 HBCU digest welcome back spectacular show today with a spectacular guest with a major, major announcement with a corporate partnership with Walmart North Carolina A&T State University Chancellor Harold Martin joins us to talk about this partnership now Dr Martin first it's always an honor to have you on again forgive me for having on the wrong shirt today. This is this is this is propitious in the sense that we've seen a lot of corporate support for anti for other HBCUs in recent months. This is something that's a little a little more unique in that the Walmart corporation is targeting for specific areas to support anti in leadership and stem development and scholarship access. And in blackmail achievement, can you talk about some of the specifics of this gift and why it matters so much that these four areas are the point of emphasis for you guys. Thanks very much Jerry is always a pleasure to be on the show. And I'm excited about the shit you're wearing I just want to say that for the record. You know this is an exciting time to historical black colleges and universities, as you continue to share on your show. This is a conversation we continue to have now with corporate partners, as we build very strong relationships with a growing number of corporate entities who are very interested in the graduates of our university and a historical black colleges and universities in general. And certainly in this context, Walmart, a global leader in retail space, quite honestly, is an exciting partner that we will be announcing today in a relationship with them. And it speaks to the investments that Walmart will make in key areas of importance to our university that enables us to continue to recruit, retain and prepare in an incredible way, more graduates for the marketplace in particular graduates who are important to Walmart's future and their diversification efforts as well and so we're excited about what this initiative will mean to our university. And quite frankly we're excited about the partnership with Walmart. This is part of a $100 million commitment that Walmart is making to building equity, particularly in light of so much that has happened in the country over the last nine months or so in areas of public health and criminal justice, and even even political reform in some ways. Was that part of the conversation that you guys have with the Walmart Corporation to say here's here's where a and T fits into all of those narratives that you would like to address, or is that something that Walmart said, Hey, you know, here's what we'd like to do can you can you make it fit. It is part of conversation we have engaged with Walmart that buttresses their corporate interests and their commitment to diversity and inclusion. And as you may be aware that the executive leadership council recognized Walmart this year as their corporate corporation of the year, because they're incredible work in this space of diversity and inclusion, quite honestly and so we saw it as a great opportunity for us to reach out and connect with Walmart in this conversation, based on the priorities we set for our university, and that was a great marriage, quite honestly and so it, I would use the phrase it's a win win for both organizations. You guys have had a good run of corporate outreach and partnership in recent weeks I think this is the second week in a row that you will have announced a new partnership with a with a another entity outside of the campus in vastly different areas. Let's talk about the way that you and your team discuss some of those targeting some of those partners, or taking the call from partners who come into Greensboro come on to the to the campus and say, Hey, we want to do business with you guys it's time for us to get together. How do you all figure out the best, the best possible solutions for fortifying those relationships and benefit to students industry in the community. It's been very clear in a strategy evolving with our board of trustees, and with our alumni with our campus community advancement function, framing out ways in which we take advantage of the opportunities for our university given our size, given our growing relationship nationally for producing exceptional graduates, but the continuing successes of our own alums, who are moving into senior level roles and into the C suite across corporate America today, how we take advantage of our alums and framing a conversation building relationships with them, and sharing our message about our strategy for the future, and how they then are enabling us by opening those doors and conversation with to see most executives of significant corporate entities around the nation as a whole. And many of the announcements we're making today, and I sure you will be making over the next three weeks to a month before we break for the holidays, and not additional announcements as well similarly, our alums are stepping up in big time. They understand what we're seeking to accomplish. They believe in what we accomplished, seen as a university with the relevancy of our institution today, and they are with their confidence, seeking on that our behalf to open these doors of conversation with these corporate entities, and bringing those corporate entities to the table in conversation with us. Now, once those doors of conversation are opened, we have to step in and have very open very candid very frank discussions for our university in a similar way that our predominantly white institutional colleagues have been having for decades. We are a major supplier of really highly prepared graduates from our university, especially from our deep college of business, our College of Engineering College of Agriculture, and a college of science and technology. We have front facing colleges that link us strategically with global industries around the world. And so we have to say to those industries, you have to look internally, recognize you have recruited large numbers of our graduates historically, and they are doing exceedingly well in your organizations. We're looking for you to partner with our university. Those partnerships include long standing long term relationships that include investments, corporate engagement, service on advisory boards, focus on employees and residents who help frame and lead conversations on our innovation and technology. For example, I'm sure that we are aligning verse strategically the competitiveness of academic programs to what industry say they need from graduates from my university. We want the same level of engagement. We want to collaborate with our predominantly white institution colleagues, literally for decades, with that same level of engagement and quite frankly strategic investment in our university, and that's beginning to resonate with these corporate executives, as we have a very open and frank conversation with them. It's been seen from the