 Hello, my name is Elise Jones and on behalf of the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges Universities, I would like to thank you for joining this informational session. My title is Management and Program Analysts, Outreach and Engagement Coordinator and in this role I complete various program support functions of the initiative and I'm also responsible for the initiative's student outreach and engagement efforts, which means regularly I get to work with federal agencies, private sector employers, HBCUs and other partners to identify and explore their capacity and needs to serve our nation's young adults. For those who don't know much about the initiative, I'm going to provide you with just a brief background. The initiative originated in 1980 under President Jimmy Carter. Our office is operating off of an executive order mandate that comes directly from the President of the United States. In our office we focus on three primary things, policy, programs and projects. HBCU policy issues are executed by our executive director who is appointed by the President and works directly with the White House and other stakeholder groups. Our office programs consist of our interagency working group, student programs and outreach, and our national annual HBCE conference, all of which is maintained by a group of federal staff, like me, at the U.S. Department of Education. All projects are direct extensions of these three programs. Today I'm here to speak to you about some of the student outreach and engagement efforts, programs and let you know how you as a student can become more engaged with the initiative. The premier student program is our HBCU scholar recognition program, which is designed to strengthen and showcase the HBCU student and provide them with greater access to those opportunities that are housed in both the public and the private sector. The HBCU scholars program honors current HBCU students for their leadership, activism, entrepreneurship, academics and civic engagement. The HBCU scholars selected through this program are phenomenal young adults who truly exhibit and champion HBCU excellence. Since the inception of our program in 2014, the initiative has helped recognize and shape the lives of 438 students and we are excited to release the 2021 application for the HBCU scholars program on March 1st with the support of the current administration. Through the scholars program, the initiative provides various outreach and engagement opportunities for selected students throughout the specified academic school year to include regional events, pre-COVID, webinars, town halls and monthly webchats master classes that enhance their personal professional development. All of these events are hosted by the initiative staff, partners and professionals from a wide range of disciplines. To inform their experience and make the most impact as a scholar throughout the program, the students are carefully asked to assess their own personal and career aspirations as well as the needs of their institutions and their surrounding communities so that way we can better determine the ways that the initiative and our partners might be able to help our most valued constituents. They are also afforded an opportunity to engage and share their student insights with the U.S. Department of Education and the White House senior level officials. The most notable event of our scholars is the HBCU conference where they are attended as our special guests and introduced to our network of partners. During the conference, they participate in career fairs, conference session and external events but most importantly they will have an opportunity to engage with another, build a network and showcase their individual and collective talents. The cool thing about our conference is that it's free and it's available to all students, all faculty members and all members of the HBCU community. Our 2021 conference is scheduled for September 8th through 11th and is tentatively scheduled as an in-person event pending the pandemic. Another way we engage with students is our human capital cluster which is a subset of agencies and private partners dedicated to working together and combining their resources to enhance the programs initiatives around human capital, student engagement, technical assistance and HBCU recruitment. Through the cluster efforts is how we facilitate most of our student events. As a student we believe that staying connected and engaged with our office will be of added value to you. You can follow us on social media. The initiative is active on our website, Twitter and the U.S. Department of Education's Instagram page. And lastly you can subscribe to our newsletter. Each week via Gov delivery our office sends out a newsletter. Newsletter information contains HBCU information, national priorities, federal opportunities, grants, contracts, internships, fellowship opportunities, events for HBCUs, faculty development workshops and much more. It's super easy to subscribe and once you subscribe you have access to an abundance of information. I have provided a more detailed description of all the programs and opportunities that I mentioned in the PowerPoint presentation associated with this informational session. Links to our website newsletter subscription and my contact information are all included in the presentation. I thank you for your time and I wish you all an enjoyable conference. I look forward to hearing from you soon.