Moderator:
Melodi Morrissette
Senior Vice President and Supplier Diversity Director
PNC Bank

Panelists:

George K. Amoah
Owner/President
Global Solutions Services LLC

Johnny Graham, PhD.
Associate & Regional Director, Howard University &
PNC National Center for Entrepreneurship, Assitant
Professor Howard University School of Business

Erin Horne McKinney
National Executive Director, Howard University
and PNC National Center of Entrepreneurship

Joe Wilson
Relationship Manager, Vice President
Minority Business Development Officer, PNC Bank

Find the Howard University and PNC National Center for Entrepreneurship on the web: https://www.hupnccenter.org/

Webcast Transcript

Operator:

Hello everyone and welcome to today's event, Building a Winning Team of Partners, Insights for Black-Owned Businesses. Before we get started, I'd like to mention that today's session is being recorded and you're currently in a listen-only mode. The ON24 room you are in allows you to individually adjust and resize all panels that appear on your screen. To resize any of the panels, all you have to do is click on the lower right corner and drag to adjust. You can also move a panel to your preference by clicking anywhere on the top title bar and dragging it within the console. Please note that close captioning is available by clicking on the CC button on your media player. And you can then resize the media player to any size you'd like to view that close captioning easier. Related content is also available in the related content window on the right-hand side of your screen. Just click directly on any of these links and you'll be redirected accordingly.

We will have a question and answer session during today's presentation. You can type your questions in at any time by clicking on the left-hand side of your screen onto the Q&A panel, typing your question into that box, and then hitting the submit button. And we'll take as many questions as we have time for. And finally, if you experience any technical difficulties during today's event, first try refreshing your browser by hitting F5 on your keyboard to reset your connection. And if it doesn't work, you can enter a question into the Q&A panel stating your technical issue, and we'll be more than happy to assist you. Now without further delay, let's begin Building a Winning Team of Partners, Insights for Black-Owned Businesses. It is my pleasure to turn the call over to Marshalynn Odneal. Marshalynn, you have the floor.

Marshalynn Odneal:

Good afternoon. I'm Marshalynn Odneal, national sales executive for Minority Business, part of our business banking organization. I'm excited today to bring to you a discussion filled with insights, perspectives, and resources about the importance and benefits of having strong ecosystems to help Black and Brown businesses scale and grow. An ecosystem from a business perspective could be a network of your CPA, an attorney, and perhaps your business banking relationship manager. If you are in retail, this could be critical vendors or suppliers that are very key in ensuring that your product gets to the end consumer. If something was to go wrong with any of these vendors, could your business continue business as usual? Is there a contingency of vendors and how long would it take to get that contingency plan in place? These are critical things that business owners are thinking about every day. In this webcast, we will look at the importance and the benefits of these partnerships from the lens of a business owner. We have Mr. George Amoah, who is the founder and owner of Global Solutions LLC.

We also have a business banking relationship manager that's dedicated to the success and growth of Black and Brown businesses. We have Mr. Joe Wilson, who is vice president and minority business development officer here at PNC Bank. And then, we'll conclude the discussion with a new partnership that we have with Howard University. We have Erin Horne McKinney, who is the national executive director for Howard University and PNC National Center of Entrepreneurship. And with her is co-director, Dr. Johnny Graham. To moderate this discussion, we have Melodi Morrissette, senior vice president and director of Supplier Diversity, Supply Chain Management with PNC Bank. Melodi has over 20 years of experience in supply chain management and various roles throughout the banking industry. She is also a member of the Financial Services Roundtable for Supplier Diversity. And with that, as we continue to celebrate Black History Month, I want to thank you for joining and for participating in our Q&A session. With that, I'll turn things over to Melodi. Thank you.

Melodi Morrissette:

Well, thank you Marshalynn. What a wonderful opportunity to share the importance of having an ecosystem with trusted advisors. In supplier diversity, we know firsthand the importance of supporting our diverse suppliers and providing them the tools they need to be successful in growing their business. As an example, we're currently developing a supplier pathway brochure to educate suppliers on how to do business with PNC, documenting a supplier's life cycle at PNCC from an initial request, to contracting, and then finally ongoing monitoring. So I'm so excited to serve as the moderator of this panel. With that said, let's move right into our first segment and we'll hear directly from PNC's customer and relationship manager. So first I'd like to introduce Joe Wilson. Wilson is vice president, minority business development officer with more than 25 years of experience in financial services. His performance awards at PNC Bank include multiple market All-Star awards and Gallup Human Six Sigma designations. He's also a PNC-certified minority business advocate. And then a fun fact about Joe is he's a licensed boxing judge.

