Southern Company and Apple have announced the creation of a new digital hub to support leadership and career development of students across 100+ Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) to advance racial equity and justice.
The Propel Center’s virtual and physical campus will be based in Atlanta. Ed Farm, a nonprofit committed to transforming classrooms to uplift communities, designed the centre thanks to support from founding Partners Apple and Southern Company. The first-of-its kind digital hub will provide innovative curriculum, technology support, career opportunities and resources across the HBCU community to support their work in preparing the next generation of Black leaders.
Curriculum options will include app development, augmented reality, machine learning, agricultural technologies, social justice, entertainment arts, design and creativity, career preparation, and entrepreneurship tracks, according to the founding partners. It aims to support the entire HBCU community through a robust virtual platform, a physical campus in Atlanta, as well as on-campus activations at partner institutions that will bring labs and technology to participating schools. Once built, (by Winter 2021), the physical campus will include a 50,000 square-foot campus equipped with state-of-the-art lecture halls, learning labs, and on-site living for a scholars-in-residence programme.
HBCU ENGINE OF BLACK CREATIVITY
As the programme’s technology partner, Apple will provide ongoing support for Propel Center’s curriculum development, technology for in-person and virtual learning spaces, and mentorship and internship opportunities for HBCU students. “The HBCU community is a tremendous engine of Black creativity, entrepreneurship and inclusive opportunity,” said Lisa Jackson, Apple’s Vice President of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives. “We are thrilled to join with partners and community stakeholders to support the Propel Center; and be part of this groundbreaking new global hub for HBCU innovation and learning; devoted to helping faculty create best-in-class curriculum and ensuring students have access to cutting-edge skills.”
For Southern Company, this commitment is part of a $50 million multi-year initiative announced in January 2020 to provide scholarships, internships, leadership development, access to technology and innovation; to support career readiness for students attending HBCUs within the Southern Company system’s service footprint in Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.
A MORE EQUITABLE WORLD
“Learning is most valuable when it is connected to application. Southern Company is committed to giving students who emerge from Propel Center a place to apply their skills and leadership. Our world is changing, so we must do what we can to change the way our students develop as leaders. Along with Apple our investment will yield a return that makes the world a stronger and more equitable place,” stated Thomas A Fanning, Chairman, President and CEO of Southern Company. “The establishment of the Propel Center is another important demonstration of Southern Company fulfilling our commitment to move our communities to a more equitable future. Partnering with Apple in this initiative is an exciting way to connect future leaders with critical resources.”
Southern Company believes the $25 million investment from its charitable foundation will also help grow Black entrepreneurship; and provide much-needed technology resources to the workforce of the future. “These investments are critical as we begin to truly scale Black innovation ecosystems,” added Anthony Oni, Chairman of Ed Farm. “By leveraging technology and partnerships to connect students with unique learning opportunities, we can lift up the talent that already exists at these institutions of higher learning and accelerate their development. In doing so, we will have a hand in shaping the workforce of the future — and the leaders of tomorrow.”
INCLUSIVE GAME-CHANGING PARTNERSHIP
The board of directors at Ed Farm and the founding members of Propel Center will use the first quarter of 2021 to assemble Propel’s leadership team. Engagement is underway with academic and institutional partners. “Propel represents the most inclusive, game changing and collaborative partnership that I have witnessed within my 17 years as both college and university president,” commented CAU President and Chair of the Atlanta University Center Consortium Council of Presidents George T French Jr. “Propel will provide HBCU student-scholars across the country access to cutting-edge technology, resources and programming to be globally competitive across multidisciplinary disciplines and career trajectories.
Additionally, Propel will serve HBCUs across the country in an unprecedented collaborative. “This multi-million-dollar public-private partnership will serve as exemplar, with reverberations affecting generations,” he added.
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