Grady Crosby, Northwestern Mutual’s VP and chief sustainability and impact officer, discusses the Hometown HBCU Connection Scholarship and the company’s community engagement efforts.
Can you provide an overview of the Northwestern Mutual HBCU Hometown Connection Scholarship and its primary objectives?
I think specifically; we know that there are a number of students in underserved environments who deserve the opportunity to live out their dream of going to college and starting professional careers. Ultimately, our goal is to provide more access and quality seats for those students, recognizing that the HBCUs certainly represent a very unique environment in and of itself.
By getting more kids access to opportunities, and for those who desire to go to HBCUs, we know it will be a great source of potential professionals to help us execute our mission right here at Northwestern Mutual. We also know that the Midwest doesn’t have any HBCUs, so sometimes it’s a really tough decision for a kid coming out of Milwaukee to decide to go to an HBCU, and sometimes it’s even a tougher decision to come back to Milwaukee and start to contribute to our community. So, we wanted kids to see that not only we can support you in terms of your academic pursuits, especially with those who want the historically black college or university experience, but also to show them that there’s an opportunity to come back and launch their careers and build their career and family right here in the hometown of Milwaukee.
That’s beautiful. Now, what do you hope for regarding the recipients of the scholarship?
We hope that they’re going to be successful, number one. We hope that they’re going to go out and have this great college experience. Specifically, I think we want for our kids what every concerned community, parent, and household wants for their kids, to be exposed to many great opportunities, people, and networks, and to grow socially, academically, and professionally as well. And so, we think we’re setting that ecosystem up for our kids to not only survive but to thrive in their collegiate experience and to be able to come back to contribute to the Milwaukee community. We want to undergird the next generation of professional talent that comes into Milwaukee. And again, we know that HBCUs can set up a great network and resources to help us do that.
How did you establish the amount of the scholarship award and the number of scholarship awards to be distributed?
I wish I could tell you there was an exact science around all of that. But the main thing was just trying to recognize where there’s a need. Over the course of this program, our HBCU Hometown Connection will invest a little over half a million dollars in the next five years, just in this program. That will probably be able to support about a little less than 40 students.
Each student in the cohort gets about $7,500 for that particular year. But I think the biggest benefit and the biggest asset that we’re adding to this program is our people because we’re providing a very heavy touch to these kids as they come through the program. We are not only allowing them to set up a network of colleagues in their own ranks in terms of other kids who are having similar experiences at HBCU campuses around the country but they’re also being exposed to our people who are talking to them about everything from how to deal with stress on the college campus, delivering on materials and assignments. They are also encouraging them to start thinking about career paths and the different things that people can do in the financial services and insurance sectors, as well as all those things that kind of wrap around it.
Why is it so important for major corporations to invest in incentivizing higher education for today’s youth?
I think we recognize that, despite what we would want, no one has found the fountain of youth. And so sooner or later, it’s just a cycle of life that people are going to rotate and do something else or retire or what have you. And so, if we don’t start investing in this next generation of talent now, we won’t be able to execute our mission. The mission of Northwestern Mutual is all about delivering financial security and relieving all Americans of financial anxiety. And one of the ways we do that is by making some very long-term promises that in folks’ toughest moments, we’re going to be there to provide the support that they need so they don’t have to worry about the financial stressors of the day.
But to do that, we need exceptional talent who’s thinking far ahead of us right now and helping us build out strategies that help us be successful in decades to come. We know that Milwaukee and the generation of young talent that’s coming out right now kind of undergirds our ability to do that in the future.
Briefly share some of the criteria that the students had to meet to participate.
Everybody, of course, is a high school graduate and has had some level and degree of academic success and scholastic success throughout their high school careers. In addition, we have a great third-party resource that helps us vet applications. And they’re looking across the board. They’re looking at community involvement. They’re looking at all types of extracurricular activities, even within schools. What type of clubs and organizations these kids are in? They’re looking at past work experience, and what type of work experience have these kids had. At the end of the day, we are looking for well-rounded kids who have demonstrated an ability to succeed at this next level.
In your own words, what are some of the challenges students from diverse backgrounds face?
You probably could guess most of them. One of the biggest issues, of course, has to deal with the finances and the financial readiness to send a kid to school. A lot of our homes and parents in these underrepresented communities don’t always have the financial wherewithal to do it. That’s why we think our mission of relieving Americans of financial anxiety is so important, because our people didn’t necessarily end up sitting around the kitchen table talking about, you know, creating an irrevocable trust for kids to go to school or, you know, these types of financial tools to help generations to come. We know that the financial part is a big part of it. But, you know, also we recognize that one of the biggest derailers of kids going to school has to do with the emotional stressors of the changes of environment. And that’s why there’s such a heavy touch on this program because we want kids to understand that they have some help in dealing with these issues.
Now, your program also includes an internship. What are some of the benefits for the students to participate?
The students will get the opportunity following their sophomore year, so before their junior year, to participate in the Northwestern Mutual Internship Program. They’ll also get that opportunity before their senior year as well. A lot of those benefits are some of the same benefits that we’ve been talking about earlier. Of course, it’s the big benefit of actually being in a job and making money. Some of the students will experience it for the first time. The other thing is that they get a chance to be in this environment with, again, other similarly situated students, where they get to share their own lived experiences and build networks right there within their own ranks. My parents would always say something to the effect of education is great. You need it. You need to be credentialed, but people will take you places. So, these networks of people that they’re building are invaluable.
Be’n Original
