Removing Barriers To Success Through Networking
By: Harry Alford
Tags: Education, Entrepreneurship, Speakers, Networking, Minority Entrepreneurs

Removing Barriers To Success Through Networking

SMLP Speaker Series

Sharing your network is one of the easiest ways to open doors for the next generation of entrepreneurs.

This year I became the Director of The Southern Management Leadership Program (SMLP). SMLP identifies promising leaders among minority, first-generation, and low-income students attending community colleges and provides them with scholarships and mentoring at The University of Maryland (UMD). SMLP plays a big role in UMD’s success and recognition, ranking in the Top 10 for Innovation and Entrepreneurship Education for the sixth straight year.

This fall, we held a speaker series midweek for one hour via Zoom. The engagement was incredible! I invited successful entrepreneurs from my network that — I believed — the students would relate to most. You can’t be what you can't see. We recorded and uploaded the top tips from each speaker that encompasses all of the valuable lessons they shared with the student entrepreneurs. The students were given time to ask the speakers questions and get advice related to their respective situations. View some of the speaker highlights with their bios below:

André Blackman

André Blackman is a UMD alum and the founder and CEO of Onboard Health. He is also Fortune’s 40 Under 40 in Health Care for 2020. In this video, Blackman gives SMLP entrepreneurs advice on taking action, building community, learning how people think, self-care, and moving past the fear of failure.

Drew Evans

Drew Evans is a UMD alum and the Senior Director at Computer Futures, a leading global STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) recruitment company. For more than 30 years, Computer Futures has been connecting businesses with highly skilled IT talent. Drew oversees the technology contract recruitment division of Computer Futures, covering the East Coast and Mid-West with offices in New York City, Washington D.C., and Chicago. Before Computer Futures, Drew worked in investment banking at Morgan Stanley. He is a proud alumnus of UMD’s Robert H. Smith School of Business.

Eloy Yndigoyen

Eloy Yndigoyen is the COO and CFO for Spread The Love, a family-owned and operated all-natural food company fueling healthy lifestyles. In his role, Eloy is responsible for overseeing sales operations for the growing company and has helped build a category-leading presence on Amazon for the business. Eloy earned his Master’s of Business Administration from the University of Southern California and a Bachelor of Science in International Business from the University of Maryland at College Park.

Anthony Jones

Anthony Jones manages the Southeast Region Strategic Accounts for Mapbox, a location data platform for mobile and web applications startup with a $1 billion valuation. Anthony is an experienced sales professional with expertise in building organic value-driven relationships. Anthony is also the Business and Professional Development Lead for Mapbox Shades, a Diversity & Inclusion enterprise resource group. The University of Maryland alum’s interests include helping others that are less able or unfortunate uncover their hidden potential.

As the semester comes to a close with final exams and papers due, I’ve been particularly impressed with the students’ ability to adapt while learning remotely. Their resilience exemplifies everything Southern Management represents, and I couldn’t be more honored to play a small role in its success.