♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ >> The Honorable Milton Jones, chair of 100 Black Men of America and chair of United Negro College Fund, next on "The Chavis Chronicles."

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♪♪ ♪♪ >> We're so pleased to welcome to "The Chavis Chronicles" the Honorable Milton Jones.

Extraordinary business leader and the chair of the United Negro College Fund at the same time.

Man, that's a big responsibility.

>> Well, thank you.

And it's a pleasure to be here.

What I find is that there's a lot of interconnection between the missions and visions of both organizations.

And I find that, when you're doing work you love doing, you don't have time to be tired.

>> So with your distinguished career in banking and other business development in the Atlanta area and your leadership of 100 Black Men, how do you become chair of UNCF, the United Negro College Fund, the nation's premier fund to support and keep alive Black colleges and universities?

>> I went on the UNCF board when I was an executive at Bank of America back in 2005, and I've served on that board ever since.

I've learned a lot about the strategy of UNCF, had a chance to participate in the development, you know, of the strategic plan, though that was certainly led by others.

But I was a, you know, a board member who got a chance to get involved along with college and university presidents who were involved and key leaders from UNCF and other board members.

But one of the things that, if you go back to the history of UNCF, it was founded in 1944 by Mary McCloud Bethune and others.

And we were -- You know, the charge was bring the schools together and see, you know -- and raise money in a different way.

So the first board chair was Rockefeller, John D. Rockefeller Jr. And, so, after that, all the board chairs were large corporation CEOs.

The thought was... >> Well, they had access to capital.

>> ...need that to raise the money.

And, so, I feel very honored, not just to be the first African-American board chair, but also to have confidence placed in me by the board and by the organization to work alongside a great CEO in Dr. Michael Lomax to go raise money.

>> I'm sure your banking credentials, your banking background, helped propel you to that prestigious position.

>> I believe that's right.

And I'll say that, you know, I'm very accustomed to going into a room of board members and come out with results.

I'm very -- I've been involved in board governance in many ways for quite some time.

And, so, it's a chance to bring all those skills together and to really, you know -- Where we are right now, we're in the midst of an early stages of a $1 billion capital campaign.

And we're over 40% down the road.

And when we asked, I asked each of the board members to think about their why -- why are we doing this?

Why do we care?

Because I think, when you get to the rare air, when campaigns get hard, you need to know why you started.

>> Yes.

>> And, so, one of the best answers came from a board member, Dr. Glover, who said, "I want to quote Nehemiah, 'I'm doing important work and I can't come down.'"

And that, I think, is a great guide for all of us, that this work is important.

We change lives.

HBCUs are only 3% of colleges and universities in America, yet we produce 80% of the judges.

>> Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

Only 3%?

>> Right.

But we produce more than 25% of college graduates that are African-American.

We produce over 80% of Black judges.

I could just go on and on.

>> Yes.

>> Doctors, lawyers, engineers, become from our Historically Black Colleges and Universities, though we are a small percentage of total.

And in fact, the endowments for Historically Black Colleges and Universities are only 12.5% the size of their White counterparts.

Yet, with what little we have and the determination that we have and the commitment that we have, we're able to punch well above our weight.

And that is something that I think is critical.

As we look at how we change the world, we change the world a step at a time.

As the African proverb says, even the mighty lion can be brought down when all the spiders weave together.

And, so, that is something I take a lot of joy in.

And as we as we continue to make progress, we can see it in society.

We can look at graduates from HBCUs and the difference they're out there making more and more every day.

And importantly, you know, in the days of the Supreme Court decision, you know, or trying to close the door to education, you know, we're seeing that, you know, having close to 100 HBCUs in America is making a big difference.

Now, the real key is for us to continue the work that we've already started.

That's part of our capital campaign, to look at how we increase the effect and capability of our institutions.

>> Let me ask you about student debt, particularly in the African-American community.

>> Yes.

>> How does the United Negro College Fund see the issue of student debt relief?

>> Well, one of the ways that we can relieve student debt is to make sure that we have funds available to help reduce the amount that has to be borrowed.

You know, our main goal is to continue to raise money.

We say a mind is a terrible thing to waste and a wonderful thing to invest in.

So we reach out through our annual fundraising and our capital campaign to help have more scholarship dollars available and reduce the amount that students have to borrow.

And to, you know, to continue to work and push to increase the size of Pell Grants.

Because that's critically important.

And that will help reduce the amount of funds that students have to borrow.

>> Well, a grant is a grant.

That means that's not a loan.

>> That's right.

Exactly.

