair.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
So I mean.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
I think that it speaks volumes when you love what
you do and you have a real passion and drive
behind just the impact it catches on and people just
I think naturally get excited about it.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
Yeah, I'm talking to Ashley Christopher her HBCU foundation that
she started in twenty seventeen. Passion is to grow the
brand awareness of HBCUs, but more importantly than attendance, and
also to put students in a position where Tier one students,
in particular, they can go to school via scholarships. So
(07:42):
far just twenty seventeen, ten thousand on the spot acceptance.
That means when these students bring the act SAT and
they transcript to the college fair, they'll meet with a
counselor at this particular HBCU and they can be accepted
on the spot. I've seen it own ads. I've seen
these kids walk away with a number of four rides
(08:05):
partial scholarship offers right there. I've seen long lines. I've
seen it so many times. And one hundred million dollars
in scholarships. Can you tell people basically you have other
scholarships that you are making available, especially in the STEM area.
Can you discuss that with us on air?
Speaker 2 (08:24):
Ashvill Oh, yeah, yeah, I would say that my most
popular scholarship is the STEM scholarship. It's the Future of
STEM scholars Initiatives, and it is a forty thousand dollars
award available to students that are committed to attending HBCU
and declare a STEM major. So it's able to broker
a forty million dollar partnership with the American Chemistry Council,
(08:47):
so that forty thousand dollars scholarship is available to one
thousand students. We've given away just under six hundred of
those awards so far, with North Carolina and t being
the premier HBCU STEM school.
Speaker 3 (09:00):
We have about one hundred and twenty five C.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
Scholars there, followed by seventy eight at Howard University, and
there are forty six HBCUs that have fac scholars enrolled.
So that's our most popular one, the forty thousand dollars
STEM Scholarship, and that application goes live every September on
hbcweek dot org. So if there are any students listening
that are aspiring HBCU students that want to study STEM,
(09:24):
please look out for that opportunity to go live this year,
it'll be September the twenty six.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
So what do I love about you? Ashley? You just
threw out forty million dollars Avery Sean I broke with
this forty million dollar scholarship opportunity. You know, forty thousand
dollars scholarships, one thousand of you know, and uh okay,
tell my audience, how how do we do this? We
(09:54):
got we got people out there who are cutting scholarships,
who are cutting grads, who are cutting and they hadn't
got the hpc US yet. I can't wait til that
that that the administration comes over to the hbc U side,
because they've told d I and act like all black
people on D E I like nobody else is tied
the d I but us. I know you have a
(10:14):
comment about that. Please give us off your feedback when
you hear the word d I D E D E
N I being being slanted soon in the direction of
black people.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
Mm hmm, well, you know, to be honest, we all
know that black people were never the primary beneficiary of
the e I to begin with.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
So we have to ask ourselves what are we really
honestly losing. I know a lot of us in the
nonprofit space, in the social impact space, when this racial
reckoning happened with George Floyd, and there were so many
companies that just wanted to pour dollars into any black
effort they could find. We knew that that moment was
(11:03):
the energy was like get what you can while you can,
because this.
Speaker 3 (11:05):
Is a moment in time.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
This isn't going to last, right, So maybe there was
some short term impact with the whole DEI waves, but I.
Speaker 3 (11:14):
Think everybody know wasn't necessarily sustainable, nor was it primarily benefiting.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
Anybody of color.
Speaker 3 (11:22):
The primary beneficiary to DEI, just as welfare benefits Medicaid
SNAP is all white women. So I mean, yeah, we can,
we can try to play that game and say that
it's a black thing, but it's really not. So we
got to stay focused on what the goal is. They
laser focused on the goal and just.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
Keep doing the work. That's what we have to do
under these circumstances.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
Now, let's get back to the Ford a million, you know,
mislaser focus. I have so many people contacting me, shant,
can you help me with a grant? Can you grant
grant writing? How do you, Ashley Christopher, get a forty
million dollar opportunity out of a company that benefits all
(12:09):
youth today and then convince that same company that there
is better served that that money goes to students who
go to attend HBCUs.
Speaker 3 (12:20):
You know, it all worked to my benefit somehow.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
I really just being in the space that I'm in
and experiencing the success that I have in such a
short period of time.
Speaker 3 (12:33):
I can't take credit for it. I'm a person of
strong face and I know that.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
But for you know, my relationship with God, this wouldn't
be a thing. But specifically the forty million dollar partnership.