outside to a novice that this is quote unquote easy, you know, for one of the flagship historically black institutions in the south, particularly in North Carolina, the largest four year HBCU in the country so it would seem like these would be easy conversations to have but you've all also done this at Winston, and you've seen it, you know, play out and other things with your time in the system. If you were to talk to a president of a smaller institution, particularly the private. How would you, how would you advise them on how to best target and cultivate these kind of relationships and as you spoke to aligning the academic mission with the spirit of what this company wants to do with the spirit of what your community needs. We are continually doing that we hired board chair and I spoke with a colleague and their board of trustees just last week as Mac about this exact same conversation. What I would suggest first and foremost is that there is an opening on this conversation with that president's board of trustees and building a relationship and understanding about the importance of these discussions for the institution and its future. Honestly, the board of trustees also has to own these discussions as well. They have to be a part of the conversation, and they have to oversee with the president, the advancement function of the university. That president needs to build out a clear understanding and strengths within advancement function. Understanding the technologies needed, the skill sets needed in the advancement officer and development officers and the alignment with your academic leaders who are part of the process in helping you then collect with donors alumni corporate connections and friends of the university as well. Another incredibly important ingredient is, if not more important than any of the other elements of donor possibilities are building relationships with your alumni. I want to stop saying how much they love their HBCU, and that has to translate from rhetoric to action, and you have to continue to build that level of conversation with your alumni and can only speak to that message, we need your investments. We need to be small initially, but we need to get you involved, involved in the process and the commitment around the culture of giving to your alma mater. Quite honestly, because it is through that level of love and demonstration of affection and support to check writing financial support that it begins to start making a difference. Easier than for the president or chancellor of a university and investment leaders to go into a conversation with other non alumni donors and make the case to foundation leaders, corporate leaders, for example, to make the case. If an alumni and your board are giving and giving in significant numbers, you can then make the case in a very resounding way for others to be excited about giving to your institution. And I should say, you've got to do this with a high level of enthusiasm and excitement. I'm not a woe with me person never have been, and I will never represent myself or organization in that manner. I love winning. And this is about winning. You know what I mean, it's about demonstrating that we're going to be great stewards of the investments, whenever the donor is who makes a commitment to your institution. That's true. And then the final question will get you out of here on. Are you are you concerned or optimistic about what the requirements are going to be to try to leverage and build these partnerships in the future because you know North Carolina is talking about budgeting for next year. We're not sure what the federal government will do in terms of support for higher education. We are optimistic but we don't know. So you know that the logical conclusion is that we're going to have to depend a lot more on private private funding. You mentioned that there are several announcements to come. Is this going to be part of a major major push for you and your team to say we got to get more more partnerships going because we have to stand in potential gaps for funding from state and federal resources. Absolutely. I'm very optimistic about the future. Certainly we recognize and we build that into our conversation with our board in our leadership team around the risks. We anticipate there will be budget cuts, potentially for next year for our university, because of the pandemic and its impact on North Carolina's economy. And so that will reflect itself in a very likely probability that we will cut our budget next year along with all the other UNC campuses, quite honestly. But we will continue to have to make our case, even in time of budget cuts with the legislature about mitigating minimizing those cuts on the system as a whole, and on our university in particular. But we're also very clear that we're having to be much more aggressive in our conversations with a congressional agenda as well, meeting with our congressional delegation in Washington and meeting with others across the aisle as well. We can't just speak to like-minded politicians. We have to speak to all politicians and make our case about what our priorities are. And what we are delivering not only to North Carolina, but to the nation as a whole, both in our research and graduates of our university and enhancing diversity and inclusion, but also economic impact on our state as well. We are leveraging significant economic impact based upon our expenditures, our collaborations, and our partnerships. We are delivering in significant value to our North Carolina state and to our nation as a whole. And we have to keep telling that story. Tide and his team have growing pressure on them to help us deliver the messaging about our university. And his team is delivering in significant ways. That's critically important in my mind. And so we have to keep telling our story. Now, the private fundraising strategy we engage in at this moment will be commenting an ongoing continuing part of our DNA. This is not going to go away. We will have to continue to make the case week over week, month over month, year over year about our fundraising strategy and the involvement of our campus community as part of this process. And that's why we're working so diligently to continually educate all of our constituency of our needs, building strong relationships with our alumni, telling our story to build more friends, and connecting more strategically with foundations and corporations as well. This is who we are today, and it will become increasingly more on the business framework that we're building for our university and its future. Quite honestly, that's what we see as part of the Aggies do strategy for our university. Chancellor Martin always a pleasure and honor brother I'm a log off and get my Aggie shirt right now. So the next time you see me. Thanks as always, Jared, we'll make sure we get you that shirt as well.