Next, I'd like to introduce you to George Amoah. Amoah is founder of Global Solution Services, LCC, a corporate consulting business based in Gaithersburg, Maryland. He owns and operates an Amazon delivery service business servicing Montgomery and Frederick Counties. Amoah has over 25 years of international business and media experience. A couple of interesting facts about George is that he worked for Turner International in Atlanta and was responsible for new business distribution of CNN's International service in Africa. What impressive backgrounds and experiences from both of our panelists. So let's kick this discussion off with Mr. Amoah. Please share with us what types of eco partners were key to your success in either sourcing or maintaining the right talent to have job creation?<./p> George K. Amoah: Well, first of all, I want to thank PNC for this wonderful opportunity to be part of this Black History Month event. And we really appreciate being here and to join you guys on this platform. First of all, PNC has been very, very supportive of our operations here in Maryland and absolutely flawless in providing us the resources to scale we needed. We are also part of the Amazon delivery service partnership program. And this platform is infused with incredible eco partners that will allow us to provide the service we need to the community. In all, from payroll to legal, to accountants, all this stuff can be found within our platform to allow us to grow.

Marshalynn Odneal:

Thanks so much Mr. Amoah. I appreciate that. Joe, let's transition to you. We'd love to hear more about your role in minority business development as well as the mission and vision of the group as well as various types of services that we offer to the community.

Joe Wilson:

Well, thanks for inviting me today, Melodi. Our purpose is to empower, educate, and accelerate entrepreneurial growth. This has accomplished three ways. One, with dedicated bankers, two, advocacy partners, and three, access to technology. Our mission is to provide solutions to enable the financial wellness of the emerging businesses within our minority communities.

Marshalynn Odneal:

Thanks so much, Joe, for highlighting some of those tools and services that PNC offers to the community. We're going to transition back to you, Mr. Amoah. What partners were involved in helping create your company's engagement strategy?

George K. Amoah:

Once again, about four years ago, we took on this incredible journey with Amazon, and, like I said, this has been a game changer for us in the community as well. In terms of job creation, knowing full well that we have the full resource of PNC behind our back and being able to scale when needed and being able to do commit procurement when needed has been total peace of mind for us in running our business today.

Melodi Morrissette:

We appreciate those valuable nuggets that you're sharing with us. Joe, as a minority business development officer, how do you help entrepreneurs accelerate their growth?

Joe Wilson:

We do that by building relationships. It's really important to have partnerships at all levels, internally and externally. That brings awareness and opportunities to work together to help the communities that we serve. I'll give you an example, Melodi. I was contacted by one of our internal partners to take part in an event that was held by the statewide Hispanic Chamber Commerce of New Jersey. There I was introduced to take part in a pitch competition, which is similar to like Shark Tank that you see on TV, where aspiring entrepreneurs who were trained by the chamber were able to present their products and then we were able to judge them on criteria that was given to them and as well as give them feedback on their products and services and presentations. What that did is that resulted in some COIs, customers, and referrals to funding organizations. And then that led to another exposure to another company and that provided me the opportunity to give a training session.

So it was a win for everyone involved. In addition, we have brought our mission into existence through our advocacy training program here at PNC. We thought it was important to educate our internal population at PNC about both the unique challenges and the growth opportunities that exist in our minority business communities. This helps provide new perspective and helps empower our employees on how to partner with us to deliver on our mission. We also strengthen our community partnerships with CDFIs, microlenders, and other relationships to help provide additional resources to our business customers.

Melodi Morrissette:

Thanks so much, Joe. And just for our audience, please, could you elaborate on a COI?

Joe Wilson:

A COI is a center of influence, so it's someone that we can contact and they can help us get in contact with people who need resources and by the same token, we can provide resources to them as well.

Melodi Morrissette:

Perfect. Perfect. Well, Mr. Amoah, tell us more about Global Solutions commitment to the community during such an uncertain time in our history.

