Today, Reinvestment Fund, a nationally-focused Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) headquartered in Philadelphia and Atlanta, announced the first 11-institution cohort of its groundbreaking platform, the HBCU Brilliance Initiative (Brilliance Initiative).
Announced earlier this summer, the Brilliance Initiative’s goal is to support the financial health of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) to fortify their futures. The Brilliance Initiative will supply $40,000 in grants and up to $1,000,000 in financing to each of the 11 institutions of the cohort. The grants will be leveraged to fund developmental projects including campus infrastructure improvements, predevelopment and planning, and sustainability and environmental initiatives. The inaugural cohort includes the following institutions:
“We are so thrilled to announce this inaugural cohort of the HBCU Brilliance Initiative program, a transformational experience that will help to build thriving higher education institutions and sustainable communities,” said Christina Alexis, Head of HBCU Brilliance Initiative Program at Reinvestment Fund. “The selected institutions demonstrate a high level of excellence already, as well as the ongoing need for support through knowledge building, access to capital and incomparable technical assistance. We are proud to work with these institutions to secure their futures by increasing funding, strengthening infrastructure, and creating pathways for long-term success.”
The Brilliance Initiative will regularly convene the cohort of 11 HBCUs to build their networks and capacity under the direction of a technical assistance curriculum administered by Reinvestment Fund and a council of HBCUs leaders, advocates and financial experts.
Dr. Kendi X. Ibram, Professor of History and founding director of the Institute for Advanced Study at Howard University, and Leah Rothstein, author and housing policy leader, will serve as key advisors for the program and advise the cohort throughout the duration of the program.
“HBCUs have long been incubators of Black brilliance, scholarship, leadership, and multiracial democracy. Investing in these institutions is not just an investment in higher education but it is an investment in an equitable, knowledgeable, and just future,” said Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, incoming Professor of History and founding director of the Institute for Advanced Study at Howard University. “Reinvestment Fund’s Brilliance Initiative is ensuring HBCUs flourish. And when HBCUs flourish, communities flourish, our nation flourishes.”
Beyond the program, the Brilliance Initiative will seek to establish permanent resources and capital for additional projects that serve the population of participating HBCUs which include over 70 percent of their students being Pell Grant recipients and first-generation college students. Additionally, collaboration with community stakeholders, policymakers, and researchers will only advance the development of the institutions to continue to modernize and update the resources available to them.
“The HBCU Brilliance Initiative is an innovative tool to support the growth of healthy and thriving communities across the country,” said Donald Hinkle-Brown, President and CEO of Reinvestment Fund. “Our goal is not for this initiative to be the sole source of support, but rather the first step in a broader, ongoing effort to advance opportunities for the students and communities HBCUs serve. We are committed to creating lasting, sustainable pathways for growth, ensuring that these communities continue to flourish beyond the Brilliance Initiative.”
The cohort will participate in orientation at the beginning of November and its first in-person convening in the new year sponsored by the Kresge Foundation.
To learn more about Reinvestment Fund and the HBCU Brilliance Initiative, please visit: https://www.reinvestment.com/grants/hbcu-brilliance-initiative/.
###
About Reinvestment Fund
Reinvestment Fund is a mission-driven financial institution committed to making communities work for all people. We bring financial and analytical tools to partnerships that work to ensure that people in communities across the country have the opportunities they strive for: affordable places to live, access to nutritious food and health care, schools where their children can flourish, and strong, local businesses that support jobs. We use data to understand markets and how transactions can have the most powerful impact, which has consistently earned us the top Aeris rating of AAA for financial strength and four stars for impact management. Our asset and risk management systems have also earned us an AA- rating from S&P. Since our inception in 1985, Reinvestment Fund has provided over $3.2 billion in financing to strengthen neighborhoods, scale social enterprises, and build resilient communities. Learn more at reinvestment.com.