Robert F. Smith helps launch Mobile Prostate Cancer Screening Bus to help Black men

Robert F. Smith and Mount Sinai’s Center of Excellence for Prostate Cancer have launched the very first mobile prostate cancer screening bus in the United States. Prostate cancer is a very common disease that many men are at risk of developing in their lifetime. In fact, prostate cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed in American men (outside of skin cancer), and it’s the 4th most common cancer diagnosis globally.

Another tragic fact is that Black men are at a much higher risk of developing this disease and eventually dying from it compared to white men. To address this issue affecting the Black community, Smith donated $3.8 million to Mount Sinai for the official launch of the Robert F. Smith Mobile MRI Unit to support prostate health awareness. This community effort will help provide increased education, awareness, and early detection screening to Black men across New York City’s greater neighborhoods of color to prevent prostate cancer from progressing further.

Black men are 1.7 times more likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer and 2.1 times more likely to die from prostate cancer than white men. While a clear reason for these substantial differences can’t be exactly defined, a variety of different factors could be contributing to the inequity. In the United States, Black Americans can be at a disadvantage when it comes to receiving the necessary preventative care needed for health concerns making them at-risk for diseases such as prostate cancer. With increased care and awareness, the racial divide for prostate cancer in men is narrowing. Early detection of this hard-hitting disease is crucial to increasing survivability. That’s why Smith has partnered with Mount Sinai to offer prostate health screenings for the Black community.

The new Robert F. Smith Mobile MRI Unit will bring prostate cancer screening directly to Black men in the communities of Central, Eastern, and West Harlem; the Upper East Side; and Queens. These communities of color are at a higher risk of developing prostate cancer and dying from it than white communities. That’s why it’s crucial to have tools such as the Mobile MRI Unit in place for early detection and prevention of this disease.

This state-of-the-art mobile facility will provide the necessary tools for advanced screening for prostate cancer by trained medical professionals. Through this community outreach program, the Mount Sinai Health Center hopes to:

Raise awareness about prostate cancer and the screening services offered by the Mobile MRI Unit.

Set up prostate screening appointments in predominantly Black neighborhoods across New York City.

Schedule follow-up visits for patients with urologists at the Mount Sinai Center of Excellence for Prostate Cancer.

The Mobile MRI Unit will be able to bring this technology and testing straight to the Black communities of Harlem and beyond. Access to an MRI can be life changing and aids in early detection of this disease in Black Americans. If abnormally high PSA levels are detected, Mount Sinai will develop a treatment plan for the patient which will include follow-up visits at Mount Sinai’s Center of Excellence for Prostate Cancer.

Robert F. Smith Launching $1.8M Grant Program To Help HBCU Students

Robert F. Smith's organization, the Student Freedom Initiative recently announced via a press release their partnership with Prudential Financial who is providing $1.8 million in microgrants to HBCU students.

Read that press release below:

As resources are directed towards Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) across America, there remains an ongoing crisis among HBCU students of failing to matriculate due to unforeseen, emergency expenses. According to a recent study by the Federal Reserve, 40% of Americans – predominantly Black and minority Americans – would have difficulty covering an emergency $400 expense, relying on borrowing the money from friends or family or incurring further credit card debt.

To provide this urgently needed aid, Student Freedom Initiative today announced catalytic support from Prudential Financial, with Prudential providing $1.8 million in microgrants to HBCU students in an effort to accelerate economic mobility and close the financial divide. Prudential will also provide paid internships and pro bono services to enable improved financial literacy for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) families and students.

This grant from Prudential will support the launch of the Handling Everyday Life Problems for Students (HELPS) Program, a crucial service to address unexpected, one-time expenses disproportionately faced by Black students, furthering Student Freedom Initiative and Prudential’s shared commitment to close the racial wealth gap. Launching as a three-year pilot program with nine HBCUs, the HELPS Program supplements HBCU-provided resources and will be launched with the Spring 2022 academic year at participating institutions. Students who qualify will receive supplemental funds to address emergent financial issues that present a risk to the student’s ability to matriculate, including issues that may cause immediate risk to a student’s health, life, property, or environment, requiring immediate attention.

