Miami, Florida — In their efforts to level the playing field and provide HBCU students the opportunity to be a part of the Fintech movement, George Trosley III and the Jungle Freaks team will be granting Florida Memorial University a donation in the amount of $100,000 for the development of their ITE Fintech center.
“Our team is grateful and excited to be able to support the many different individuals discovering Blockchain and Financial Technology,” says George Trosley III, “Our community wants to be a vehicle for change particularly in the black community to create diversity in this industry by providing impactful resources that generate not only financial wealth but help black artists monetize their artwork through NFTs.”
Often overlooked, the objective of the grant and on-going partnership with Florida Memorial University, is to create hands-on learning opportunities for students in the space of cryptocurrency, blockchain, and NFTs. The programs produced at FMU are geared to provide their students in-depth knowledge needed to create decentralized applications, and to contribute to the development of the blockchain and fintech community overall-thus creating a solid foundation for financial literacy, wellness and resilience among black and brown students during the early stages of the adoption of cryptocurrencies.
“We are looking to embrace the City of Miami’s tech hub initiative by leveling the playing field and serving underserved populations through innovative Fintech programming here at FMU, the only HBCU in Miami,” says Craig Skilling, Director of Esports and Assistant Marketing Professor at FMU, “This donation will allow us to get our Innovation, Technology and Entertainment (Esports) program off the ground with thought leaders and movers in the NFT/Crypto space, as we continue on our university pursuit to ascend to excellence. I’d like to see other businesses join in on our vision and consider contributing.” As an NFT Project, the Jungle Freaks’ goal as a community is to continue to make these types of donations and to continue to generate awareness for such programs. In September, when the first Jungle Freaks’ roadmap was released, there was a function included for charitable donations where holders in the NFT community would vet organizations and vote to select which ones would receive funds that have been generated from art sales. “The University is grateful for the support of Jungle Freaks NFT and Mr. George Trosley, III,” says Cory Witherspoon, Vice President of University Advancement at FMU, “Jungle Freaks NFT’s commitment to this project is an investment in our students and community.”