George K. Amoah:

Very, very good. Good question. I'll tell you what. The COVID-19 pandemic 2020 crystallized our mission to deliver the ultimate customer experience. With stringent COVID protocols and CDC guidelines, we took on the challenge of providing a much needed civic service to the community. The company's focus, dedication, and community engagement during this difficult time was unwavering. It continues today. There were several moments, several times, when my associates or staff come up from the road and talk about gift cards and things being left on the mats and flower parts. You know, it's just saying, "Thank you. thank you for being there for us." As a matter of fact, it also led us to redesign our entire corporate philosophy and how we looked at our employees. Our employees became customers, the first recognition. By doing so, we created a whole leadership concept. And what was that? Leadership forged in servitude. We were serving our employees. By doing so, we elevated them to a whole different level, in recognizing their their commitment to our team as well. Now, this actually improved everything about the company and it continues today.

Melodi Morrissette:

Thank you so much, Mr. Amoah. What an inspiring story for everyone. Joe, before we transition to the next segment, I'd love to hear about some of the accomplishments of the minority business development team over the last 12 months when the team was established. Will you please share it with us?

Joe Wilson:

I'm glad you asked. Our team of 10 minority business development officers, collectively, interacted with more than 200 external organizations with approximately 22,000 people in attendance as we shared our mission and brought awareness to the resources that we offer. Those interactions included array of financial education classes, mentorship, workshops, along with board and committee participation. We have nearly 1,000 certified minority business advocates internally from various lines of business throughout the bank. We were able to pair some of these advocates to participate with nonprofit organizations, mentor minority businesses in the area of scaling and growing their business, and access to capital. The program itself was like a mini MBA program and was offered free of charge and we will be even doing more in 2023, Melodi.

Melodi Morrissette:

Perfect. Thank you, Joe. So, George, here we're going to now transition to the Q&A segment of our webcast. And for those watching today, what's one piece of advice that you would give to business owners and how to create an engaged workforce?

George K. Amoah:

Very good question. Thank you so much for that question. I think one of the primary things and I think I alluded to that a little bit, the philosophy of looking at employees as just employees in the company. Those days, I think are gone. We came up with a concept of looking at all the employees as a first line of customers that we have within our sphere. As you know, the customer is always first, right? So by doing so, we actually elevate everything about them listening to what they're saying, paying attention to every detail about their work environment. All the aspects of the way they perform becomes very, very important in elevating that level. And this has been successful for us at this time.

Melodi Morrissette:

Thanks so much. Joe. How can those watching today learn more about some of the resources PNC offers to minority businesses?

George K. Amoah:

Well, Melodi, we would love for people to come and visit our microsite, whether they are a PNC employee or they're a current customer or a prospect that's looking to start a business or continue to make it grow. And if they just go to pnc.com/minority business, they'll be able to get all the information there. They'll be able to find out about the programs that we offer, and we also have stories to share about some of our businesses and how we're able to assist them in order to be successful.

Melodi Morrissette:

Thanks so much, George and Joe, for sharing these insights and the services that PNC's offering from a relationship management perspective, and then also as a customer to PNC. For the next segment, I'd like to share with you PNC's partnership with Howard University and the PNC National Center for Entrepreneurship. The PNC National Center for Entrepreneurship is located on Howard University's campus in Washington, DC. The National Center was launched in 2021 through a five-year, 16.8 million grant from the PNC Foundation and serves as a resource hub for the nation's network of more than 100 historically Black colleges and universities, most commonly referred to as HBCUs. I'll also share that I am a proud graduate of an HBCU Florida University. I can share more information about the National Center, however, I really don't want to steal Mrs. McKinney's and Dr. Graham's thunder, so I'll proceed with introductions.

So first we have Mrs. Erin Horne McKinney, who serves as the inaugural National Executive Director of the Howard University and PNC National Center for Entrepreneurship. She's a seasoned nonprofit executive and leads the center's efforts to increase access to financial services and capital to Black and minority entrepreneurial and small businesses. McKinney has spent more than 20 years building diverse and inclusive technology and entrepreneurial ecosystems within the public sector and nonprofit organizations. She's co-founder of Zimbali Networks, a web 3.0 FinTech company, building an ecosystem of financially inclusive products and founder of the global community Black Female Founders. McKinney's also a member of Pipeline Angels and serves as an advisor and mentor to startups, incubators, and accelerator programs. Next, I'd like to introduce you to Dr. Graham who currently serves as assistant professor in the marketing department at the Howard University School of Business where he has taught numerous courses. He also created and teaches the department's Marketing for Startup course, which helps student entrepreneurs of all majors develop their business ventures and prepare for external business funding opportunities. Dr. Graham is an award-winning entrepreneur and educator dedicated to helping Black entrepreneurs launch and scale their business ventures as a means for increasing wealth and expanding community impact. Dr. Graham has received his PhD in business administration with a specialization in marketing from the Temple University Fox School of Business. Two very accomplished individuals. And I will share that that was just a small segment of each of their bios. So let's get started with our panel discussion. And I would like to start with you, Mrs. McKinney. And, Dr. Graham, please feel free to chime in here. Tell us about the exciting partnership to create the Howard University and PNC National Center for Entrepreneurship.

