Watch CBS News

Boston non-profit Leadership Brainery helps make grad school affordable for underrepresented scholars

Leadership Brainery provides pathways to grad school for underrepresented scholars
Leadership Brainery provides pathways to grad school for underrepresented scholars 02:48

BOSTON - They are future leaders in their fields. Bright young, diverse talent coming together for a graduate school summit for underrepresented scholars. The event was put on by Leadership Brainery, or LB, a Boston-based non-profit focused on increasing access to master's and doctoral degrees for underrepresented communities. 

"We truly believe that with inclusive networks in advanced education in underrepresented communities can leverage higher wage and higher impact careers so they can establish financial wealth for themselves and then re-invest in their communities," Leadership Brainery Co-Founder Derrick Young said. 

Hundreds of students of color packed the new State Street building getting direct access to dozens of graduate schools in the area. They're providing financial aid and admissions workshops with the goal of getting more underrepresented talent into competitive masters and doctoral programs. "We want them to be employed here. We want them to see themselves be able to be at corporations like us," State Street Global Head DEI Programs Sharhea Wade said. 

Nineteen-year-old Victory Yinka-Banjo is from Nigeria. She's a junior at MIT studying Computer Science and molecular biology. "I am an aspiring PhD student. I really want to go into artificial intelligence for life sciences," she said. "And having this community from Leadership Brainery has been amazing." 

She's getting direct feedback and instructions to help her navigate the complexities of admissions and the financial aid process in order to develop the tools to stand out. "I love the work that Leadership Brainery is doing, is making sure that these very talented leaders are being exposed to these amazing institutions," said Frank Arce, Harvard Graduate School of Education Assistant Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid. 

Not only are these students gaining access to schools and recruiters, Leadership Brainery goes above and beyond by providing these students with free headshots and resume writing skills. 

"The biggest barrier at the end of the day for higher education is the money, so one of the things that we do at Leadership Brainery for many of our students is we cover application fees, seat deposits," Young said. 

These students are already leaders at their schools. To be invited you have to be involved in a campus or community organization. And each ambassador for LB like Victory gets a $10,000 scholarship for grad school. "My dream is to use education as a tool to empower the people around me but also to make meaningful change within the biotechnology and healthcare spaces not just within the U.S. but also in Nigeria," Victory said. Providing clear pathways for college students passionate about their purpose. 

View CBS News In
CBS News App
Chrome Safari
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.