Robin Hood’s Investors Conference Welcomes BSU Students

HBCU Students Attend Conference in Effort to Diversify Asset Management Industry

MEDIA CONTACTS:
Damita Chambers, dchambers@bowiestate.edu, 301-832-2628 mobile
Robin Hood, Press@robinhood.org

(BOWIE, Md.) – Robin Hood, New York City’s largest poverty-fighting organization, charts a path toward diversifying the asset management industry by inviting five Bowie State University students and other students from historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) to attend its virtual Investors Conference last month.

Among the conference’s 1,500 attendees, 66 were HBCU students supported by a generous gift from D.E. Shaw & Co. Student participation in the conference is rare. This is the first year HBCUs have participated. According to a 2019 Knight Foundation analysis that includes hedge funds, mutual funds, real estate funds and private equity funds, firms owned by white men manage 98.7 percent of the $69 trillion managed by the U.S. asset management industry.

“This conference is a tremendous opportunity for our students to experience, first-hand, the dynamics of discussions among industry executives in finance and asset management who direct many of the resources that shape the future of communities around the world,” said Dr. Aminta H. Breaux, president of Bowie State University. “I commend Robin Hood for opening it up to HBCU students, enabling students to begin to visualize themselves in these roles one day.”

The five students from the BSU College of Business, who attended the conference are:

• Aisha Beard 
• Noel Scott
• Bobby Stanley
• Ashley Tunstall
• Clarevonte Williams

“The number of people of color, particularly Black people, in leadership roles within the world of high finance is still relatively small and shockingly disproportionate. There aren’t a lot of people on Wall Street or in the high echelons of corporate America who look like me,” said Wes Moore CEO of Robin Hood. “I wanted to identify a concrete way to help expose each of these remarkable HBCU students to a virtual, closed-door conference experience with 65 speakers representing over $5 trillion in asset management. I hope their participation alongside of industry titans who represent the best and brightest among hedge fund managers, tech innovators, finance leaders, real estate investors, and influential policy experts who are defining the landscape for global investing, inspire each of these students to both one day manage their own portfolio, but also know that they belong in these rooms. The industry, our nation’s economy, and local communities of color need their skill, passion, and drive.”

Robin Hood’s Investors Conference is one of New York City’s premier industry events for hedge fund and asset managers and venture capitalists. It is the only conference of its kind where 100% of its proceeds goes to fight against poverty. 

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About Bowie State University
Bowie State University (BSU) is an important higher education access portal for qualified persons from diverse academic and socioeconomic backgrounds, seeking a high-quality and affordable public comprehensive university. The university places special emphasis on the science, technology, cybersecurity, teacher education, business, and nursing disciplines within the context of a liberal arts education. For more information about BSU, visit bowiestate.edu.

About Robin Hood
Founded in 1988, Robin Hood finds, fuels, and creates the most impactful and scalable solutions lifting families out of poverty in New York City, with models that can work across the country. This year, Robin Hood will invest nearly $200 million to provide COVID relief, legal services, housing, meals, workforce development training, education programs, and more to families in poverty in New York City. Robin Hood tracks every program with rigorous metrics, and since Robin Hood’s Board of Directors covers all overhead, 100 percent of every donation goes directly to the poverty fight. Learn more at robinhood.org.