This Organization Works Hard To Keep Entrepreneurial Dreams Alive Among Minority Students.

By Sara Wilson

At 21, Marcus Ellison’s list of accomplishments rivals those of people twice his age. He has worked as a financial planner, produced his own film and is well on his way to becoming a serial entrepreneur. He co-founded Saulter and Ellison, a Houston-based real estate development company, and is executive director of Student Relief Organization, a Boston-based group designed to promote equal access to sustainable learning for students. How has Ellison, a senior at New York University, already been able to achieve such success? It all came about when he was honored with a Jackie Robinson scholarship in 2003.

Established in 1973, The Jackie Robinson Foundation’s mission is to help minority youths attain higher education by providing financial aid and mentoring. Through the New York Citybased foundation’s work, founder Rachel Robinson hopes to perpetuate the memory of her late husband, baseball legend, human and civil rights activist, and successful entrepreneur Jackie Robinson. More than 1,100 students have received scholarships since the foundation was established. In Ellison’s case, it changed the course of his life.

When Ellison was a child, his family lost everything and lived in a shack without electricity, heat or water. The $6,000 per year he receives in financial aid from the foundation along with the resources and mentoring it offers have helped him find his direction in life. “The Jackie Robinson Foundation has grounded me,” he says. “It has given me a consistent group of people to inform me about where I’m going, the choices I make, how I’m accountable for my actions and the person I should be. Mentorship is the most important thing— especially for an entrepreneur.”

Ellison is not the only scholar pursuing entrepreneurial endeavors. Over the past several years, Della Britton Baeza, the foundation’s president and CEO, has witnessed an increasing interest in entrepreneurship.

The foundation has responded by offering entrepreneurship career panels and seminars on personal financial management and other practical skills. Says Baeza, “Our work in promoting ownership, empowerment and entrepreneurship is our way of honoring and continuing Jackie Robinson’s quest to ensure equal opportunity and first-class citizenship.”

Sara Wilson is a writer for Entrepreneur magazine.