Erin Horne McKinney:

Thank you, Melodi. It's so good to be here to talk with you and we're so excited to talk about this partnership and what it really means overall. So what makes this partnership super exciting is that this is the first of its kind and we're building a national network across all HBCUs. So even though this center is located at Howard University, the National Center is located at Howard University. We have four partners overall, so it's Howard University, Morgan State University in Baltimore. We have Clark Atlanta University in Atlanta and then Texas Southern University in Houston. And so Howard, based in Washington DC is helping to lead this charge of creating this national network, and that each of these different regional centers are working across several states as a footprint to connect the resources and programming and curriculum across those HBCUs in that footprint.

But additionally, we're also working across the country in all places where Black entrepreneurs are and we're also focusing on multi-generational entrepreneurs. This is not just for HBCU students. This is for HBCU students, faculty and staff, as well as alums and Black entrepreneurs everywhere. So just the magnitude of the work that we're doing is super important and the fact that we're starting with HBCUs who are predominantly in historically Black communities and helping create the resources so that they can be the economic drivers around supporting the entrepreneurs in their community and giving them the resources that they need. But in addition, creating partnerships across the country where there are other communities that don't have HBCUs so that people can feel like they have the resources they need to take everything from, you know, from an idea to inception and implementation as a business. That's what we're creating from scratch here and we're excited to partner with PNC.

Melodi Morrissette:

Thank you. Well, Dr. Graham, anything you'd like to add to that?

Johnny Graham:

Sure. And I think Erin summed it up nicely and just really just the magnitude of the potential impact that this center can make on a national, and even at some point an international level in impacting Black entrepreneurs. But we really hope to provide tangible resources, capital, programs, educational opportunities, to HBCU students, alum, Black entrepreneurs around the country so that we can really provide a network of support for aspiring and current entrepreneurs to start, launch, grow, and scale their businesses as a means to improve economic outcomes and growth of wealth within Black communities. So we're hoping to do this through our network of HBCUs around the country to really be a focal point to connect people and Black entrepreneurs to these different resources. And we really are excited to just partner with PNC in fulfilling what is a very ambitious, but a very possible mission to grow the impact in Black communities through entrepreneurship.

Melodi Morrissette:

Wow. Very impressive work that you're doing. I cannot wait to visit. So let's move forward. And this question again is for both of you. Tell us about your involvement in this initiative. Why is this work to promote and impact Black entrepreneurship so important to you?

Erin Horne McKinney:

So, Dr. Graham, go ahead. You can start.

Johnny Graham:

Sure. So for the Howard University and PNC National Center for Entrepreneurship, I serve as the associate director and regional director of what we call the Mid-Atlantic region. And I'll just explain to you very briefly. As the associate director of the PNC Center, I serve at the national level in helping Erin Horne McKinney in delivering and creating our national initiatives with Black entrepreneurs around the country. But then I also serve as the regional director of the mid-Atlantic region of this initiative, particularly working with HBCUs within DC, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Delaware, Virginia, and West Virginia, to work and collaborate together to partner on programming, to partner in sharing resources and best practices to not only build ecosystems to help Black entrepreneurship on our campus, but disperse that impact in the community surrounding our campuses. And I guess I also addressed the other part of this question of why I'm even involved in this work, why I'm so passionate and excited to be a part of this center, is that I truly believe that providing entrepreneurship resources, opportunity, probably most importantly, funding, to Black entrepreneurs and the prospects of our community. I grew up in Baltimore, Maryland, Baltimore City, about five minutes from the HBCU, Morgan State University, which is one of our regional partners. And you know, I really believe in the power of HBCUs as being kind of a catalyst for change for our communities beyond just the campus. And I really see this as an opportunity to make, you know, generational impact that can be felt within our communities through the resources and programming we provide.