While I was in Wilmington and figuring out how we
were going to activate hbc U week, there were some companies,
Wilmington based companies that were excited about my idea that
wanted to jump in and participate. One of those companies
(13:01):
was the Komores Company. My dear friend, who is the
former president and CEO, Mark Vergnano, wanted to jump in
and help with scholarships because he told me personally that
the STEM industry is experiencing a serious deficit with jobs,
and by twenty twenty five, which is now, they were
facing a deficit of a million jobs, and he wanted
(13:22):
to do what he could to fill those spaces with
diverse candidates because he knows STEM makes the world go around,
there's questions and problems that needs to be solved. If
everybody around that table looks the same, we're in trouble.
So Mark Vignano was actually on a mission to diversify
the field of STEM. So he jumped in initially with
(13:43):
seven forty thousand dollars scholarships.
Speaker 3 (13:45):
That's how this.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
Scholarship started with selling seven.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
It started with seven and it grew to one thousand
after Mark told his colleagues in the American Chemistry Council
what we were doing, and we had a few meetings,
told them, you know how actual that this scholarship opportunity
would be, and sold the idea to get the American
Chemistry Counsel to participate. So it was just kind of
(14:08):
a waiting game, and then they came back and said, hey,
we're in for forty million. I mean, I don't I
don't even have the words for how I felt when
that happened to grow from seven forty thousand dollars scholarships
to one thousand after just a few conversations. It's divine.
There's really no other explanation for it.
Speaker 4 (14:31):
Please don't go anywhere, We'll be right back with more money.
Making Conversations Masterclass. Welcome back to the Money Making Conversations
Masterclass hosted by Rashaan McDonald. Money Making Conversations Masterclass continues
online at Moneymakingconversations dot com and follow money Making Conversations
(14:54):
Masterclass on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
In my interview, interview that I'm having right now is
with Ashley Christopher background HBCU week Foundation she started in
twenty seventeen. I'm just getting everybody popped up because for
a person to do in less than eighty years to
have registered ten thousand students on the spot at her
career fairs and awarded these individuals over one hundred million
(15:21):
dollars nearly one hundred million dollars of scholarships, got a
forty million dollars STEM program where they have for a thousand,
forty thousand dollars scholarships where over six hundred students have
fulfilled those. It means that they have students and they
have slots right now for your child is interested in
(15:43):
STEM that wanted to attend an HBCU, this is the
person you need to be talking to. She's providing real
opportunity tier one students and your child is going to
be taken care of. Now when I go back to Ashvill, Ashley, Ashley,
you are also participating in a very worldly manner with
the Disney organization and Toms. Tell us all about that.
(16:06):
Tell us a little bit about that.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
Yeah, So we were blessed to have the opportunity to
bring Steven A. Smith on as our brand ambassador.
Speaker 3 (16:16):
Through a few connections between my team and his we
were able to have a conversation, invite Stephen down to
some of our events, get him acclimated with what we do,
and make the formal ask for him to be an ambassador.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
And it's been a fantastic time. He has mentioned our
brand on the number one sports show in the world
several times.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
He's brought so many lights.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
I think you interviewed on the number one sports show,
my friend, thanks last time.
Speaker 3 (16:46):
I check that's up.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
I saw you on the on the booth right there
with Steven H. Fifth so that's not it. Well, I
will not let you do ask on this show. Money
making conversation. Mastically, you are changing lives and somewhere along
the line, you are blessed. We all are blessed to
be here having this conversation. But you're doing what some
people consider impossible. And every time I meet you, every
(17:12):
time I see you, I admire you because you are focused,
you are laser focused, and you can walk on stage,
you can control a room, and you sit down. I
saw you sit down with Stevid A and the team
talking about this booking as a just Oprah could have
been sitting there in that chair that you're talking just
(17:33):
about our confidence. That's how you are. And so and
I won't let you come on this show because I
think if you understand what you're doing, people won't understand
the magic and the accomplishments. So let's do a reset
and talk about what you're doing with Disney. Okay, okay.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
So, through our partnership with Steven A.
Speaker 3 (17:54):
Smith, he was able to get us in front of
some key executives at Disney and when they witnessed what
we were doing in the impact wea sustained. With Stephen A.
Smith being so excited about our organization, we're able to
have some conversations about bringing HBC Week to the Walt
Disney resort and as a result, we've been able to
activate HBC Week twice at Walt Disney World and we
(18:15):
look forward to maintaining that partnership several students. I mean,
the very first time we had the college fair there
we got about eighty five hundred students.
Speaker 1 (18:24):
Eighty yes, Orlando, Florida.
Speaker 3 (18:29):
In Orlando, yet for our.
Speaker 1 (18:31):
Delaware Now you down in Orlando, Florida.
Speaker 3 (18:34):
Now, yes, we're down in Orlando.
Speaker 1 (18:37):
Okay. That was the first time.
Speaker 2 (18:38):
First time, that was the first time.
