ATLANTA (AP) – Apple AAPL,
and a major utility is each donating $ 25 million to launch a learning center and business incubator for students at historically black colleges and universities, as part of a wave of donations to these schools following the summer protests against racial injustice.
The Propel Center will have a physical campus in Atlanta and online offerings aimed at reaching students from all 100 historically black institutions across the country.
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Apple also announced Tuesday that it will provide grants to HBCU engineering programs to expand curriculum, research and lab space, add 100 new scholarships for students, and open a unique development academy in Detroit. He will also invest $ 10 million over the next 20 years with venture capital firm Harlem Capital to fund startups with various founders and $ 25 million in the Clear Vision Impact Fund for capital loans to small and medium businesses. , with an emphasis on minority businesses. companies.
“We are all responsible for the urgent work of building a fairer and more equitable world – and these new projects send a clear signal of Apple’s enduring commitment,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a statement.
Money from Apple and Atlanta-based Southern Co., which owns electric and gas utilities, will fund a 50,000 square foot (4,650 square meters) building for the Propel Center near Atlanta University Center. This is a consortium of four black colleges – Clark Atlanta University, Morehouse College, Spelman College, and Morehouse School of Medicine – that share resources such as a common library.
“Propel will provide HBCU scholarship students across the country with access to cutting-edge technology, resources and programs to compete globally in multidisciplinary disciplines and career paths,” said George T. French Jr., President of Clark Atlanta University.
Propel Center is run by Ed Farm, a nonprofit organization based in Birmingham, Alabama, which previously started a program to teach computer coding and provide career opportunities at HBCUs.
“We are delighted to partner with Apple on this extraordinary project,” said Anthony Oni, Founder and Chairman of the Board of Ed Farm and Vice Chairman of Southern Company. “The Propel Center will help cultivate leadership and spur innovation in technology and beyond, acting as a springboard for change in communities across America.”
Propel will provide HBCU scholarship students across the country with access to cutting-edge technology, resources and programs to compete globally in multidisciplinary disciplines and career paths, French said.
The Propel Center will offer academic programming in person and online. Classes will focus on entrepreneurship, computer programming and the entertainment business, but also agriculture, leadership and social justice. The center also seeks to promote coaching, business start-ups, and idea development, with labs on other HBCU campuses offering on-campus counseling.
The center will host academics or fellows on its Atlanta campus who will live there.
Apple said the donation was part of a $ 100 million racial equity and justice initiative announced in June, while Southern Co. said it was part of a $ 50 million initiative to support HBCUs in the company’s service area in Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.
The Apple Developer Academy in Detroit will be a partnership with Michigan State University.