And also, just as a HBC professor, as a marketing professor at Howard University, just on a daily basis, I've had the opportunity to work with, to teach, to just experience the greatness, the ingenuity, the creativity, the ambition, the resilience of HBCU students, particularly Howard students, and just the level of ideas and concepts and ventures that they're already starting as full-time students. The opportunity to be a part of a national or greater initiative to impact HBCU students and communities at a national level is just something that I would just had to be a part of because I see the promise and potential in our students and our alums and just in our community. And we just need to funnel more resources than opportunities to grow that impact. And so, that's why I'm a part of this center.

Erin Horne McKinney:

All right, well, next time, I'm not going to let Dr. Graham go first because as you can see, he's extremely passionate about it, as am I, and I'm lucky to work with him every day. And what I hope you also heard is that Dr. Graham has several jobs, right? Because he's not only helping me on the national level, he's running the regional center from Howard and also serving as a professor here at Howard so he does a lot and we're so grateful to have him and his passion and energy and subject matter expertise. For me, you know, my involvement in this work also comes from a very personal place, and I'm extremely passionate about it as well. I am a Howard alum. I'm a two-time Howard alum and just a huge proponent of historically Black colleges and what they mean to Black communities and what they mean to our Black scholars and our thought leaders. Their places and spaces where you can unapologetically be Black, be focused on your community, and really have the space in place to make sure that you have that confidence moving in the world, right? That's what it gives to our students and to our communities. And as a product of that, I know how important that is to have that confidence even as an entrepreneur. Because when you're going into these places, oftentimes, the obstacles and barriers that Black entrepreneurs face is like no other community.

There are so many things that Black entrepreneurs face that we hope to address through our work. And so, being someone who is not new to this work, I've been in this space of doing entrepreneurial ecosystem building for a very long time. If you can only imagine how important it is for me to now bring that work, not only to my alma mater of Howard University, but also bring that to my community in a very authentic way. I feel very honored to be able to do that and to be seen also as a subject matter excerpt who's done this work. Not just for Black female founders, but I've done this work before for the district running tech innovation and entrepreneurship in from an inclusive lens for the city here in Washington, DC. But also, I've done this work in my hometown of Minneapolis, Minnesota and doing this work of building up from the ground up Black entrepreneurial ecosystems.

I started my first business in my early 20's. I started a marketing communications firm doing national diversity inclusion efforts and programs and events. And there just weren't the resources for me to find the help that I needed. From the financial products to help me scale that business to understanding the classes and courses. And even if there were classes and courses, there was a cost barrier for me to even participate in those as a startup, right? And then as I became a tech entrepreneur, I found myself in places and spaces that people did not see me as a subject matter expert in the work that I was doing and see the value in my work. And so, I got into this work as an advocate and an activist and as a scholar because I felt like we need more people who have been practitioners who understand the work to help build out that work, help build out the solutions, and at the end of the day, build the things that we wish that had been there for us as entrepreneurs.

As well as for me, I come from a family of entrepreneurs. My dad was a Black farmer and owned a ranch. I've had family members who have had plumbing businesses and carpentry businesses and a number of different businesses. And so, this isn't just for me and, you know, and future generations, this is about like also honoring those that have come before us and all the work that they've done to help create this generational wealth in our communities that have not had the opportunity to really scale those businesses fully by creating those resources, the education, all the things that are needed. And I think what we really appreciate PNC has given us the opportunity to do is think super big about this and solve really big problems in a very thoughtful way. And so, we're extremely honored to do this work and do it in the way that we're doing it. And be able to do it in collaboration with a thought leader and organization like PNC to help us really solve really important problems that have generational impact.

Melodi Morrissette:

So thank you both for sharing. Mrs. McKinney, tell us how the center is structured and how Howard and its three HBCU partners work together to operate as regional hubs.

Erin Horne McKinney:

Well, that's a really great question and it's part of what makes us so unique in our structure. One, that we're starting this from inception with partnership and collaboration because that, at the spirit of all that we do, our work is really around working in community and with community and with one another. Not having just one organization try to solve a problem, right? We've got to all work together. So how this is structured is Howard, which is based in Washington, DC, is the national hub, and that national hub is based at the university at Howard University. And then, we work as an umbrella over the all four regional centers. So that includes a regional center at Howard University, a regional center at Morgan State, at Clark Atlanta, and Texas Southern.