And, so, we have Pell Grants today.

But we think and, you know, President Biden has mentioned that, you know, they should be doubled.

And we agree, if not tripled.

But until then, you know, we continue to push so that it's top of mind for our lawmakers to see this importance.

And then, you know, through all of that, helping to find ways, including summer internships and other means, to help further reduce the amount that students have to borrow.

And therefore, beginning to approach parity, but knowing there's still such a difference.

We talked about household wealth.

Household wealth among African-American households is about 1/12 of what it is for Caucasian-American households.

>> Even today.

>> Even today.

And, so, there's just not the money at home, you know, among many of our households, and that leads them to borrowing.

So, what we're trying to do is find ways to reduce what has to be borrowed and overcome that and also supplement it with employment opportunities during school and in the summers.

>> What do you say today about the importance of getting a good K through 12 education, but certainly getting a college education?

>> I think it's critically important.

I mean, frankly, what you find is that a solid K through 12 education prepares you, yes, it does.

But then, when you think about higher-level thinking, you think about upper-level business thinking, you think about upper-level psychology thinking or whatever it is that someone wants to major in.

Teaching school.

You got to be prepared to go teach these bright young minds that are pushing even harder every year and growing even stronger every year.

That you do need an education to do that.

And, so, now, you know, there are some people who are entrepreneurial and, yes, they can go and start a business.

What I would say is, if you can and it's successful, then supplement it with education as you continue to grow successfully as a businessperson, because you'll reach a level where somebody is going to be smarter than you because they learned more than you in school.

Somebody is going to be smarter than you because they've had different experiences.

But don't let it be because, you know, you wasted the opportunity to go learn more as you continue to build this great business, because then maybe, instead of you being bought, you're buying them.

And that, I think, is just one example of why it is important to have both, entrepreneurs as well as college graduates.

And honestly, more and more because of how rapidly knowledge is changing.

You know, you really need those four years of college, if not more, to be competitive down the road 10, 20, 30 years.

The data shows that students who have a college degree earn significantly more in their lifetime than those with a high school degree.

>> Yeah.

That's why, you know, social media is good, but there is a lot of sometimes misinformation out there on social media.

>> Right.

>> And we need to dispel some of these myths.

So you're saying you have data to show... >> That's right.

>> That getting a college education significantly increases one's lifetime generating of resources, financial resources in particular?

>> Well, that's exactly right.

And, you know, for every influencer on the web who has 10 or 20 or 30 million followers, there's a million influencers who have five.

And, so, the point is that, yes, you can, you know, profit maybe without an education, but you're one in a million, you're not a million in one.

And as such, then, when you look at the data, statistically, statistically, you're going to do much better in life being better educated.

>> And you've achieved so much success getting Black men together.

You know, there's this stereotype and even negativity when it comes to Black men in America.

Tell us the history of 100 Black Men.

>> Well, the history actually goes back as far as 1963 when -- >> Oh, that's the same time as the March on Washington.

>> Exactly.

A group of brothers said, "We need to do something different.

We need to create a better pathway for our young people."

>> Yes.

>> "And we're determined to make that happen."

And, so, one of the members said, "Well, what do we call ourselves?"

Said, "Well, we can call ourselves 100 Black Men."

It's kind of a plain name because there's 100 of us and we're Black men.

>> Right.

>> And then, years later, you know, a couple of more chapters were formed in the 1980s, and then the national organization was formed.

And that was led by a group of brothers.

Jesse Swanigan was one of them who's still active with us today.

>> Great.

>> And then, of course, some of our early leaders, one of our most well-known early leader is our dear brother, may he rest in peace, Tommy Dortch.

But through the years, we've now grown to 100 chapters.

98 in the US, one in London, one in Turks and Caicos.

>> Really?

>> Exactly.

>> So you're international?

>> We are international now and looking to strengthen, you know, our position here in our US market, but also, you know, as we become stronger, there is a need for mentoring.

There's a need for health and wellness, for economic empowerment and education focus around the world.

We want to make sure that we keep that focus on those four pillars, with leadership woven through it, everywhere we go.

And it's real men giving real time.

And, so, as we look at how we can make a difference, sharing our experiences, there's just so many rich stories, but one that I'd like to share that's local here to Atlanta.

>> You're a native.

You're from Atlanta, >> It's my hometown.

I was born right here in Atlanta and grew up here.

But the first group of members of the 100 Black Men of Atlanta said that they wanted to make a difference that could really be documented.

So they went to the Atlanta Public School System and they said, you know, "What is the biggest challenge you have?"

