In a long-awaited interview with the program This morning of US CBS, Apple executive director Tim Cook announced a series of projects under its Racial Equity and Justice Initiative, in which he invested $ 100 million last summer.
Of these, we now know that $ 25 million will be allocated to fund the Propel Center, a center for students at HBCUs, historically black colleges and universities in the United States.
Apple is working with energy firm Southern Company and other stakeholders to launch this project, which will offer a virtual learning platform (key under the current circumstances) and a physical campus at the Atlanta University Center.
Apple employees will be involved in the Propel Center offering mentoring and their training will focus on many areas for which Apple is known: application development, machine learning and artificial intelligence, augmented reality and design. Students will also be supported in aspects such as professional development, entrepreneurship, etc.
“We are very excited to be working with Apple on this amazing project,” said Anthony Oni, Founder and Chairman of the Board of Ed Farm, which designed the center. “The Propel Center will help cultivate leadership and foster innovation in the world of technology and beyond, a springboard for change reaching all of the United States.”
Apple also created two new scholarships for engineering programs at HBCUs and another for 100 students from under-represented communities. And a new Apple Developer Academy will open later this year in Detroit, a city with a large black community and more than 50,000 African-American-owned businesses.
You can read everything Apple announced in its press release.
Before the interview aired, it had already been made public that the promised “big announcement” had nothing to do with new products: co-host Gayle King said it was “something better and bigger “.
The initiative certainly keeps this promise, although it is arguably not a new announcement. Tim Cook had already promised last June on Twitter, at a key moment in the protests against discrimination and racial inequalities:
The unfinished business of racial justice and equality calls us all to account. Things need to change and Apple is committed to being a force for that change. Today, I’m proud to announce Apple’s Racial Equity and Justice Initiative, with a pledge of $ 100 million. pic.twitter.com/AoYafq2xlp
– Tim Cook (@tim_cook)
June 11, 2020
.
