PROVIDING ACCESS TO HIGHER EDUCATION SINCE DECEMBER 10, 1999
HERMANO SPOTLIGHTS
As Hermanos, our devotion towards uplifting our respective communities and providing access to higher education lasts far beyond our time in undergrad - it is a lifetime commitment. Check out some spotlights of Hermanos making an impact in their communities through their careers. Check back often for more updates!
HERMANO EMMANUEL SMADJA SECURES $100M FROM GOLDMAN SACHS FOR MPOWER TO CONTINUE TO INCREASEÂ ACCESS TO FINANCING FOR INTERNATIONAL AND DACA STUDENTS
Hermano Emmanuel Smadja (SPR' 01) is the CEO and Founder of MPOWER, a fast-growing FinTech company that lends to high-promising international and DACA students. They believe access to financing should be borderless.
MPOWER have offices in DC and Bangalore, and work with 350+ universities in the U.S. and Canada. They have been named a top FinTech to work for by American Banker for 2018, 2019, and 2020 and are top rated by Nerdwallet and U.S. News.
In August 2019, MPOWER Financing secured a $100 million loan facility from Goldman Sachs, which brings its total loan financing capital to $200 million.
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HERMANO ISAAC RODRIGUEZ HONORED AS ONE OF LEADERSHIP MEMPHIS' 10 CHANGE MAKERS FOR 2020
Hermano Isaac Rodriguez (SPR'06) was recently recognized by Leadership Memphis as one of 10 Change Makers for 2020, movers and shakers in Memphis' civic, business and nonprofit spheres who "changed the lives of others in a good way through their actions," the community leadership and volunteer organization said.
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Hermano Isaac Rodriguez is the Co-Founder and Chief Science Officer of SweetBio, Inc., a Memphis-based biotech start-up that leverages Manuka honey as an ingredient in biodegradable materials to facilitate wound healing. Since incorporating in 2015, SweetBio has received FDA Clearance, been issued a patent, graduated from the #1 Medical Accelerator program (ZeroTo510), honored as a 2016 recipient of The Innovation Awards by Inside Memphis Business where they were featured on the cover of the October-November issue, and have raised $4 Million from venture capital and prominent angel investors to grow the start-up.
After high school, Hermano Rodriguez was awarded a full-ride scholarship for all of his degrees at the universities of his choice (Gates Millennium Scholarship – Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation). Dr. Rodriguez earned a B.S. from the University of Virginia (2007), M.S. from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU, 2010), and Ph.D. from VCU (2013) all in Biomedical Engineering. After graduating with his doctorates, he moved to Memphis where he spent 2.5 years as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Memphis. While at the U of M, Hermano Rodriguez co-invented the honey biomaterial technology that has now become the basis for SweetBio’s product lines.
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HERMANO TYRONE JEAN SPEAKS ON HIS PERSONAL STORY FOR ELON UNIVERSITY'SÂ TEACHING & LEARNING TECHNOLOGIES
Hermano Tyrone Jean (SPR'04) is the Assistant Dean of Students and Director in the Center for Race, Ethnicity & Diversity Education at Elon University. In this role Tyrone leads Elon in creating a supportive environment for underrepresented racial and ethnic students, leads race and ethnicity education efforts, and coordinates student diversity education collaboratively with campus offices and faculty that have specialized expertise in specific social identities and/or in concepts of justice and equity. Tyrone manages the Convening Offices for Diversity Education, a campus wide group focusing on scaffolding diversity education experiences for students, administers the Intercultural Learning Certificate Program, co-chairs the Consortium on Universities Studying Slavery/ Black Oaks Restoration Project and serves as a consultant to student groups and departments who aim to incorporate race-equity strategies in their work.
As a student-centered administrator, Tyrone has a passion for mentoring students and encourages students to engage in reflective thinking as a means to meaning making. He views students as future problem solvers and hopes for students to develop a critical paradigm for the ways in which they interact with the world. He is invested in the holistic education of students and guides them to become self-advocates. He understands that race is a critical component of identity development and understands the role that dialogue plays in the evolution of conversation to action.
Tyrone’s education includes a Bachelor of Arts in African-American Studies from the University of Virginia, and a Master of Arts in Educational Leadership & Policy Studies from Virginia Tech. He has received training from the Social Justice Training Institute, Intercultural Development Inventory, and Racial Equity Institute.
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HERMANO KELVIN GRULLON APPEARS IN A ONE MAN PLAY ITERATION OF THE BRIEF AND WONDROUS LIFE OF OSCAR WAO
Hermano Kelvin Grullon (SPR'11) is a Dominican American actor from Washington Heights, New York City. A graduate from the University of Virginia (2013), he launched his theater career with the one-man play The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, a show in which he plays 10+ characters from Junot Diaz's Pulitzer Prize winning novel. His more recent works include the leading role of ‘Miguel’ in the feature length film Ivanna en Elias Piña, and his series regular role as ‘Chuchi’ on the YouTube web-series DominicanYork. He is a multi-talented artist with a passion for storytelling, often working as a filmmaker, producer, spoken word performer, and visual artist. He received his actor training at Humanity Studios, where under the guidance of acting coach Shae D'lyn (Dharma & Greg) he developed a strong acuity for playing impassioned leaders and tragic heroes – the confident fools with hearts of gold, that often find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time.
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​"...as a Dominican man of Brown skin living in America I know the importance of representation in all our stories; and that makes the pursuit both necessary and worthwhile"
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