And they said, "The eighth grade class of Archer High School."

And, so, they went and they created a one-on-one mentoring program with those students.

All but one or two graduated from high school.

When they were in the eighth grade -- And went to college.

When they were in the eighth grade, the thought was none of them would even finish high school.

And, so, you know, through a Saturday academy, Project Success, raising money to pay for them to go to college, that tradition began.

>> So mentoring works, mentoring makes a difference?

>> Mentoring absolutely works.

And we call it mentoring across the lifetime.

Because, you know, we do -- You know, we work on mentoring from really grades 4 through 12, but also, we have 63 Collegiate 100 chapters.

And those chapters focus on college students and helping them.

You know, when you think about it, a lot of people think, well, once you get to college, you got it made.

Well, it's very difficult for first-generation college students.

We find that to be a challenge, a number of our organizations do, and so our Collegiate 100 chapters focus on bringing members of the 100 and collegiate students together to help them get through some of the tough times that they go through in college.

I can remember, I'm a first-generation college graduate in my family, and I got great advice from my father, who I loved, you know, greatly and respected greatly, you know, until he passed away, and he said, "I can't give you technical advice, but I can tell you, for you, failure is not an option."

And that rode with me.

>> Great.

>> But I will say we give a bit more mentoring than that.

And we're happy to do so.

And just thrilled when we see the results that occur.

But importantly, those students help us mentor the younger students.

And then, after they graduate, we have the Emerging 100 in some cities where, you know, the college graduates are too young to meet the age requirements in some of our chapters, so we've created the Emerging 100 so that chapters can mentor the Emerging 100.

So it is truly across a lifetime.

And I will tell you, Dr. Chavis, that, you know, there are times when I get calls from members saying, "Hey, I've run into this jam.

I know you were in banking 36 years, you know, what advice can you give me?"

And I gladly do it.

So it is a way of making sure that we all, you know, continue to climb and lift as we do.

>> And the response from younger African-American men, young American males, has been positive.

>> Absolutely, absolutely.

And we find that, when young people go through our program and they build relationships, it's not a drive-by, "Hey, how you doing?"

kind of thing.

I mean, we are busting the myth.

We are real men giving real time.

And young people see through something that's not real.

They absolutely do.

But they embrace what is real.

And that's what helps us have the impact that we have, that we build connections with the young people that we work with.

And they feel, you know, that support and they, you know, as one of our members says, people don't care how much you know till they know how much you care.

We have a lot of successful men in our organization, but they're men who really care, as well.

>> And how long have you been with 100 Black Men?

>> I joined the Atlanta chapter in 1997, and I've been -- I'm a lifetime member, and I've been an active member.

I chaired the Atlanta chapter from 2007 to 2010.

And I became national treasurer in 2014, And now I'm chairman elect.

>> Tell us how you got into banking.

>> Well, I actually began my career, when I came out of Notre Dame, in public accounting.

I was an accounting major.

And I left public accounting after three years.

Really trying to find some other way to apply the skills I had.

And banking gave me a tremendous opportunity.

I joined at an interesting time.

I got a chance to work on things that were new to the industry.

And therefore, you know, even though I was an African-American, my skills helped pave a lot of the way, it turns out.

And I was pleased to see that.

Not that I didn't run into some artificial barriers, because I did, but I felt like, you know, banking was a place that I could grow and flourish.

And, so -- >> Sorry.

I was reading your bio.

You had some major responsibility at one time at Bank of America.

>> I did.

Thanks for asking that.

I was chief financial officer of the general bank, which was two-thirds of the bank, for the president of that group was Ken Lewis, who later became chairman of Bank of America.

I also ran technology infrastructure worldwide for two and a half years.

And I was in charge of all banking for Georgia and Tennessee.

So I was the president of basically a $15 billion bank.

And after that, I ran all the Lean Six Sigma process improvement work and generated over $1 billion in value a year for three years in a row.

And I reported directly to the CEO.

Interestingly enough, I was the first African-American to report to the CEO... >> Really?

>> ...of a major, you know, financial institution.

And that has -- that remained the same until, thank goodness, about January of this year.

There's a strong African-American reporting to CEO Brian Moynihan now, so... >> So, banking is still an industry where we still need to make strides... >> Yes.

>> ...as African-Americans and other people of color because banking is so key to the financial stability of all of our communities.

>> It absolutely is key.

And one of the things that's very important is that... a lot of times people focus on household income, but the real key to focus on is household wealth, because with wealth, you have an ability to help drive change more effectively.

