In February 2025, UNCF launched a new initiative designed to amplify the role of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in building and sustaining wealth for their communities. The HBCU Wealth Building Initiative seeks to leverage the unique position of HBCUs as established centers of education, economic activity, and community development to facilitate wealth building across multiple stakeholders, including students, faculty, staff, and surrounding communities. The HBCU Wealth Building Initiative is supported through the generous sponsorship of The Prudential Foundation and administered through UNCF’s Institute for Capacity Building.

The Initiative’s Approach 

The initiative launches in Spring 2025 with an institutional survey analyzing wealth-building policies, leadership priorities, and organizational systems across HBCUs. At the beginning of the 2025-2026 academic year, UNCF will also launch a stakeholder survey examining financial literacy perspectives and wealth-building practices within HBCU communities. Insights from these surveys will guide the future of the initiative. 

The administration period for the institutional survey is March–April 2025, with $1,000 incentives for institutional respondents. The stakeholder survey campaign will launch in August 2025, and UNCF is offering a $10,000 prize to the institution with the largest response rate. Institutions interested in participating in either of these surveys are encouraged to fill out the HBCU Wealth Building Institutional Interest Form here. 

Meet Our Advisory Board 

To advise on the development of the Initiative, UNCF also announced the formation of the HBCU Wealth Building Advisory Board, bringing together national experts in finance, education, policy, and community development to help shape the future of wealth building initiatives in HBCU communities.

Dr. Alex Carmadelle 

Kindred Futures 

Dr. Alex Camardelle serves as Vice President of Policy and Research at the Atlanta Wealth Building Initiative, focusing on closing the racial wealth gap through community wealth building strategies. He previously held leadership positions at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, Georgia Budget and Policy Institute, and the Annie E. Casey Foundation, consistently advocating for economic mobility and workforce development. Dr. Camardelle holds a Ph.D. in educational policy studies from Georgia State University and serves on the boards of the National Skills Coalition and Foreverfamily, Inc. 

Andrée Taylor

Senior Vice President, Philanthropic Giving Program Manager 

Bank of America Foundation 

Andree Taylor is a vice president in the CFO group at Bank of America, where he manages a financial systems support team responsible for assisting accounting and finance users with questions about the general ledger and its related processes. As part of a community volunteer program at the bank, he also serves on the Junior Achievement planning committee, where he helps educate and set the strategy for exposing students in the Charlotte area to Better Money Habits. Outside of the bank, Andree coach’s youth tackle and flag football. He holds an undergraduate degree in accounting from East Carolina University, an MBA from North Carolina Central University and is a Certified Professional Coach who specializes in relationships. He is the proud father of a teenage boy and a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity incorporated. 

Bill Bynum 

Chief Executive Officer 

Hope Credit Union 

Bill Bynum is the founding CEO of HOPE, a family of organizations that has generated billions in financing for community economic development, benefiting nearly three million people across the Deep South since 1994. He is a member of the U.S. Academy of Arts & Sciences and serves on numerous prestigious boards including the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta – New Orleans branch, Aspen Institute, and NAACP Legal & Education Defense Fund. Bynum has received multiple distinguished honors including the Heinz Award, McNulty Prize, and the Myrlie & Medgar Evers Voices of Courage & Justice Award for his transformative work in strengthening financial health in under resourced communities.

Duwain Pinder 

Partner and Founder 

McKinsey Institute for Black Economic Mobility 

Duwain helps higher education institutions navigate challenges through inclusive workforce development strategies and performance transformations, with expertise in higher education strategy, racial equity, and the future of work. As a cofounder and leader of the McKinsey Institute for Black Economic Mobility, he guides a global economic think tank focused on racial equity and inclusive growth. His client work includes supporting university COVID-19 responses, facilitating public-private coalitions to improve talent pathways, developing equity-focused university strategies, and implementing administrative transformations at higher education institutions. 

Erin Horne McKinney 

National Executive Director 

Howard University & PNC National Center for Entrepreneurship 

Erin Horne McKinney serves as the inaugural National Executive Director of the Howard University & PNC National Center for Entrepreneurship, bringing over two decades of experience in innovation, strategy, and leadership. Her impressive career includes executive roles at the Association of Enterprise Opportunity, WomenVenture, JumpStart Inc., and as Senior Advisor on Innovation and Entrepreneurship for the Washington D.C. Mayor’s Office. A Howard University alumna, Erin founded Black Female Founders, chairs the Black Innovation Alliance, and serves on multiple boards while remaining dedicated to advancing financial inclusion and fostering diversity across the economic landscape.

