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‘Moguls in the Making’ promotes financial literacy among students from historically black colleges and universities.

The entertainer’s nonprofit, the Sean Anderson Foundation, has partnered with Ally Financial and the Thurgood Marshall College Fund to host the contest. The program, which started Friday and ended Sunday night, gave students from historically black colleges and universities nationwide an opportunity to plan, develop and present a business plan in front of their peers and a panel of judges. In between preparing for their presentations, students participated in sessions on financial literacy, idea pitching, and building a business model.

Today, student loan debt is the second greatest source of individual debt, only behind mortgages, according to the Federal Reserve. Something must be done about the ever-rising student debt, and the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) is taking the issue of financial literacy with HBCU students head-on.

This partnership, which officially began with the signing of a memorandum of understand on March 29, will strive to provide resources to those schools to encourage faculty and student STEM research.

HBCUs must galvanize and maximize their internal fundraising efforts and prove that they are working just as hard if they are to continue asking the state and federal government for support.

Davis, executive vice president and chief corporate affairs officer of RWJBarnabas Health as well as immediate past president of Executive Women of New Jersey, was given the annual award for exemplifying the late Supreme Court justice’s passion for civil rights, justice and education.

Michellene Davis, a senior executive at RWJBarnabas Health, earned the “Thurgood Marshall Award of Excellence for New Jersey.”

This year’s report presents the initial phase in the creation of an “Opportunity Index” that will allow researchers and policymakers to compare residents’ perceptions of specific factors that block or facilitate their access to opportunity across communities and over time.

More than 100 Fortune 500 companies and federal government agencies take part in TMCF’s Leadership Institute, a four-day program that aims to develop the student-attendees’ leadership skills, provide employers access to overlooked diverse talent and help students make connections that lead to “good” jobs.

In addition to creating buzz on HBCU campuses, Beyoncé’s performance may have also had an impact on prospective students’ decision-making. Page said that when she spoke to high school seniors last year who were considering Spelman as part of an admitted students program, “I heard Coachella brought up a lot.”

Additional financial tips were provided by Joyce Payne, founder of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, and Leah Hill, associate director of financial aid at N.C. Wesleyan College.

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) data shows that HBCUs graduate the highest percentage of Black students in the nation; 45 percent associate’s degrees, 81 percent bachelor’s, 70 percent master’s and 62 percent doctoral.