And, so, one thing about banking that I enjoyed was the ability to give people financial advice, ability to help people see that it's not how much you make, it's how much you keep at the end of the day and how much you can then share with others, with generations in your family and generations around your community.

Also, I enjoyed the fact that, when we founded -- there were four of us who came together and founded CertusBank, which is the largest African-American-founded bank in US history.

>> What year was that founded?

>> That was in 2011.

And within three years, we bought 10 companies to create a $2 billion bank holding company.

>> And where was it headquartered?

>> It was headquartered in Greenville, South Carolina, with locations in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida.

And in doing that, we had over 750 people.

We were able to make a difference in the communities around us, but also to generate, you know, opportunity and access to capital in ways that were new, frankly, and were very, very much needed in all communities, Black and White.

>> Today, do you see the banking community, the banking industry, opening up, or is it still kind of rigid?

>> Well, you know, that's a great question.

And in some ways, it's opening up.

But honestly, part of what happens is that, you know, the criteria -- What I'm really afraid of, for example, is AI and the kind of -- >> Artificial intelligence.

>> Artificial intelligence.

...might lead to left unbridled.

It might lead to profiling that can be dangerous.

Now, I think the industry is trying.

A lot of banks are making great moves and statements about trying to be -- to provide more access.

But, frankly, the requirements haven't changed a lot.

And, so, despite best efforts, in many ways, we're not seeing, you know, it doesn't feel like we're seeing a lot of change.

Community development financial institutions, or CDFIs, are an example of what can make a difference.

And I think time will tell how that works.

And I hope it works in a way that truly does create access to capital for small businesses.

>> In the past decade, we've seen a lot of minority- owned banks have challenges.

What is your prediction 10 years to the future?

Do you think there will be more minority-owned banks, or do you think that not being able to find the investment capital necessary to stay in business?

What's your prediction?

>> That's a tough crystal ball read, Dr. Chavis, but I'll tell you this.

I think what's going to have to happen is that some of the stronger banks are going to have to merge, going to have to come together if that's -- And if that doesn't happen, then technology is the answer.

So, we talk about fintech.

And, so, providing access to banking products and services using better technology, you know, is one way that can cause there to be more Black banks.

They'll just be different.

>> Yes.

>> And that, honestly, what is difficult is for any banks to compete for the consumer dollar, but there's a lot of room and opportunity to compete for the business dollar.

And, so, business to business is another pathway that could lead to the retention and/or formation of more Black banks.

>> What has been the single most important characteristic that has led to your success that you could recommend to others?

>> If I had to boil it down to one, it's really being willing to take measurable risk, but being prepared to understand and take it well.

Sometimes somebody says, "Could you go do this job?"

And you go, "Well, I'd really have to -- That's kind of risky.

I'm comfortable where I am."

If that's the case, you stop growing.

When you stop growing, then you don't rise.

And I think I've been fortunate to have grown through my career and continue to grow.

And if I could cheat and add one more, it's to see the value of relationships being much more important than transactions.

And when you see that and know that and live your life that way, whether you're in service or sales, you're going to be far more successful.

And that has been a golden key for me.

>> It's building relationships.

>> Absolutely.

>> It's more important than just transactions.

>> That's right.

It's not how many transactions you do, it's how many times you build a solid relationship.

And that will lead to tons more transactions because people trust you, know you, and come back to you.

>> The Honorable Milton Jones, thank you... >> Thank you.

>> ...for joining "The Chavis Chronicles."

>> Thank you.

>> For more information about "The Chavis Chronicles" and our guests, please visit our web site at TheChavisChronicles.com.

Also follow us on Facebook, X -- formerly known as Twitter -- LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok.

Major funding for "The Chavis Chronicles" is provided by the following.

At Wells Fargo, diverse representation and perspectives, equity, and inclusion is critical to meeting the needs of our colleagues, customers, and communities.

We are focused on our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, both inside our company and in the communities where we live and work.

Together, we want to make a tangible difference in people's lives and in our communities.

Wells Fargo -- the bank of doing.

American Petroleum Institute.

Through API's Energy Excellence Program, our members are committed to accelerating safety, environmental, and sustainability progress throughout the natural-gas and oil industry around the world.

Learn more at api.org/apienergyexcellence.

Reynolds American, dedicated to building a better tomorrow for our employees and communities.

Reynolds stands against racism and discrimination in all forms and is committed to building a more diverse and inclusive workplace.

At AARP, we are committed to ensuring your money, health, and happiness live as long as you do.

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