Courtesy of Bowie State University
The Second Annual HBCU Entrepreneurship Conference held at Bowie State surpassed expectations with 179 institutions of higher learning and over 900 students, entrepreneur champions, HBCU and business leaders, and foundation executives engaged in the virtual event demonstrating the desire that people have to learn more about becoming an entrepreneur.
The conference provided keynote presentations, panel discussions, and interactive sessions to help advance entrepreneurship education by creating space for attendees to crowdsource solutions and receive feedback from participants on research ideas and business challenges.
“Even though the HBCU Entrepreneurship Conference was virtual, we still attracted almost a thousand attendees from HBCUs and other colleges and universities across the nation,” said Johnetta Hardy, Executive Director of Bowie State’s Entrepreneurship Innovation Center. “Many of our keynote speakers and panelists such as FOX Soul co-host Al Reynolds, legendary DJ Tom Joyner, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation Vice President Philip Gaskin, and Pulitzer Nominee and entrepreneur Clifton L. Talbert were huge draws.”
Alabama A&M University, Benedict College, Clark Atlanta University, Florida A&M University, Howard University, Hampton University, and Morgan State University are only a few of the dozens of HBCU schools that were represented at the conference. In addition, Arizona State University, Baylor University, Case Western University, Georgetown University, Michigan State University, MIT, Princeton University, and other institutions of higher learning also attended the event. Last year’s conference was attended almost entirely by HBCUs.
“I was absolutely astounded to learn that Addis Ababa University (Ethiopia), the University of Salamanca (Spain), the University of Coimbra (Portugal), and other institutions of higher learning overseas participated in the conference,” said Hardy. “We have to thank our partners Adobe, VentureWell, and the primary sponsor, Truist, for support in helping to make this event so overwhelmingly successful.”
“Truist is committed to entrepreneurship and helping to close the social economic gap by fostering environments where everyone can succeed such as the HBCU Entrepreneurship Conference,” said Thomas Ransom, Executive Vice President at Truist. “We were a major sponsor of the conference in 2021 and again this year because we want to help build the event in size and scope. Truist is the 6th largest commercial bank in the nation with numerous HBCUs in the markets we serve.”
Besides supporting the HBCU Entrepreneurship Conference, Truist also convenes an HBCU Leadership Symposium for university presidents yearly and provides scholarships for students in need of financial support.
Plans are already underway for the 2023 Annual HBCU Entrepreneurship Conference. “We are considering having a hybrid conference next year to enable attendees to meet face-to-face with the nationally and internationally known entrepreneurs and guest speakers,” said Hardy. “There is a huge pent-up global demand for information about development, financing, marketing, and other areas critical to becoming a successful entrepreneur. When people think about entrepreneurship, we want them to think Bowie State.”
