Derrius Quarles

Derrius Quarles is a social entrepreneur, human rights activist, recording artist, product designer, and author.[1][2][3][4] Born on the South Side of Chicago in 1990, he is the Co-Founder and former Chief Executive Officer of BREAUX Capital, an award-winning financial technology company serving Black Men[5][6][7] and Million Dollar Scholar, an education social enterprise[8] as well as the Founder of DQ and Partners.[9]

Derrius Quarles
Quarles speaking at TED Conference Headquarters in 2017
Born
Derrius L. Quarles

Chicago, Illinois
NationalityAmerican
Alma materKenwood Academy
Morehouse College (B.A.)
University of Pennsylvania (M.S.Ed)
Occupation(s)Entrepreneur, human rights activist, digital marketer, recording artist
Known forCo-Founder & former CEO of BREAUX Capital and Million Dollar Scholar
Notable workMillion Dollar Scholar: Winning The Scholarship Race
SpouseTheodora Okiro Quarles
ParentDr. Desmond L. Kemp
Websitewww.derriusquarles.com

He is the author of Million Dollar Scholar: Winning The Scholarship Race,[10][11] a guide for students seeking to gain scholarships and grants for college. Winning The Scholarship Race has assisted over 40,000 students across the globe in making higher education more affordable and went on to make the Amazon education bestseller list in the Counseling and Post-Secondary Guidance categories.[12] Derrius and his vision to impact higher education affordability through Winning The Scholarship Race have been featured on CNN, NBC News, and MTV2.[13][14]

In 2013, Derrius was invited to the White House, where he was awarded the Points of Light Daily Points of Light Award[15][16] from President Barack Obama for his education activism with Million Dollar Scholar.

In 2017 he was featured on the Black Enterprise List of 100 Modern Men and named an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at TED through the TED Residency Program.[17][18] As a part of the residency, Derrius wrote and delivered the TED Talk "How banks are failing African-Americans".[19][20] In 2018, Derrius Quarles and his company BREAUX Capital were named to the Inc. magazine list of 30 Under 30 companies.[21]

Derrius has lectured, performed poetry, contributed to panel discussions, and facilitated workshops in over 25 US states. He travels the country speaking on various topics including race and Black culture, funding college and higher education, youth leadership development, the intersection of social justice and business, financial wellness, and child welfare advocacy. He has been a keynote speaker at various international organizations and venues including Harvard University, the United Nations, and the American College of Financial Services.[22] The Associated Press, HuffPost, Time, and BET amongst others have highlighted his continuing activism and entrepreneurial innovation.[23][24][25]

Million Dollar Scholar

Quarles co-founded Million Dollar Scholar[26] after being named a Scholar of the Gates Millennium Scholars Program, Coca-Cola Scholarship, and Dell Scholarship; Derrius competitively secured over 1.1 million dollars in scholarship awards before graduating from Kenwood Academy High School in 2009. He was coined "a million dollar scholar" by education journalist Stephanie Banchero of the Chicago Tribune.[27] As a first-generation college student, he went on to attend and graduate cum laude from Morehouse College. During his matriculation at Morehouse, Derrius studied sociology, biology, and public health and wrote the thesis, Falling Through the Cracks which examined the United States' child welfare system and inequities in outcomes for Black foster youth.[28] He and co-founder Ras Asan Olugbenga secured the majority of Million Dollar Scholar's early investments by winning top prizes from some of the most prestigious and competitive entrepreneurship competitions across the United States including the: Yale School of Management Education Business Plan Competition, Tavis Smiley Social Innovation Challenge, and Miller Lite's Tap the Future Competition.[29] To date, Million Dollar Scholar has assisted students in gaining over $5,500,000 in scholarships and grants for post-secondary education through its online platform and impacted the lives of over 55,000 low-income students in the United States.

BREAUX Capital

Derrius is Co-Founder and former Chief Executive Officer of BREAUX Capital, the first cooperatively owned and operated financial technology platform and community for Black Men. The company provides Black Men a space "where Members can pool their capital, and invest collectively, and gain financial knowledge via peer networks".[30] BREAUX Capital has been awarded numerous honors for its focus on one of the most overlooked groups in the financial services industry – Black Men – and its innovative business model.[31][32][33] With Membership representing neighborhoods within Atlanta, Los Angeles, Raleigh-Durham, New York City, Chicago, New Orleans, Tucson, Houston, and Washington DC – BREAUX Capital serves a diverse client base across North America.[34][35]

BREAUX Capital started after a conversation between Derrius and Ras Asan in 2015 and is built upon ethnographic and behavioral economics research led by Derrius while studying Education Entrepreneurship at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education.[36] In May 2016, BREAUX Capital secured a grant from the National Science Foundation's I-Corps Program to perform market research and collect data on the overall financial wellness of Black millennials and the factors that impact the ability of Black millennials to be financially healthy.[37] In April 2018, Inc. magazine included Derrius and BREAUX Capital co-founder Ras Asan on its list of 30 Under 30 entrepreneurs, highlighting their innovative business model of engaging Black male millennials to automate their savings for long-term asset accumulation.[38][39]

Other entrepreneurial activities

Beyond co-founding Million Dollar Scholar and BREAUX Capital, Derrius' entrepreneurial pursuits include being the Founder of DQ and Partners, a digital marketing agency and managed service provider (MSP) that partners with creatives of color, very early-stage companies, and non-profit organizations on website creation and brand development in combination with business and digital marketing promotional strategy.[40][9] DQ and Partners is a Certified Squarespace Specialist through the Squarespace Circle Program and a member of the American Institute of Graphic Arts.

He is also the Co-Creator of TechGroove, the first technology and culture festival for college students of color. The first annual TechGroove Fest was held in April 2017 at the Atlanta University Center and 100+ college students from institutions across Atlanta attended with Tinder, LinkedIn, and Mozilla being key sponsors.[41][42]

Books
  • Million Dollar Scholar: Winning The Scholarship Race (2012) ISBN 978-1257647347

References
  1. February 24, 2021 "The 2021 Global Good Fund Social Entrepreneur Fellows are Changing the World". The Global Good Fund. Cision PR Newswire.
  2. "2021 Fellows". Roddenberry Foundation. Retrieved 2023-06-13.
  3. Carpenter, John (July 28, 2014). "Chicago native makes scholarships his business". Chicago Tribune.
  4. Clinton, Chelsea (April 12, 2013). "Four Myths About Millennials". Time.
  5. "FINTECH 50: The Top Fintech Influencers of 2022 - Actual Agency". www.actual.agency. Retrieved 2023-06-13.
  6. Pounders, Carlyn (2020-07-23). "10 Black Founders Leading Innovative Fintech Firms". UrbanGeekz. Retrieved 2023-06-13.
  7. Wisniewski, Mary (June 25, 2018) American Banker. "Are black millennials a blind spot for fintech firms?"
  8. Carpenter, John (July 28, 2014) Chicago Tribune. "Chicago native makes scholarship his business".
  9. Krueger, Alyson (January 26, 2020) The New York Times. "The Work Diary of Derrius Quarles, Million-Dollar Multitasker".
  10. Quarles, Derrius (September 2011). MillionDollar$cholar: Winning the Scholarship Race: Winning the Scholarship Race. ISBN 9781257647347.
  11. Million Dollar Scholar on Scholarships, retrieved 2023-06-13
  12. Quarles, Derrius (September 2011). MillionDollar$cholar: Winning the Scholarship Race: Winning the Scholarship Race. ISBN 978-1257647347.
  13. Million Dollar Scholar on Scholarships, retrieved 2023-06-13
  14. "How a high school student won more than $1 million in college scholarships". NBC News. Retrieved 2023-08-03.
  15. kunbitinuoye (2013-07-16). "Morehouse graduate recognized by the White House for service to community". TheGrio. Retrieved 2023-06-13.
  16. Favole, Jared (July 15, 2013). "Obama, Bush Families Honor Volunteers".The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 18 July 2013.
  17. "BE Modern Man: Meet 'Mr. Millennial' Derrius Quarles". Black Enterprise. 2017-07-26. Retrieved 2023-06-13.
  18. "Meet the Fall 2017 class of TED Residents | TED Blog". 2017-09-22. Retrieved 2023-06-13.
  19. TED Talk (Youtube) - Derrius Quarles. "How banks are failing African-Americans".
  20. TED Talk (TED.com) - Derrius Quarles. "How banks are failing African-Americans".
  21. Henry, Zoë. "This Startup Wants to Help Black Millennials Invest in Themselves, With a Unique Spin on Banking".
  22. The American College of Financial Services "The American College of Financial Services Annual National Conference of African American Financial Professionals Goes Virtual". Global Newswire.
  23. Libby, Oliver. "Too Many Aspiring Entrepreneurs Want to Be Hoodie-clad Billionaires". New York Post.
  24. Thrival Festival. "Thrival Innovation 2016 – September 20-22".
  25. Good Black News. "Former Foster Child and Morehouse Graduate Derrius Quarles Recognized by White House for Service to Community".
  26. Million Dollar Scholar Website
  27. Banchero, Stephanie (October 4, 2009). "Former foster child in Chicago now a million dollar scholar". Chicago Tribune.
  28. Quarles, Derrius (May 1, 2012). "Falling Through the Cracks: A Synopsis of the United States' Child Welfare System and the Contemporary Inequities that Exist Within Foster Care". Morehouse College.
  29. Smiley, Tavis (April 3, 2014). "A Culture of Innovative Ideas: My Conversation with the Winners of the $75,000 Social Innovation Challenge". HuffPost.
  30. Malone, Hasani (December 14, 2017). "Morehouse Grads Create Financial Service Start-Up with Black Millennial Men in Mind".
  31. Cooper, Evan. InvestmentNews "InvestmentNews Icons and Innovators 2021".
  32. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. "Meet The Culture of Health Leader Derrius Quarles".
  33. The Global Good Fund (February 24, 2021). PRNewswire. "The 2021 Global Good Fund Social Entrepreneur Fellows are Changing the World".
  34. Bates, Erica (September 18, 2018). "BREAUX Capital Is Leading Black Men To Financial Wellness".
  35. Lenovo Tech Today "BREAUX Capital Case Study".
  36. Kurshan, Barbara (January 21, 2016). "Degree Programs for Emerging Entrepreneurs in the Education Innovation Ecosystem". Forbes.
  37. Penn Center For Innovation. https://www.pci.upenn.edu/icorps-cohort/
  38. "Inc. Company Profile: BREAUX Capital". Inc. April, 2018.
  39. Bates, Ericka (September 13, 2018). "BREAUX Capital is Leading Black Men to Financial Wellness". Quintessential Gentlemen. Archived from the original on April 23, 2019.
  40. DQ and Partners Website
  41. "Black Atlanta students trying to improve diversity problem in tech, here's how". AJC Arts and Culture Blog.
  42. Perez, Miranda (March 22, 2019). "Tech Meets Turn Up For Creatives And Techies At HBCU: Introducing TechGroove Fest". Her Campus.
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