Ed Smith-Lewis, senior vice president for strategic partnerships at the United Negro College Fund facilitates a session at the H.E.L.F convening.
The four-day event, hosted at Claflin's new 80,000-square-foot conference facility, brought together what organizers described as the "best, largest practitioners in the HBCU space" with an ambitious goal of developing a comprehensive blueprint for sustainability and self-agency among HBCUs. The convening represents the culmination of a decade-long commitment to strengthening leadership within the HBCU ecosystem.
Dr. Elfred Anthony Pinkard, one of the co-founders of H.E.L.F, set the stage for the gathering on Wednesday afternoon.
“What might happen if a select group of really smart and committed individuals came together to ideate about the challenges and opportunities facing HBCUs and to develop actionable and very pragmatic solutions and innovations?” he asked, explaining the foundational question that sparked the gathering.
Pinkard, the former president of Wilberforce University who currently serves as an HBCU presidential fellow at Brown University, said that the convening was informed by "two very, very powerful assumptions. One is the power of community, and the other is the power of agency and self-determination." He noted these themes have been consistent throughout African American history, particularly at HBCUs, which he described as "a wonderful visual, tangible evidence of the notion of self-determination and what a people can do when they are focused and rigorous and disciplined."
