Cecily Banks

Cecily Banks's Fundraiser

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Change Can't Wait

Thank you for helping drive our movement for education equity & economic empowerment!

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My friends, Cecily here.

I am extremely excited to write to you from a very personal place and passion for Leadership Brainery (501(c)(3)) - at a moment in its "Change Can't Wait" campaign.

As a law professor of 22 years at RWU Law and BU Law, I've seen first-hand, year after year after year, the lack of underrepresented groups in our classrooms, and, by extension, in our pipelines for employment. These groups include people of color, people of low socioeconomic means, people with disabilities, LGBTQ+ individuals, and more. It is more than obvious that so many potential talents among us - driven to make a difference in many capacities and through professions - do not have access to the same financial, informational, and mentorship resources required to navigate the unwritten path to post-graduate degrees and careers, making it difficult to close the wealth and leadership gaps in this country.

I've made it a priority in my educational work to champion full and equal access to legal education itself, but it's not enough to start this work at the matriculation moment in a law student's life, as the issue is already defined by the lack of representation that walks through the doors each fall. The support has to start much earlier in early college prep and major selection, in a broad range of undergraduate institutions - and it has to encompass a college student's full palette of study and career pathways implicating post-graduate degrees (medical, engineering, education, law), not just law school in my case. We need to help striving college students know how to prepare for all postgraduate degrees of interest before we can track them through any one siloed discipline like law. Leadership Brainery stands apart from all others in getting this with its multi-disciplined scope.

Please check out the stats on this lack of representation and Leadership Brainery's innovative Ambassador and mentorship solutions at leadershipbrainery.org.

This is why I am absolutely passionate about the work Leadership Brainery does in starting with college sophomores to create these "root opportunities" to compete successfully and nationally for admission to top postgraduate degree programs and the high-impact careers that follow. It triages first the college students' equitable access to degree and career planning resources at that sophomore moment that sets up - significantly - a student's commitments and future prospects ahead. Indeed, Leadership Brainery's greatest value at this juncture is in its networking and career development tools (for students, schools and employers): impressive, free, state-of-the-art digital app and in-person platforms familiar and comfortable to this generation and these institutions (informed by these students-for these students).

I had the great fortune of meeting the tireless and inspiring co-founders Jonathan Allen and Derrick Young as Black gay law students at BU Law, when they were each one of only one or two Black male students in their entire 1L classes. [Think about that.] What they have created since then through Leadership Brainery to tackle these inequities is nothing short of astonishing! They bring years of college campus activism and leadership along with their own top postgraduate degrees in public health and law. And what they are doing is working - top graduate schools, top college leaders and top employers are participating and on board with Leadership Brainery.

As a member of its Board of Directors, I know we are at an exciting capacity-scaling moment with an unmatchable foundation in place - and we need supporters and funding to help us meet the surging demand Leadership Brainery is creating very quickly through its powerful networking and recruitment.

The bottom line is: We must invest in "root opportunities" earlier in a student's educational life so we can lay clear, open, equitable paths of opportunity and start to close the vast racial and societal gaps in wealth and leadership in our workforces.

Leadership Brainery exists to solve this and will!

Please contact me if you'd like more information. This year alone, they have impressively...

  • acquired and created a robust online platform out of Dear Future Colleague (DFC), an organization with over 500 graduate school and competitive scholarship mentors and 400 mentees from underrepresented backgrounds eligible for enrollment within the next two years;
  • teamed up with 14 competitive graduate and professional schools offering collectively 300+ multidisciplinary master's and doctoral degrees—many offering scholarships, waivers, and deferment opportunities for LB community members;
  • hosted their 3rd Annual Impact Summit, which brought together community stakeholders for a day of empowerment, networking, and recruitment, including a host of corporate supporters and special celebrity guest, Yara Shahidi (watch her speech);
  • and supported a new cohort of 26 Ambassadors, who receive curated development, office hours, test preparation, and admission support.

I am grateful for your support of this mission through a donation of any amount. #ChangeCantWait. - Cecily