Hosetta Coleman

Executive Director, Head of Careers and Skills – Advancing Black Pathways 

JP Morgan Chase 

Hosetta Belcher Coleman serves as Executive Director leading the HBCU Path Forward strategy within Advancing Black Pathways Center of Excellence at JPMorgan Chase, which she rejoined in 2022 after extensive experience in strategic human resources leadership positions at Allstate, Fifth Third Bank, and Bank of America. She founded Tampa Bay’s National Association of African Americans in Human Resource Chapter, serves on the Florida A&M University Foundation Board of Directors, and holds leadership roles within Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. Coleman earned her BS in Business Administration from Tuskegee University and an MBA from the University of Phoenix, and remains active in community work including job readiness coaching for the underemployed and unemployed 

Keith Shoates 

President and CEO 

Student Freedom Initiative 

Keith Shoates serves as President and CEO of the Student Freedom Initiative, leading efforts to reduce the wealth gap through education by increasing social and economic mobility for students at Minority Serving Institutions. He leverages public-private partnerships to scale program pillars including alternatives to Parent PLUS loans, internships, comprehensive supports, and institutional transformation across 60+ participating institutions in 22+ states. Previously, he served as COO and interim Executive Director, launching the program at nine initial MSIs and managing the implementation of Robert F. Smith’s philanthropic gift to Morehouse College graduates, before which he was a retired Air Force Colonel with 30+ years of leadership experience

LaKesha Landers

Director of Financial Literacy

Clark Atlanta University 

LaKesha Landers serves as the Director of Financial Literacy at Clark Atlanta University and Co-Chair of Universities and Colleges for Money Smart Campaign of Georgia through the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. With over 15 years of experience in financial services leadership across various post-secondary institutions, she has created and implemented innovative financial literacy programs, earning recognition including a Proclamation from the Atlanta City Council. She has been featured in YBE Magazine’s PowHER edition, The Awkward Girl Podcast, and as a guest on WCLK Jazz and WYCE Gospel radio, while also serving on the Board of Directors for Young Authors Publishing, a non-profit helping children in low-income communities write and publish their own books.

Michael Neal 

Senior Fellow, Housing Finance Policy Center 

Urban Institute 

Michael Neal serves as a senior fellow in the Housing Finance Policy Center at the Urban Institute, bringing extensive experience from previous roles at Fannie Mae, the National Association of Home Builders, Congress’s Joint Economic Committee, and other prominent financial institutions. He is a 2024 JPMorgan Chase Fellow, member of the National Bureau of Economic Research Race and Stratification Working Group, and serves on advisory committees for Project REACH and the Black Wealth Data Center. Neal holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Morehouse College, a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Pennsylvania and has studied at the University of Oxford and Princeton University. 

Patrice Willoughby 

Chief of Policy and Legislative Affairs 

NAACP

Patrice Willoughby currently serves as Chief of Policy and Legislative Affairs at the NAACP, bringing over 20 years of experience applying a racial equity lens to advocacy in financial services, tax, and technology. Her distinguished career includes roles as Chief of Staff to Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones and Executive Director of the Congressional Black Caucus, where she supported major legislation including the Recovery Act, Dodd-Frank, and the Affordable Care Act. A legal professional with multiple degrees, Willoughby has been recognized as a Top Lobbyist by “Lawyers of Color” and received a Lifetime Achievement award from the Washington Government Relations Group. 

Reena Sood 

Regional Vice President, Client Relationship Management 

Prudential Financial 

Reena Sood serves as Regional Vice President for Prudential’s Client Relationship Management Team in the Central Region, where she leads Account Executives, Account Managers, and Sales Support across National Accounts and Premier Organizations. She is responsible for the strategic management, growth, retention, and service experience of Prudential’s inforce customers. Joining Prudential Group Insurance in 2023, Reena brings 20 years of industry experience from previous roles at MetLife and Cigna, spanning sales, service, global benefits, and enterprise growth. A University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate, she resides in Chicago with her husband and children. 

Steven Brown 

Director of Insights and Evidence 

Aspen Institute Financial Security Program 

Steven Brown serves as the Director of Insights and Evidence for the Aspen Institute Financial Security Program, leading efforts to promote data and research-informed strategies for household financial prosperity. His career has focused on understanding structural factors impacting wealth-building and inclusive economic opportunity, including previous roles at the Washington Center for Equitable Growth, U.S. Department of the Treasury, and the Urban Institute, where he helped establish the Office of Race and Equity Research. Brown’s research on racial wealth gaps and economic mobility has been cited in major media outlets including The Washington Post and NPR, and he holds degrees from Princeton University and Harvard University, where he was an inequality and social policy doctoral fellow.

This diverse group of leaders’ collective expertise will be instrumental in guiding the initiative’s strategy as we work to create lasting economic impact across HBCU communities. 

For more information on the HBCU Wealth Building Initiative, please contact Julian Thompson (julian.thompson@uncf.org) and Victoria Smith (victoria.smith@uncf.org).