Speaker 3 (18:40):
The second time, we got around twelve thousand students.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
Two thousand students.
Speaker 3 (18:44):
Yeah, yeah, So it's it's really garnering some excitement because
the students not only are they excited to experience HBC
and culture, but they're happy to be able to learn
that not only can they get in, but they can
find the money get them through the process. Wow.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
When I saw you on stage in Orlando, in front
of those twelve thousand students, Anthony Anderson was there. He
was there making in the parents, Steven, they couldn't make
it down there because he was doing something. So Anthony
Anderson field Dan who is also a graduate of the
recent graduate of HPC O Howard University, where his son
also graduated from. When you look out in that crowd, Ashley,
(19:30):
what do you see?
Speaker 2 (19:33):
I see purpose?
Speaker 3 (19:35):
I see potential. Often when kids don't see themselves just
the future of excitement, fun forging relationships that'll be meaningful forever,
growing their passions and their drives, deciding what the next
(19:56):
move is going to be. But having the opportunity to
do that surround by people who look like them with
the same goals and drive. You don't understand how impactful
that is until you step into it. So when I
see the students that attend these events that aspire to it,
I can almost like daydream about their lives right envision
them on HBCU campuses and joining sororities and fraternities, or
(20:19):
running homecoming or yearbook and getting the grades and the
internships and landing the jobs. It's really a dream come
true to watch.
Speaker 1 (20:29):
Cool Now, that was a dream you almost didn't see
because you came across a physical obstacle came about in
your life that you didn't see coming. Tell us about
that and how you was able to overcome that, and
we understand even more so the value of having you
in our life today and what you've accomplished and will
(20:49):
continue to accomplish in the future. Talk about that moment
in your life where you didn't see that coming.
Speaker 3 (20:55):
Oh yeah, it was a little more than ten years ago.
I woke up up one Sunday morning and I could
not feel the right side of my body after you know,
looking at my hand or my arm and my leg
and like my brain telling it to move, but it wouldn't.
I knew that there was something serious happening. So I
(21:17):
was able to get the attention of my mother, who
came to my side and put both of her hands
on my face, told me to smile, and I couldn't.
So she knew what was happening.
Speaker 2 (21:24):
And called the ambulance.
Speaker 3 (21:27):
And I was having a stroke at twenty nine, and
it was due to birth control use. I had to
learn to write again. I had to go through physical therapy,
to get on blood dinners to get my you know,
blood back to a normal level, and obviously eliminate the
use of hormonal birth control altogether. But it did.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
It did create a different sense of drive and purpose
in me because there were some moments that you know,
in that space for anybody who's listening that has experienced
something like that, where you question whether or not you'll survive,
and then if you do, what's next and you want
to make it you know the best of it, because
(22:13):
you just never know what's around the corner.
Speaker 3 (22:16):
And when I adopted that sense of purpose and drive,
it kind of just turned my ambition up a few notches.
So not only am I I focused on the foundation,
but you know, I'm particular about the things I eat
and making sure I maintain a healthy, active lifestyle. Anything
(22:36):
I can.
Speaker 2 (22:36):
Do to slow the clock down, that's that's what I'm doing.
And you can also follow us. Follow us on every
social channel at HBC week at Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok,
We're on all the socials.
Speaker 1 (22:51):
Well, Ashley, thank you. You know, you subdued self, you
know your focus self.
Speaker 3 (23:00):
Thank you for having me taking the time. I really do.
Speaker 1 (23:03):
No, You're fantastic, and I thank you. And now I
hope people hear. High value what you're doing to our
youth in America. High value your laser focus. High value
your passion because it's something you basically survived stroke, retrained
yourself twenty seventeen. You found in an organization as a
(23:25):
local cause turning into a national cause. When you started
with seven forty thousand dollars scholarships, now it's one thousand. Yeah,
you now have registered over ten thousand on the spot
students at your career fairs to go to HBCUs and
award a nearly one hundred million dollars in scholarships. If
(23:48):
I can't help toot your horn, who can? Thank you
as Christopher, You're amazing and continue to change lives for
our youth because definitely you're a blessing. Thank you for
coming no Money Making Conversation master Class.
Speaker 3 (24:00):
Thank you so much for Shaan. I appreciate the time.
Speaker 1 (24:03):
This has been another edition of Moneymaking Conversation Masterclass hosted
by me Rushawn McDonald. Thank you to our guests on
the show today and thank you our listening to audience now.
If you want to listen to any episode I want
to be a guest on the show, visit Moneymakingconversations dot com.
Our social media handle is money Making Conversation. Join us
next week and remember to always leave with your gifts.
(24:26):
Keep winning
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!