In recent conversations with HBCU presidents, many detailed the challenges their students face, particularly in this hybrid environment. One president recalled how one of their students was unable to fully participate on camera for class – a requirement – due to a damaged computer, adversely impacting the student’s grades.

Another president described always keeping petty cash in their office, at one time providing a student $300 to cover an unexpected expense. The student later told the president had it not been for that $300, it is likely they would not have graduated at all.

With the implementation of the HELPS program, students like these can now access critical microgrants to support their persistence to graduation.

Committed to a fully inclusive workforce within its own ranks, Prudential will also provide paid internships via the internX.org platform, which pairs highly qualified, rising sophomores through seniors across all majors with companies seeking diverse talent. There are over 220 companies, over 14,000 students, and 1,300+ Course Learning Management Systems on the internX.org platform. In addition, Prudential will collaborate with Student Freedom Initiative and the participating institutions to prepare and conduct age-appropriate, culturally sensitive, financial literacy education and training for students, in a format that is culturally sensitive and recognizes the current hybrid model employed by these institutions.

“Student Freedom Initiative applauds the leadership of Prudential Financial and their support for our shared mission of eliminating barriers of access for underserved communities,” said Robert F. Smith, Chairman of Student Freedom Initiative. “By enabling the launch of the HELPS Program, a vital component of our work to address the holistic needs of HBCU students and families, Prudential’s gift will provide long-needed and often overlooked aid and support persistence of those most vulnerable in our community.”

“At Prudential, we’ve spent decades working to close the financial divide, in part through partnerships that address systemic barriers to economic, social, and racial equity,” said Sarah Keh, vice president, Inclusive Solutions, at Prudential Financial. “As part of our multiprong strategy to support HBCUs, our partnership with Student Freedom Initiative will help us scale solutions so that more Black students will remain in college and ultimately graduate, putting them on a path to financial security.”

“Over 75% of students at HBCUs are considered low-income, relying on Pell Grants to meet their college expenses. However, for many of these students, these grants are not enough,” added Mark A. Brown, Executive Director of Student Freedom Initiative. “During recent onsite visits at multiple HBCUs, we learned from executive leadership and student focus groups that many of our students are unable to overcome financial challenges for expenses that are not directly related to the cost of college. These expenses, left unaddressed, can derail their college plans. In addition, most of these students lack the necessary financial literacy to make informed decisions, though they are asked to signed complex promissory notes that could indebt them well into their adult lives. Further, while some may have support from parents through costly Parent PLUS loans, many of these students have reported feeling personally responsible for any negative affects these loans had on their families. With additional financial support from sponsors, we can ensure that more HBCUs and eligible students will not be forced to choose between their education or their financial wellbeing if met with a hardship during the course of their studies.”

Students may begin taking advantage of Student Freedom Initiative’s HELPS Program starting in the Spring semester 2022. Visit HELPS Program to learn more.

About Student Freedom Initiative

A single purpose nonprofit organization, Student Freedom Initiative provides a catalyst for freedom in professional and life choices for students attending Minority Serving Institutions (“MSIs”) by increasing their social and economic mobility using a student centric, evidence based, holistic, and collaborative approach. Initially focused on Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Student Freedom Initiative enables mobility through four transformational components: (1) Income Contingent Alternative to Parent Plus and Private Loans, (2) Internships, (3) Tutoring/Mentorships/Other Services, and (4) Targeted HBCU Capacity Building. Student Freedom Initiative collaborates with community-based organizations, businesses, and governmental entities through public-private partnerships to make sustainable, systemic changes to support the entire HBCU ecosystem.

To date, Student Freedom Initiative has received generous contributions from our anchor donors Robert F. Smith, Fund II Foundation, and Cisco Systems, and many others who have provided financial and/or in-kind services. The program has also been acknowledged and supported by the Business Roundtable's Racial Equity & Justice Subcommittee on Education.

To learn more, visit www.StudentFreedomInitiative.org or find us on Twitter @StudentFreedom.

