HBCU Caucus Celebrates Partnership Challenge Victories | Congresswoman Alma Adams – Congresswoman Alma Adams

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Alma Adams (NC-12), founder and co-chair of the Congressional Bipartisan Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Caucus, celebrated recent victories for the HBCU Caucus Partnership Challenge. Two partnership challenge companies, Novartis and Truist, announced significant investments in HBCUs during the month of June.

The HBCU Caucus Partnership Challenge is an effort to promote greater engagement and support between private companies and HBCUs. Already, over 90 companies have taken the challenge.

Beacon of Hope

This month, Novartis expanded its Beacon of Hope Program, a 10-year collaboration with 26 Historically Black Colleges, Universities and Medical Schools and other organizations to address disparities in health and education, and create greater diversity, equity and inclusion across the research and development ecosystem. The program will establish three new clinical trial Centers of Excellence with grants totaling $17.7 million over 10 years from the Novartis US Foundation, bringing our commitment in Beacon of Hope initiatives to more than $50 million over 10 years. The Centers of Excellence will be established at Howard University College of Medicine, Meharry Medical College and Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science. The program has already established a center of excellence at the Morehouse School of Medicine.

“We need more African American and Black students to become healthcare leaders, and that’s why investments like Novartis’ Beacon of Hope program are so important,” said Congresswoman Alma Adams (NC-12), founder and Co-Chair of the Congressional Bipartisan HBCU Caucus. “By working with Howard University College of Medicine, Meharry Medical College and Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science to create Clinical Trial Centers of Excellence, Novartis will not only make sure clinical studies better represent the US population and improve health outcomes, they will also give more Black students the opportunity to be on the cutting edge of medical technology and science. Beacon of Hope is a great example of how HBCU Partnership Challenge companies are keeping their promises to our HBCUs and the communities they represent.”

Diversity in Tech

The Bipartisan Congressional HBCU Caucus, in partnership with Truist Financial and Virginia Union University, hosted the 5^th Annual HBCU Diversity in Tech Summit on June 17. During the hybrid conference, Truist presented HBCU students with $50,000 in scholarships.

The summit convened businesses and HBCUs for a conversation about best practices on how to engage with HBCUs to recruit and retain a diverse workforce. With a primary focus on increased diversity in technology, the summit explored the impact of diversity across industries and how HBCUs are taking on the challenge/leading the charge.

Photos from the event, including scholarship presentations, are available here.

“I was excited to join Truist, education leaders, and members of the Bipartisan HBCU Caucus for our Diversity in Tech Summit. Our congressional partners as well as our corporate partners recognize that diversity creates a stronger workforce, and that HBCUs play a critical role in creating the business leaders of the future,” said Congresswoman Alma Adams (NC-12), founder and Co-Chair of the Congressional Bipartisan HBCU Caucus. “HBCUs contribute nearly $15 billion to our economy annually and have provided pathways of opportunity to millions of Americans, many of whom are first generation college students. HBCUs are key to diversifying the workforce, and that’s why I’m proud to be the honorary host of the Diversity in Tech Summit every year.”

Background on the HBCU Partnership Challenge

Sixty-seven percent of job seekers say a diverse workforce is important when considering job offers, and organizations that report higher levels of racial diversity bring in nearly 15 times more sales revenue than their counterparts. The Bipartisan HBCU Caucus believes that in order to achieve true diversity in our workforce, we must focus on the front-end of this conversation – our students and the schools they attend.

The impact of HBCUs on our workforce is clear. HBCUs produce:

• 27 percent of all African-American STEM graduates;
• 40 percent of all African-American engineers;
• 50 percent of all African-American lawyers;
• 50 percent of all African-American public-school teachers; and
• 80 percent of all African-American judges.

These statistics demonstrate how HBCUs are vital to creating a diverse and inclusive workforce.

Additional information on the challenge is available here. For more information, please contact Sam Spencer (Sam.Spencer@mail.house.gov).

Congresswoman Alma S. Adams, Ph.D. represents North Carolina’s 12th Congressional District (Charlotte, Mecklenburg County). In 2015, she founded the first bipartisan Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Caucus in Congress. She is a double graduate of North Carolina A&T, the largest HBCU by enrollment in the United States, and serves on the House Committee on Education & Labor; the House Financial Services Committee; and the House Committee on Agriculture, which has jurisdiction over the 1890s HBCUs.

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