REIMAGINING STUDENT LEADERSHIP AS A STRATEGY FOR TRANSFORMATION

During the 2024–2025 academic year, the UNCF Institute for Capacity Building (ICB) launched the inaugural cohort of the Student Transformation Fellowship, an ambitious new initiative designed to reposition students as institutional co-creators.

Funded by the Macquarie Group Foundation, this pilot program supported five student leaders across five HBCUs in designing and implementing solutions to real campus challenges—from food insecurity and mental health to sustainability, mentorship, and peer engagement.

The Fellowship was grounded in a bold yet simple premise: when students are coached, resourced, and meaningfully connected to institutional priorities, they become powerful agents of transformation. This program was not simply about student leadership. It was about student activation—embedding students in the practice of institutional change and redefining what it means to lead within the context of HBCUs.

Read our full report here: