UNCF and BBVA Compass: Banking on the Future of the Deep South

With seven UNCF HBCUs—Miles College, Oakwood University, Rust College, Stillman College, Talladega College, Tougaloo College and Tuskegee University—and their more than 10,000 students, UNCF Birmingham has a heavy responsibility for making sure that students in its Alabama-Mississippi service area get the education that they need to compete in the 21st century’s job market demands and that employers need to compete in the fast growing deep south economy.

It’s a responsibility that UNCF fulfills, awarding more than $900,000 in scholarships annually to Alabama and Mississippi students, scholarships whose recipients have a graduation rate of 70 percent, almost twice as high as the graduation rate for all African Americans, and provide financial support to UNCF’s member HBCUs and Alabama, Mississippi and beyond.

That UNCF Birmingham can carry out its duties is thanks to individuals, foundations and corporations like BBVA Compass, which operates more than 600 banks in Alabama and across the Sunbelt. In the spirit of “A mind is a terrible thing to waste, but a wonderful thing to invest in,”^® BBVA Compass has invested over $40,000 in UNCF students and HBCUs over the past four years. BBVA Compass Executive Director of Employment Services Carl E. Crosby, a Birmingham native, has leveraged additional resources by serving as chair of UNCF Birmingham’s Masked Ball.

Under the leadership of Rosilyn Houston, BBVA Compass’s Chief Talent and Culture Executive and Senior Executive Vice President, BBVA Compass’s leadership and support for UNCF springs from its commitment to facilitating merit-based access to higher education for underrepresented groups, says Community Relations Executive Melodi Morrissette, herself an HBCU graduate.

UNCF and BBVA Compass: celebrating tomorrow’s students and those who invest in opportunities for their future.