NSU Alum launches nonprofit to help minority students transition into college

NORFOLK
Norfolk State graduate and member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., is seeking to change the way minority students transition into college with his newly-minted nonprofit organization, The Michael Babb Foundation.

For more than three years, Michael Babb has made it his mission to help inner-city youth take personalized tours of several historically black colleges and universities, as a health teacher in Brooklyn, N.Y.,. His grassroots efforts started when he saw the need to help students fully understand their educational goals post-high school and sharing the significant experience of attending an HBCU.

On September 23, Babb will host his foundation’s inaugural Scholarship Breakfast at the Holiday Inn Virginia Beach-Norfolk Hotel and Conference Center.

“I understand the experience of being an 18-year-old, coming out of high school needing some guidance and/or being in the position of knowing what you want to study but needing financial help,” said Babb, founder and president. “I looked at the ideology of ‘if I were in this position again, what would I need to be successful.’ And, that is what made me want to start this organization.”

The mission of The Michael Babb Foundation is to give college scholarships and experience tours along with offering mentorship programs to minority students from his home state of New York and his adopted home of Virginia. Each year, The Foundation will award scholarships to both male and female students who are interested or enrolled within the STEM and Education fields.

The Foundation seeks to resolve the problem reported by the U.S. Department of Education as “students who drop out quickly are predominantly persons from low-income families, living in underdeveloped areas within major cities. And, those who make it to college, graduate at a rate that is significantly lower than their more advantage counterparts.”

Tickets are now on sale at http://bit.ly/2vGXo17 and sponsorship opportunities are also available. For more information, please contact Keisha Reynolds at 757-785-4903.