Each of those four regional centers has a several state footprint that they work in collaboration with the HBCUs in their footprint. So Howard has a mid-Atlantic footprint, Morgan State has the mid-South footprint, Clark Atlanta has the Southeast footprint, and Texas Southern has a Southwest footprint. And so what they do is work with those HBCUs in their states and in that footprint to create ecosystem, build out ecosystems, and also help spread across those schools best practices that we work out and pilot on the national level. So then also on the national level, we cover the rest of the country, right? And we partner with universities like Babson and University of Minnesota and other schools across the country to be in places in spaces where there are not historically Black colleges, but there may be large pockets and hubs of Black entrepreneurs to make sure that we create this network across entire country and not just in the south where a lot of historically Black colleges exist.

Additionally, what we're doing is taking best practices, whether those are from other universities, whether they're from the private sector and through public sector programs, we're taking the best of the best and helping scale those programs. And so, that's really the how the program is structured. But, Dr. Graham, would you like to add anything else?

Johnny Graham:

Sure. And just to mention at the regional level, the regional centers, whether at Howard University, at Clark Atlanta, Texas Southern, or at Morgan State work hand in hand with the HBCUs in those states to develop certain resources and programs that can be beneficial to entrepreneurs across those states. For example, at each of the regional centers, there are faculty fellowship opportunities that give funding and stipends to HBCU faculty members who are doing work to better understand the ecosystem of Black entrepreneurs and the challenges that Black entrepreneurs are facing.

There are a number of regional pitch competition and funding opportunities that Black entrepreneurs, not just HBCU entrepreneurs, but Black entrepreneurs, can benefit from. We're also starting to pilot certain programs at the national level and in the mid-Atlantic region that could be shared and scaled to the other regions so that Black entrepreneurs in all of these different states can have the opportunity to benefit from the resources from these centers.

So it's very much kind of a hub and spoke model in which, as Erin mentioned, the national center is kind of the umbrella for the entire initiative. And each of these regional centers kind of exist as another kind of connection or tentacle to spread the impact of the initiatives and programs that we have from our particular national initiative.

Melodi Morrissette:

Wow.

Erin Horne McKinney:

And Melodi, if I can add one other thing. You know what's interesting, and I think you can appreciate this as a fellow HBCU alum, when you run into an HBCU alum, it doesn't even have to be the HBCU you went to, you get a lot of love, right?

Melodi Morrissette:

Absolutely.

Erin Horne McKinney:

It's like family. Yeah, and so what I love about our collaboration is that we work as a family and as a team and that's really the spirit and the soul of the work that we're doing. And I think that comes through in all that we do. And we just recently got together in person, even though we've been working for the last, for some of us the last two years, to just start to build up this program. This is brand new, but the work to get it going from the background, a lot of the individuals that have been working on this, we all got together and it was really just such a phenomenal spirit in the room and energy because the passion from everyone. Like, we're doing some powerful work together. We're creating something together that's going to change our communities.

And I just have to say that structure and the way that we're doing that and the energy that we're creating across this network, people will feel this impact. And so, I just wanted to add on to Dr. Graham's comments because it really made me think of that familial spirit, that familial place. The fact that what also makes us special in our structure is that we build trust from the ground up in those communities versus somebody coming into a community and telling you how to fix a problem. We're working within your community and helping to resolve these and help solve for these issues and barriers that for Black entrepreneurship.

Melodi Morrissette:

Thank you so much. Thank you both. And these are really valuable services that you're bringing to the local communities. And many of these services I've seen in needs assessments as the top needs for small businesses and entrepreneurs. So hats off to you both. As we close and this segment and before we move into the Q&A, I have one last question. What are the major focuses of the center and its regional HBCU partners?

Erin Horne McKinney:

So what's exciting is that all of our deliverables for this program have been organized into five strategic pillars. Those pillars are resources, research, curriculum and education, programming, and access to capital. So in each of those, there are really important components and tenants of those strategic pillars. And I'll just highlight a few and I'm going to ask Dr. Graham to highlight a couple as well. Part of our programming, another thing that will make us very unique from other initiatives like this is we are going to have a national conference every year.

And this first conference will be in June 2023. And that national conference will be bring together the research component, this data that we're finding, and then also bring together subject matter experts to share wisdom and insights and some entertainment. I mean, what would we be if we didn't have a little bit of an HBCU homecoming element to our national conference? So that's one of the big pieces of it. But the focus is around research and programming. You know, Dr. Graham, can you talk a little bit about the two grants that we just launched?

Johnny Graham:

Sure. So I'll mention that at the national and regional level, we have a number of initiatives that impact some of the pillars that Erin just mentioned. We actually just launched on January 2023, our Education Innovation grant, which provides individual HBCUs with up to $25,000 in grant funding to help grow their entrepreneurship ecosystems on their campuses. Whether that's to start an entrepreneurship center on their campus, whether that's to provide funding to student entrepreneurs through pitch competitions, whether that's to start a incubator or accelerator that impacts Black entrepreneurs in the surrounding campus community.

