From the Publisher

The Institute’s recent Global Conference was a milestone, whether measured by quality and quantity of speakers, number of attendees, or impact and buzz. Headline speakers included IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, former U.S. President Bill Clinton, current Argentine President Xavier Milei and man of many titles, Elon Musk. There were so many highlights and worth-watching moments – all of them ready for your viewing on the Milken Institute website.

For this letter, I want to focus on one corner of the conference since it illustrates how our events and programs work together. In early 2023, the Institute launched its HBCU Fellows program to help redress a yawning gap in the U.S. financial industry: women- and minority-owned firms currently control less than 2 percent of the asset management industry, and these population segments are heavily underrepresented in financial-industry employment.

To open opportunities for students in finance at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), the HBCU Fellows program starts with a first-year curriculum to prepare them for a two-year “practicum,” a two-cycle internship to build real-world skills and sector knowledge that will lead to employment in the industry. Already, the program has brought in 36 fellows and recorded a 100 percent internship offer rate.

The latest class of HBCU fellows attended the 2024 Global Conference. In addition to attending panel sessions, they had a bespoke itinerary of private meetings and networking, trainings and receptions. Students represented schools including Spelman College, Howard University, Philander Smith College and 10 others.

One of the highlights of the fellows’ time at the Global Conference were the private meetings arranged for them. Midway through the fireside chat with President Clinton, I looked over at where the HBCU students had been sitting and noticed they had left en masse. Curious, I thought, what could be more compelling than hearing the former president’s insights on issues of the day? It turned out that actress and activist Kerry Washington, who was with us as a speaker, had agreed to a Q&A session with the fellows, as well as a photo-op. Compelling, indeed.

The HBCU Fellows program is off to a promising start, and we expect that many of the students who came to the Global Conference this year will return as speakers and industry leaders at future conferences. Our theme this year was “Shaping a Shared Future,” and we hope that the experiences of the fellows at this year’s event will help shape their futures in a multitude of productive ways.

Conrad Kiechel, Publisher