AltFinance Donates $2 Million to HBCU Founding Partners in Support of its Alternative Investment Fellowship Program
Friday, June 24th, 2022
AltFinance, a program created to increase diverse representation across the alternative investment industry, announced today that it is contributing a $2 million gift to its Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) founding partners, Howard University of Washington D.C. and the Atlanta University Center institutions: Clark Atlanta University, Morehouse College and Spelman College. Each of the four liberal arts institutions will receive $500,000 from AltFinance to further support their alternative investment fellowship program, which seeks to educate, train, mentor, and guide HBCU students into successful careers in the alternative asset management industry.
This donation commemorates the one-year anniversary of the launch of AltFinance. Over this time, AltFinance hosted 12 networking andinformation sessions reaching more than 200 HBCU students. The program’s first cohort, which launched in January 2022, includes 31 students from across the four founding schools. The majority of these students have secured highly-competitive internships in the alternative investment industry or at investment banks this summer, gaining valuable real-life experience and continuing to be in regular contact with their AltFinance mentors.
The fellows, faculty, and administration from each of these schools have been integral in helping AltFinance build a successful fellowship program in partnership with nonprofit Management Leadership for Tomorrow (MLT) as well as establishing the AltFinance Institute, a mix of top-tier virtual academic content in partnership with The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
“The partnership between these four colleges and universities and AltFinance has already begun to create meaningful and lasting impact for HBCU students, the alternative investments industry, and our shared future,” stated Marcus Shaw, CEO of AltFinance. “We have established a solid foundation in our first year of work, and we look forward to continued collaboration with the students and staff from each school over the next several years. This is just the beginning of our work, establishing a best-in-class alternative investment fellowship program.”
“The partnership between these four colleges and universities and AltFinance has already begun to create meaningful and lasting impact for HBCU students, the alternative investments industry, and our shared future,” stated Marcus Shaw, CEO of AltFinance. “We have established a solid foundation in our first year of work, and we look forward to continued collaboration with the students and staff from each school over the next several years. This is just the beginning of our work, establishing a best-in-class alternative investment fellowship program.”
Launched in June 2021, AltFinance is a collective effort and cross-sector partnership to address the diverse talent pipeline challenges facing the alternative investment industry. Apollo Global Management, Ares Management Corporation, and Oaktree Capital Management have come together by committing to contribute a total of $90 million over 10 years to help HBCU students interested in finance gain exposure, mentorship, and hands-on experience to jumpstart a long-term career in the alternative financial industry.