We've also just recently launched at the regional level for each of the four regional centers, our faculty fellowship program. With that, faculty fellowship programs that provides stipends to HBCU faculty in each of the different regions that are doing research relevant to Black entrepreneurs, which I think is a really critical piece to kind of collecting data, to really understanding the process to understand the challenges, to understand the support for Black entrepreneurs. We also are planning to launch at the regional level and eventually at the national level as a part of our national conference, a regional pitch competition for HBCU students and HBCU alums, as well as various different engagement opportunities that can not only engage students and alums, but entrepreneurs in the community.

Melodi Morrissette:

Thank you both for sharing. Thank you for your continued partnership. We know that as entrepreneurship among Black Americans continues to grow, success really relies more than ever on having robust business ecosystems and you're doing that for us in the community. Next, I'd like to transition to the Q&A portion of our webcast. So the first question we have here. How can someone that is not an HBCU student or alum partake in this initiative?

Erin Horne McKinney:

So there are a number of different ways. One of the things I think is important to note is that the way that our center is being set up is like a center of excellence. We are here helping to launch national level best practices. With that being said, when you come to our website, we have a website that we can can share that will allow you to go to your region and you, again, you don't have to be an HBCU student or alum. This is for all Black entrepreneurs. And really, quite frankly, a lot of this is for entrepreneurs everywhere because the information, to certain degree, is the same. But we're doing this in a very culturally competent way.

So you can go to our website as we build that out since we're just starting, we're brand new, but there is some initial information there so that you can sign up to get information on resources as it rolls out. Follow us on our social media. We're on all of the major socials. You can follow us on LinkedIn, you can follow us on Instagram, you can follow some Facebook, you can follow even on Twitter. And we are going to be rolling out a number of different programs and opportunities.

Some things based on which region is putting it out or versus the national center, it will depend on where you're located, but some things will be available to anyone anywhere. And that's, you know, the other great thing about the work that we're doing is that we are using constant feedback to evolve our work. So if we hear that there's something new that's happened, think about the way that COVID impacted entrepreneurs and Black entrepreneurs specifically. We are from inception being created so that we can be very responsive to the current and future needs of Black entrepreneurs. Dr. Graham, would you like to add anything else to that?

Johnny Graham:

Sure. Erin, you brought up a great point and it should be just be made very clear that we are a national center for Black entrepreneurs. There is no division here of HBCU versus non HBCU. We're here to impact all Black entrepreneurs. And so, whether it is some of our programs, whether it's the national conference, whether it's funding opportunities, whether it's some of our community incubators and accelerators, it's important to note that while some of these programs may be centered or even located on HBCU campuses, it's really to benefit Black entrepreneurs as a whole in the surrounding communities.

And so, as Erin mentioned, you can visit our website, hupnccenter.org, and actually sign up for more information, whether it be a email or other forms of communication, via social media, to hear about these various initiatives. But we are not a center that's going to turn you away and say, "Oh, you're not HBCU, you can't participate, you can't be a part of this." We're here to impact everybody. 'Cause at the end of the day, when it comes to the struggles and the barriers that we face within our community communities, it impacts all of us. And so, we are here to help kind of combat and to be advocates for people that look like us in our communities so that we can grow and succeed in developing our businesses. So just want to make that clear that we are here for all Black entrepreneurs. This is not just a HBCU exclusive thing. HBCUs, you know, like I mentioned before, I grew up right near Morgan State University. Basically, was raised on that campus as a son of two Morgan State alum. And Morgan, just like any other HBCU has its tentacles and its impact in the community to affect Black communities and Black neighborhoods. And the point of this center it just has a similar type effect, but specifically within entrepreneurship.

So it's not just here for HBCUs or HBCU students or alums. We've even talked about certain initiatives we're hoping to develop over the next couple years that impact youth entrepreneurs, so before you even get to college, before you even get to an HBCU, to provide opportunities for entrepreneurship growth in developing a business.

Erin Horne McKinney:

Melodi, I'll just add one more thing. I want to remind people that we are brand new national sector, so that means we are building our infrastructure. So not everything is going to happen today, but we we'll be coming, right? And so, there's a lot of exciting things. So be patient with our website because it's up and it has some information, but right now the main thing is signing up so that you'll be the first to learn information as it comes out and also on our social media. But there are a number of things that are planned for this year, but remember every year there's going to be so much more that's added on.

