Ms. Kristian Francis' team won first place prize at HBCU-Start@Miami Herbert Business School

Ms Francis in her own words: “Truly powerful women don’t explain why they want respect. They simply don’t engage with those who don’t give it to them. Throughout the duration of the HBCU-Start program, we often had 12-16 hour workdays. Therefore, I received little to no sleep, but none of that matters because I enjoyed every second of this enriching and transformative experience. I didn’t need an alarm clock because my passion woke me up.”

Ms. Kristian Francis, a Business Administration major at UMES, was accepted to attend the HBCU-Start@Miami Herbert Business School from 01/03/23 to 01/08/23.  The six-day program was set up like a boot camp where aspiring student entrepreneurs from HBCUs around the country attended to network, gain exposure, learn, listen to inspiring entrepreneurial speakers, attend field visits to small- and medium-sized business incubators, and become immersed in an experiential learning environment.  Attendees were busy for 16 hours of the day learning, working and developing ideas. 

The week culminated with the Team Pitch Project which asked students to develop and pitch their own business ideas collaboratively as a team at the end of the week. Students received expert guidance from local and regional entrepreneurs, Miami Herbert faculty, and their sponsoring corporate executives, before presenting their business proposals to a live panel who selected one winner and two runners-up to receive cash prizes. I am very proud to announce that our DBMA student, Ms. Kristian Francis' team won first place prize!