By Carol Ozemhoya | Across Black America
Vista Equity Partners’ Robert F. Smith and Goalsetter’s Tanya Van Court announced the “One Stock. One Future.” initiative in October 2021. The initiative served as a call to action for both organizations and corporations to build up young people of color and set them on a path to financial freedom, reports Afro Tech.
It kicked off after Smith gifted five share of stock – equivalent to about 15,000 total shares – to nearly 3,000 students, educators and staff members at the Eagle Academies for Young Men, a network of public, all-boys schools serving young men of color in New York City and Newark, NJ, according to a press release. As this called for a celebration, those Black students, the Black Billionaire, Black tech entrepreneur, Black educator and young Black men from the Morehouse Class of 2019 all graced the NYSE podium, ringing the opening bell together.
“Our Class of 2019 at Morehouse, our team at Goalsetter, our team now at Eagle Academy, you all are a part of an ecosystem of economic development. You’re part of an ecosystem of self-empowerment. [And] you now have partners like the New York Stock Exchange that you can look to and look for help and guidance on how we create more access to capital and opportunity into our communities,” said Smith in an official video shared exclusively with Afro Tech.
He continued: “We were raised at a time where access to education was thought to be the principal way to really grow in your company or in your family and in your community. And then we learned that access to capital is as important. What Goalsetter does is put the two together. It gives us the ability to teach financial literacy and to enable our community to fund our success. Now, our community continues to grow, and now the New York Stock Exchange is a part of that community.”