Melodi Morrissette:

Thank you, Erin, for sharing that. And I'm absolutely sure you're going to have a long list of entrepreneurs signing up. So our last question. What are some expected outcomes and goals for the center in 2023?

Erin Horne McKinney:

Well, as Dr. Graham and I both shared, I mean, one of the biggest initiatives this year will be launching our inaugural national conference. That will happen here in Washington DC in June, 2023. More details to come on that. But the other thing is, as we've already shared, is that we did just launch these two grant programs. So making sure that those got off the ground. The first being the Faculty Fellowship and then the other being the Educational Entrepreneurial Innovation grants that can go directly to historically Black colleges who are trying to build out their ecosystems on their campuses. Additionally, it's just getting the center set up in the first place, right? So we are creating these best practices and creating the data, how we collect that data on a national level. So for us, making sure that as we're doing this work that we're able to create a way to collect that data and creating a database of Black entrepreneurs across the country of the database of resources for Black entrepreneurs across the country. No matter what industry you're in, we are industry agnostic. We are interdisciplinary in our work.

So you don't have to be somebody who's a business major. It doesn't matter what you do if you're a content creator, to a farmer, to a brick and mortar boutique, or online boutique, whatever it is, whatever you're doing, no matter what stage you're in, by the way, we are solving for that. So we are creating different efforts this year that you'll see that'll be rolled out to address that. And, lastly, which I'll have Dr. Graham speak more to, we're launching a virtual and in person, so it'll be a hybrid. We're really more of an incubator program. And I say that because a lot of people don't know the difference between accelerators and incubators. So, Dr. Graham, can you speak to the program that you're launching?

Johnny Graham:

Sure. So very shortly, within the next month we'll be launching our Dreams to Dollars initiative. And that particular initiative is going to be an incubator program to help HBCU students and Black entrepreneurs in the surrounding communities launch their business ideas into actual ventures. Oftentimes, particularly with students in our HBCUs, but even in our communities, we find that people may have a particular kind of side project they're working on that's in addition to their regular job. Or they may be just kind of starting a business and maybe officially register their business but not really know where to go from there. Our goal with the Dreams and Dollars Initiative is really to help impact people that have great ideas within our communities. It gives them the resources, the potential funding, connect them to resources, give them certain training and skills that can help them develop a particular venture in a variety of industries that can scale over time.

So that particular initiative, both with our in-person hybrid format, will allow entrepreneurs to go from idea, from ideation, to actually officially officially registering and launching their business. And we're really focused on entrepreneurs that are either struggling in kind of year one or haven't even officially launched their business as a part of this initiative. So we're launching or starting this particular initiative in the Washington DC area on Howard's campus. We're hoping to scale that particular program on a regional and on a national basis throughout 2023.

Erin Horne McKinney:

And lastly, Melodi, what I'll just say, you know, when we look at our expected outcomes and goals for 2023, the biggest goal in all of this is to establish the really important infrastructure and the vision for this national center. The reason that Dr. Graham and I are here is because we are thought leaders. We are subject matter experts in the work that we do. And along with our partners at the other universities, we are imagining some really an exciting initiatives. And so, the biggest goal for this year is getting really clear about what that looks like and the phased approach to making sure that we are solving these problems in an effective and impactful way.

Melodi Morrissette:

Thank you, Erin McKinney, and thank you, Dr. Graham. We really appreciate you joining our panel discussion today and sharing these valuable services and insights for Black-owned businesses.

Johnny Graham:

Thank you for having-

Erin Horne McKinney:

Thank you for having us. It's been a great conversation.

Melodi Morrissette:

Indeed, it has been. Again, I want to thank all of our panelists today. Mr. Joe Wilson in Minority Business Banking, Mr. George Amoah, Dr. Graham, and Mrs. McKinney. Thank you for sharing these valuable services that we're bringing to the community and insights for our Black-owned businesses. A replay of today's webcast will be made available on the Minority Business Site at pnc.com/minority business. Thank you.

Operator:

Okay, great. Thank you once again, Melodi. And thanks to all of our presenters for joining us today. We hope you found today's presentation useful and informative. If you could please fill out the post event survey that will appear on your screen after the event's conclusion, that would be greatly appreciated, and it will help us with future webcasts. Thanks once again and have a great rest of your day.