Meet Anthony Otey, Leah Hernandez, Charlie Holloman and Dora Brown-Branch

Today we’d like to introduce you to Anthony Otey, Leah Hernandez, Charlie Holloman and Dora Brown-Branch.

The Atlanta University Center (AUC) Consortium, Inc. has developed a collaborative relationship with a variety of community partners for their community-learning component of their comprehensive community financial literacy program. The Consortium and its member institutions – Spelman College, Clark Atlanta University, Morehouse College and Morehouse School of Medicine — are anchored in Atlanta’s west side and committed to ensuring the economic vitality of our community.

In its fourth year and as a key component of the AUC Consortium’s comprehensive community revitalization plan, CommUniversity seeks to provide innovative community-oriented learning opportunities that enrich lives, strengthen the workforce, enhance the community, and facilitate the fulfillment of our goals by providing financial literacy workshops and events. These CommUniversity Financial Empowerment Programs include: Common Cents Financial Empowerment workshops to establish a financial plan; A Place to Call Home-Homebuying 101 workshops for first time homebuyers seeking down payment assistance; Small Business Development ARC workshops for entrepreneurs starting or expanding a business; CAU Financial Literacy Conference; CAU Money Smart Week and Fair Housing Conference;

To date more than 3,424 metro Atlanta students and residents have learned how to become more financially stable while developing the skills to build long term wealth and a secure financial future.

Has it been a smooth road?
Like most pilot programs, Communiversity has faced the challenges of building community trust as a long-term service provider, identifying a strong customer base in need of services, and identifying gaps in services that our students and residents face regularly. Based on our participant satisfaction surveys which are usually in the 90th percentile of those who report a change in attitude or behavior, we feel assured that we are delivering unique, high-quality services to our community!
Now that we are in our 4th year of service delivery, our participants are recommending our workshops and events to other family, friends and co-workers which demonstrates a commitment to learning that is much needed for financial growth in an economically depressed area. This is evident when: parents and educators are learning together in the financial empowerment workshop about how to establish a written financial plan for family personal expenses and educational attainment; parents bring their children to workshops to learn about money management; college campus students and established business owners create synergy while learning about entrepreneurial aspects of starting and maintaining a business for growth; and when a renter becomes a first-time homeowner. Through our collaborations we continue to inform, educate and inspire our students and residents to become financially secure and build generational wealth.

Presently, we are seeking opportunities for growth and expansion to become a financial opportunity center that can equip our students and residents to become more resilient at building wealth, starting a business, buying a home and making investments.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with AUC Consortium – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
In addition the Communiversity Program, the AUC Consortium annually provides the following student services for those attending our campuses:Ø

DDEP Awards Banquet provides scholarships for engineering students seeking to attend graduate school with awards annually

DDEP Summer Internship and Permanent Placement with Fortune 500 Companies, government agencies , and small businesses

DDEP Tutoring Program assists registered DDEP students needing assistance with courses
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DDEP Career Fair and Clothing Closet provides personal coaching, professional attire and technical assistance to engineering students attending AUCC Career Fairs

Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
What I like best about Atlanta is the “can do spirit it” it demonstrates daily as we address a myriad of local, state and national issues that impact our growth and change. A grass roots up approach with the City of Atlanta and Westside Future Fund has now allowed local ownership in large and small project planning from parks and schools, to businesses and streets. This is empowering residents to have a stake in how they envision their community and more importantly what the process looks like in black and white.

What I like least is the current blight and slow growth of value-added service providers who can deliver the types of services our present and future residents need. We can do better especially in addressing workforce development and extreme poverty!

Pricing:

• Most of our AUC Consortium Communiversity programs are no-cost, with the exception of a small supply fee for the Small Business ARC
• Registration is required by calling 404-523-5148 or visiting www.aucenter.edu/communiversity

Contact Info:

• Address: For more information: call Anthony Otey, Program Manager Civic/Community Engagement
• Website: www.aucenter.edu
• Phone: 404-523-5148
• Email: aotey@aucenter.edu

Getting in touch: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.