Verizon, Houston Fund for Social Justice and Economic Equity fuel TSU entrepreneurship education
By: Texas Southern University
| TSU welcomed Verizon and the Houston Fund for Social Justice and Economic Equity (The Fund) on campus to announce a $300,000 grant that will support tranformative learning for TSU students and the community. Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, along with Rose Stucky Kirk, President of the Verizon Foundation, and Thomas Jones, Board President of the Houston Fund, joined TSU President Dr. Lesia Crumpton-Young, as well as TSU Regent Stephanie Nellons-Paige, for the ceremony. The grant involves two-pronged collaboration between non-profits that are served by the Fund and TSU, which will utilize the funding to provide new programming for entrepreneurship and financial literacy, especially in communities of color and diverse-owned small businesses within the community. “Today is an example of what true partnerships can mean on a college campus,” said Dr. Crumpton-Young. “We are going to serve the underserved like they have never been served, and this partnership will allow us to do this.” |
“It will be a university initiative, but it will be focused on enhancing the community. This gift, this partnership, will help us to ensure that small businesses in our community will be successful.” Gerald Smith, Chairman Emeritus of the TSU Foundation, as well as a TSU graduate and successful business entrepreneur, seconded President Crumpton-Young’s statement. He believes that TSU’s Jesse H. Jones School of Business, which includes the Gerald E. Smith Center for Entrepreneurship, will be a conduit for nurturing small business development. “I want to thank Verizon for supporting this cause, and we look forward to making a difference in our communities (with this funding).” Mayor Turner initiated the Fund in 2021 with the goal of raising $25 million to invest resources into nonprofits and small businesses that uplift and empower the Black community. |
