A Benedict alumna invests in her college’s program.
It “takes a village to build a startup.” That’s what Lauren Mills has learned as CEO and founder of College Action Program, a web-based platform that helps college and universities transition students from acceptance to enrollment.
As a graduate of the Benedict College Statewide Investment Accelerator (BCSIA), Mills now has the “community, curriculum and confidence” to take her business to the next level.
“I just love the fact that as a first-generation founder, as an underrepresented founder, as a Black woman founder, we have broken down that barrier for access to capital,” Mills, crediting Wells Fargo and BCSIA leaders, tells BLACK ENTERPRISE.
Training Entrepreneurs to Invest in Their Communities
BCSIA provides customized training, coaching, and technical assistance to diverse South Carolina small businesses. According to Program Director Millicent B. Lann, BSCIA selects cohorts of just five small-business owners who engage in 12-week curriculum cycles.
“I help these early stage, diverse founders accelerate their growth to benefit not only themselves, but the entirety of South Carolina, and expand their economic footprint,” Lann says.
The program’s third cohort just concluded coursework. Applications will open this fall for cohort four.
Benedict Alumna Invests in Alma Mater’s Program
Pam Bryant, vice president, community relations with the Wells Fargo Foundation, visited Benedict College’s campus in Columbia, S.C. with fellow leaders in late September, making the donation at a press conference.
“I was raised by Benedict College to be a power for good,” said Bryant, an alumna of the HBCU, “and I’m incredibly blessed to be able to put those skills and gifts to talents to work at Wells Fargo. Let’s continue to support, celebrate, and uplift small businesses across this country and in this state, because when they succeed, we succeed.”
BCSIA Executive Director Dr. Tracy Dunn tells BE that Wells Fargo’s support provides “non-diluted funding” to the graduates of the program.
“It helped me learn how to talk about my business,” says Vann, a self-described introvert. “It helped me with pitching every single week and I got really good with it.”
Since then, he has taken those sharpened pitching skills and secured meaningful partnerships to help fight food insecurity and to elevate Pass The Peaz.
Purposeful Partnership
During the press conference, Benedict College president and CEO Dr. Roslyn Clark Artis noted that an expansion of BCSIA would “build an entrepreneurial ecosystem that will have a multiplier effect on our communities and help to invest in—not just the communities immediately around Benedict College, but across the state and across the nation,” and added that “it’s because of partners like Well Fargo that we’re able to continue the work that we are doing.”
“This laptop is more than just a device. It’s an investment in my future,” said Jillian Garrison, a criminal justice major at Benedict.
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Source: Black Enterprise