72 Black executives sign letter urging corporate America to stand against voter suppression

72 Black former and current business executives including Ken Chenault, Ursula Burns, Mellody Hobson, Robert F. Smith, and more signed a full-page ad in the New York Times Wednesday pushing for corporate America to stand up against voting rights restrictions after lawmakers in Georgia passed a controversial new voting bill.

Ken Chenault, the former CEO of American Express, and Ursula Burns, the former CEO of Xerox, join "CBS This Morning" to discuss what role corporations have in protecting the rights of Americans.

Billionaire Robert Smith Launches New HBCU Initiative to Ease Burden of Student Loans

Billionaire Robert F. Smith–the billionaire who donated $34 million last year to cover the student debt of the Morehouse College class of 2019, 400 graduates–announced this week the Student Freedom nonprofit initiative, in order to help ease the heavy burden of student loans at Black colleges and universities (HBCUs).

Starting in Fall 2021 at up to 11 HBCUs, the organization will offer 5,000 juniors and seniors each year a flexible, lower-risk alternative to high-interest private student loans–an ISA.

According to Time.com, the initiative is launching with a $50 million grant from Fund II Foundation, a charitable organization of which Smith–the wealthiest Black man in the United States, according to Forbes– is founding director and president, and has set a goal of raising at least $500 million by October to make the program “self-sustaining” through investments and graduates’ income-based repayments.

The program’s partners include Michael Lomax, CEO of the United Negro College Fund; Henry Louis Gates Jr., director of the Hutchins Center for African and African-American Research at Harvard; the Jain Family Institute, and the Education Finance Institute.

As Inside Higher Ed analyzed, Similar Income-Share agreements have been criticized in the past since high-earning graduates could end up paying more than they would with traditional student loans. Supporters say that the programs are innovative ways to fund higher education.

[SOURCE: IBL NEWS]

Queen Latifah, Robert F. Smith among W.E.B. Du Bois Medal recipients

Entertainer Queen Latifah and Robert F. Smith the entrepreneur who announced that he would pay the college loans of more than 400 Morehouse College students who graduated in May are among W.E.B. Du Bois Medal recipients. The Du Bois Medal celebrates black excellence and opportunity.

The Du Bois medal is the highest honor Harvard gives to scholars, artists, writers, journalists, philanthropists, and public servants for their contributions to African and African American history and culture. It is awarded by the African and African American Studies Department, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary at Harvard.

“Understand that there will be times when you will have to stand alone. There will be no one else that will believe in your dream,” Queen Latifah, hip-hop artist, actress, and medal recipient, told a packed audience Tuesday evening at Sanders Theatre. “There are plenty of people who told us we will never be where we are today … but we don’t believe those people. You have to be strong and be courageous and just know that if you believe in it, it’s going to happen. Don’t give up. Do not quit. Fight for it.”

In a moving speech, Smith — the founder, chairman, and CEO of Vista Equity Partners, a firm that manages equity capital worth upwards of $50 billion — recalled how his upbringing and community inspired him to succeed for those who didn’t have the opportunities he did, and to open doors to success for others. Of his $34 million gift to the 2019 graduates of Morehouse, he said, “To me that’s my job. It is to liberate the human spirit.”

Besides Smith and Latifah, this year’s honorees included Elizabeth Alexander, a renowned poet, president of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and former fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study; Lonnie Bunch III, the head of the Smithsonian Institution; Rita Dove, a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and former U.S. poet laureate; Sheila C. Johnson, philanthropist and co-founder of Black Entertainment Television; and Kerry James Marshall, an award-winning artist.

Past winners include such luminaries as poet Toni Morrison, boxer Muhammad Ali, children’s rights activist Marian Wright Edelman, Nigerian writer Wole Soyinka, comedian Dave Chappelle, former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, writer Maya Angelou, politician and civil rights leader John Lewis, opera star Jessye Norman, rapper Nasir “Nas” Jones, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, and entertainer and media executive Oprah Winfrey.

[SOURCE: HARVARD GAZZETTE]