Entrepreneurship

Cisco Partners with BEA Foundation to Support Entrepreneurship at HBCUs

• By Rhea Kelly
• 09/12/22

In partnership with the Black Economic Alliance Foundation (BEA Foundation), Cisco has committed $5 million in grants and technical services to fuel entrepreneurship at historically Black colleges and universities. The funding will advance the development of the Center for Black Entrepreneurship (CBE), an academic center devoted to growing the pipeline of Black entrepreneurial talent, and will support CBE programming at Spelman College, Morehouse College, and Clark Atlanta University.

The funding will be distributed as follows:

• $3 million allotted evenly across endowed faculty positions for the expansion of current CBE programming at Spelman and Morehouse and the establishment of future CBE graduate-level programming at CAU;
• More than $1 million in technology products and services for Spelman, Morehouse and CAU; and
• $1 million toward the BEA Entrepreneurs Fund, an investment fund that provides capital to businesses founded and led by Black entrepreneurs. A portion of the grant funds will be earmarked for graduates of the CBE.

"The Center for Black Entrepreneurship and the BEA Entrepreneurs Fund are tangible solutions to advance work, wages, and wealth across the Black community," said Samantha Tweedy, president of the Black Economic Alliance Foundation, in a statement. "We're thankful to Cisco for their generous support and strategic partnership in advancing the vision of the CBE and investing in Black entrepreneurs who will multiply prosperity for our community and, in so doing, grow the American economy."