Empowering the Nashville, TN, Workforce

HBCUs in Nashville play a vital role in powering the region’s workforce.

By Teree Caruthers on November 17, 2023

Jeff Adkins

With 16 higher education institutions in its backyard, the Nashville, TN, Region easily earns its nickname “The Athens of the South.” Among those institutions are four Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) – Fisk University, Tennessee State University (TSU), Meharry Medical College and American Baptist College – that have not only helped define the region’s past but are also playing a major role in shaping the region’s future.

Jeff Adkins

Building Black Business Leaders in Nashville, TN

American Baptist College, an HBCU founded in 1924, is working to prepare the next generation of entrepreneurs in the Nashville Region. The college’s bachelor’s degree program in entrepreneurial leadership combines business and theology through courses, such as Dynamics of Biblical Leadership and Enhancing Leadership Through Technology, to equip students with the skills to become successful Christian business leaders and small-business owners.

Like American Baptist College, Fisk University – the city’s oldest HBCU – is also investing in its students’ entrepreneurial futures. In 2022, the university announced a $10 million project to develop the new Darrell S. Freeman Sr. Incubation and Innovation Center in the old Burrus Hall. The center will feature some 13,000 square feet for programming and services for students, faculty and community members looking to turn their ideas into viable businesses.

“For a long time, we’ve had a significant demand from students who were already launching and starting their own business while in school. But there hasn’t formally been a space where they could interact with other entrepreneurs and get firsthand experience,” says Jens Frederiksen, executive vice president at Fisk. “The same goes for faculty. We felt like this building was a way to bridge that gap between students and faculty, the academy, and people who are working in this realm on a daily basis.”

While Fisk already offers students interested in starting their own business some courses in entrepreneurship, as well as entrepreneurial clubs and competitions, the new center will transform that experience with sessions specifically geared toward being capital ready.

“Incubators are distinct ecosystems populated by curious and inquisitive entrepreneurs, free agents, programmers, designers, dreamers, angel investors, tinkerers and venture capitalists, and this center marks the next stage in Nashville’s remarkable development,” he says.

Frederiksen adds that while the center will be located on the Fisk campus, it will serve the surrounding community, which has historically been underserved by capital development.

“We see where the level at which minority funding around private equity and capital and investment in startups is disproportionately small,” he says. “There’s also a larger economic development advantage to homegrown businesses that then go on to do exceptionally well. Fisk is uniquely positioned with the caliber of students, and our role in the community is to galvanize other small businesses and entrepreneurs to see this as a space to elevate that startup experience for minority businesses.”

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Training for Tech Careers in Nashville, TN

Speaking of coding, the Nashville Software School (NSS) is the nation’s first nonprofit coding bootcamp. Started in 2012, NSS was developed from conversations with leaders in the Nashville tech community who wanted to create opportunities for adults to transform their lives by training for high-income careers in technology.

An example of an adult who was able to do just that is Abigail Inglis. Before she began her career as a business analyst for AllianceBernstein, a global asset management firm headquartered in Nashville, she worked in development for a local nonprofit organization.

“My favorite part of that job was the more technical elements – database work, revenue reporting and contribution analysis. I loved the company and my team, but my growth opportunities there were limited and not in line with my passions, so I decided I needed to reevaluate and pivot somehow,” she says. And she did – by enrolling in NSS.

“The part-time, six-month course that I took taught me far more than I had anticipated. Beyond the obvious technical skills that I strengthened and those that I learned from the ground up in class, the NSS Career Development team helped immensely in my journey to my current role,” Inglis says. “They connected students with potential employers, helped us sharpen up our resumes, gave us tips for writing cover letters, organized mock interviews with industry professionals and so much more. My time with NSS truly made me feel prepared to enter a competitive job market in an industry that was new to me.”

Since its launch, NSS has graduated more than 2,000 students to help fill the talent gaps in the Nashville Region’s growing tech sectors. Inglis was even invited back as a teaching assistant.

“It can honestly be a life-changing experience for the people who go through the NSS programs. I am almost a year into my first post-NSS job, and I have gained an impressive set of skills and knowledge that I never would have thought possible just two years ago,” she says.