Meet Bevon Joseph, DePaul Graduate and Co-Founder of the non-profit program, the Greenwood Project. Like many students, Joseph took an interesting route before landing at DePaul and graduating in 2019, at the age of 41 years old. Before attending DePaul, Joseph’s first experience with finance was on the trading floor in New York City at the JPMorgan Chase headquarters. At the time he did not have any prior knowledge of the finance world, and was working in technology support. The high paced energy of the trading floor in New York helped spark his passion in finance. From there, Joseph went on to work at Morgan Stanley, UBS, The New York Stock Exchange, NYMEX, and a variety of other firms. Through his 20 years of experience working in financial firms, he gradually moved up the ladder where he found himself working as a Chief Technology Officer at a hedge fund, just before he co-founded the Greenwood Project. Joseph shared that the financial industry happened to him, he did not seek it out, and his career has taken off ever since.
Founded by Joseph and his wife Elois in 2016, the Greenwood Project introduces Black and Latinx students from underserved communities to careers within the finance industry. Its name stems from the Greenwood District of Tulsa, Oklahoma which was known as Black Wall Street. Greenwood’s focus is around teaching students how to build generational wealth while maintaining the spirit and legacy of the original Black Wall Street. The program offers high school and college level students early exposure and education into finance and fintech careers through internships and immersive field trips with top financial companies. Students are able to experience the program free of cost as a result of financial support from corporate partners, and participants even have the opportunity to visit New York and gain experience networking and interacting with industry professionals from an array of financial institutions.
One reason that Joseph started the Greenwood Project was because of his personal experience with the lack of diversity he saw in the finance industry. He was often the only person of color on trading floors and it became very apparent to him that there needed to be a much greater focus and effort from organizations in order to have a more diverse and inclusive workforce. Joseph believes the field could become more inclusive if companies instituted more intentional hiring practices so that underrepresented populations aren’t excluded from the recruitment process. Joseph has also noticed that Black and Latinx students do not always have the same awareness and access to information on financial companies and because of this they do not apply to internships or opportunities that others might be applying to. Joseph hopes companies start the recruitment process earlier, to allow students from all backgrounds the ability to get their foot in the door.
Seeing how the Greenwood Project has grown over the last five years and the impact it has made on its students is one of Joseph’s greatest accomplishments. From his perspective, the Greenwood Project is not just a program, but a family that supports one another and is invested in the long term growth of each individual. The Greenwood Project allows Black and Latinx students access to opportunities they otherwise may not have had by assisting students with professional headshots, LinkedIn profiles, purchasing professional work attire, email etiquette and resume building among other hard and soft skills. Greenwood has gone from an organization with just 5 students to over 400 and it continues to grow and gain national recognition. As the Greenwood Project continues to produce future leaders for industry, Joseph hopes that other companies follow in his footsteps and purposely work towards opening doors for Black and Latinx students in the finance world.
With Joseph’s dedication to ensuring diversity, there is no doubt he will continue to spark conversations and make the finance industry a more inclusive place. We look forward to seeing the continued growth of the Greenwood Project and the bright future leaders who will come out of this extraordinary experience!