Sean "Big Sean" Anderson, states the issue at the beginning of this short documentary from Ally: "Thirteen percent of the American population is black, but only one percent of VC (venture capital) backed startups have black founders. The Moguls in the Making program is out to change that."
The documentary captures the intensity of the Moguls in the Making program as Historically Black College and University (HBCU) students represent their schools in the business plan pitch competition in Detroit this past March. It then follows the contributions of 15 of those students as they joined Ally this summer for internships. The documentary highlights the brilliant minds of these students who came together this summer as part of the Ally team to share their visions on how to solve real issues in Detroit and at Ally.
The Moguls in the Making program is aimed at offering students from HBCUs exposure and opportunity to build the skills needed to become a successful entrepreneur. Fifty HBCU students from across the country traveled to Detroit to participate in a weekend-long competition. Ally teamed up with fellow Motor City native, entertainer and entrepreneur Sean 'Big Sean' Anderson and the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) to create this innovative program aimed at preparing students from HBCUs to become future entrepreneurs and members of the business community. Anderson is the founder of the Sean Anderson Foundation, which is dedicated to improving the education, health, safety and well-being of school aged youth and their families.
The students worked in groups of five to develop business solutions to various issues facing Detroit including employment, education and real estate. The ten teams pitched their business ideas to a panel of judges including Anderson; Andrea Brimmer, Ally's chief marketing and public relations officer; Anand Talwar, Ally's deposit and consumer strategy executive; Tommey Walker, principal of Detroit vs. Everybody; and George Spencer, executive vice president of business development, innovation and entrepreneurship, TMCF.
Learn more about the Moguls in the Making
Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE: ALLY) is a leading digital financial-services company with $180.4 billion in assets as of June 30, 2019. As a customer-centric company with passionate customer service and innovative financial solutions, we are relentlessly focused on "Doing It Right" and being a trusted financial-services provider to our consumer, commercial, and corporate customers. We are one of the largest full-service automotive-finance operations in the country and offer a wide range of financial services and insurance products to automotive dealerships and consumers. Our award-winning online bank (Ally Bank, Member FDIC and Equal Housing Lender) offers mortgage-lending services and a variety of deposit and other banking products, including savings, money-market, and checking accounts, certificates of deposit (CDs), and individual retirement accounts (IRAs). Additionally, we offer securities-brokerage and investment-advisory services through Ally Invest. Our robust corporate finance business offers capital for equity sponsors and middle-market companies.
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