罗伯特F. 史密斯，学生自由倡议主席

的创造 学生自由倡议由…促成 罗伯特F. 史密斯, was inspired by the end goal of liberating the human spirit in Black communities by removing one of the roadblocks to personal and family wealth creation: that of student loans.  

“By addressing the financial stress of college and providing students with resources and community, we can finally broaden the talent pipeline and create a more diverse and thriving economy,创始人说。 学生自由倡议主席罗伯特F. 史密斯 因为hbcu于2020年11月宣布参与. 

美国.S. economy has already lost $16 trillion over the last 20 years due to racism and inequality in the areas of salary earnings, 教育, 住房和投资, 根据花旗集团2020年的一项研究. 史密斯 called this economic gap a human rights crisis which has for too long suppressed the genius and potential of Black Americans. 学生自由倡议’s programs right now aim to correct a part of these historic and systemic inequities while building a scalable platform for investment in the Black leadership of the future. 

史密斯, who was named as one of 为bes’ 100 Greatest Living Business Minds in 2017, made international headlines two years later following the Morehouse College Commencement. 史密斯，莫尔豪斯学院的获奖者 2019年毕业典礼演讲嘉宾, announced to approximately 400 new graduates that he had paid their student loans.  

偿还3400多万美元的学生贷款很复杂, 这启发了史密斯去研究这个系统本身. 与HBCU领导层和金融专家一起, 学生自由倡议的想法形成了. It was launched in the fall of 2020 to include student support services, mentorships and internships alongside the financial component of the program, 为有色人种学生提供资源, 作为传统上代表性不足的学生, 可能缺乏. 

史密斯 personally backed the launch of 学生自由倡议 with a gift of $50 million following Fund II Foundation’s $50 million grant to launch the nonprofit. 第二基金的使命, a granting organization 史密斯 serves as founding director and President, 就是支持教育, 历史和环保措施. 过去一年里, other individuals and organizations have come forward to support 学生自由倡议 with financial and other resources.    

Unlike the vast majority of business leaders in the financial industry, 史密斯 is also an engineer. 他的化学工程学士学位来自 康奈尔大学 and successful career as an engineer provided an edge when he eventually launched his own company. The STEM skills and “elegant solutions” 史密斯 learned to produce as an engineer, 在任何行业都是可翻译的.  

好奇地, 史密斯在职业生涯中期冒了一个有预谋的风险, 离开了工程领域和他在卡夫食品的职位. 他获得了工商管理硕士学位 哥伦比亚大学商学院 at Columbia University in 1994 and joined investment bank Goldman Sachs. 史密斯 thrived in his position which brought him to San Francisco and Silicon Valley working to secure deals with the likes of Apple and IBM.  

史密斯创立了Vista Equity Partners他于2000年担任该公司董事长兼首席执行官. 由于他作为工程师获得的计算机编程知识， 史密斯是第一批投资者之一 to see the potential for growth in technology industry software development as opposed to hardware. Vista’s focus since its inception has been the enterprise software and technology sectors. 该公司现在是拥有5家美国公司的全球领导者.S. 包括在德克萨斯州奥斯汀的总部.  

慈善家和 思想领袖罗伯特F. 史密斯 第二代大学毕业生吗, 在丹佛长大的人, 科罗拉多州, 父母为他的未来投资. Both of 史密斯’s parents worked in 教育 and earned doctoral degrees in that field. 他的母亲, 和许多HBCU毕业生一样, made monthly payments to the UNCF to ensure the next generation of Black students could achieve their dream of a college 教育.  

This family history combined with that of the legacy of his fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha (AΦA), reinforced an understanding within 史密斯 of the need to give back to his community. 史密斯受到了启发 to continue the mission of civil rights leaders, such as AΦA Brother, Reverend Dr. 马丁·路德·金. 重要的是, 史密斯注意到金的《澳门皇冠体育》,”的演讲, 1963年传奇的华盛顿大游行的一部分, 被称为“为工作和自由游行”. 

史密斯’s dedication to philanthropy was made indelible by his commitment given in 2017 to the 捐赠誓言. Even before centering his pledge on initiatives in the interest of African-American equality and environmental preservation, 史密斯一直是社会正义的倡导者. 2010年，史密斯很荣幸地获得了希望之波奖 罗伯特F. 肯尼迪人权.  

他的个人使命是解放人类的精神, 史密斯把重点放在教育作为提升的工具上. To end inequities in 教育 and internships 史密斯 has supported the following organizations:  

• 康奈尔大学的罗伯特·弗雷德里克·史密斯技术学者  
• 的钱 
• 基金二基金联合国科学基金STEM学者计划
• Goalsetter
• internX 
• 罗恩·布朗奖学金计划 
• 学生自由倡议  
• 罗伯特·F. 史密斯 Internship Program at the American Museum of African American 历史 and Culture 
• 斯芬克斯组织 
• 联合国儿童基金会西尔维娅. 杨史密斯奖学金 

Each student liberated to pursue their path is creating a network of uplift which will affect whole communities. Having an equal opportunity to achieve is the first step on the pathway to a better future for all Americans. 

 史密斯获得的认可包括: 

• 卡内基慈善奖章  
• 联合国儿童基金会主席奖  
• 2019年德州商业名人堂入选者 
• 哈佛大学的W.E.B. 杜波依斯奖 
• 莫尔豪斯商业与慈善烛光奖 
• SEO的雷金纳德·F. 刘易斯成就奖 

为 斯密的独特贡献 到商界和慈善界, 他入选了《澳门皇冠体育》周刊2020年100位最具影响力人物. In the same year 史密斯 made 为bes list of 100 Greatest Living Business Minds. 史密斯 is a member of the Cornell Engineering College Council and serves on the Board of Overseers of 哥伦比亚大学商学院. And, 史密斯 has had the honor of serving as Carnegie Hall’s Chairman since 2016.  

 访问 学生自由倡议 了解更多关于这个项目的信息.