Dear Colleagues:

We are pleased to share with you this update about the HBCU Technology Foundation and to invite your college or university to become part of the inaugural cohort to take full advantage of all of the offerings of The Foundation. You will recall, the HBCU Technology Foundation was founded by NAFEO nearly six years ago, as an independent 501(c) (3) corporation to spur technological innovations among Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and PBIs, to assist in commercializing and licensing already existing technology. Today, The Foundation takes a multifaceted approach toward achieving its goals: (1) Education; (2) Technology Transfer; (3) Licensing, (4) Host Patent Posting Exchange; ansd (5) Impacting Policy.

Introductory Webinar
We are writing at this time to invite you, other administrators, faculty, and staff to an introductory webinar on Friday, June 26, 2024, at 10:00am ET. We are inviting you to learn more about the HBCU Technology Foundation. We would like to identify a contact person within each member college or university to assist with the promotion and education of all interested individuals regarding the existence and functions of The HBCU Technology Foundation. During the June 26st call, you will hear from Timothy Devlin, who has served as pro bono Counsel and Senior Advisor of the HBCU Technology Foundation, since its founding. He is the Managing Partner of Devlin Law Firm LLC. He was previously a Principal at Fish & Richardson PC, one of the largest technology litigation firms in the United States, where he served as a co-chair of their IP Risk Management Group. Mr. Devlin is widely recognized as one of the premier technology litigators in the country. ¹

Also providing comments from the HBCU Technology Foundation will be Cleveland Gary, NAFEO’s Chief Operating Officer and Business Development Officer and a Board member of HBCU Technology Foundation. Mr. Cleveland Gary is a former first round NFL draft pick of the LA Rams, who led the NFL in Touchdowns in 1990s. He is a financier, entrepreneur, and fintech maven.

Financier Gary is the founder of first publicly traded Credit Lending Bureau, driven by a patent– pending EQ score that incorporates FICO evaluative considerations and includes others that will more equitably valuate middle- and lower-income persons who timely pay rent, utility bills, and the range of things reflective of creditworthiness. He was the first African American to own a TV Shopping Channel in the likes of QVC and Home Shopping Network. The Black Shopping Television Shopping TV Channel aired on Dish Network in 14.5 million homes twenty-four hours a day in 2017. Today his platforms, have 200 million members.² Please let us know if you will designate an individual for that function by responding to Dr. C.A. Page, cpage@nafeo.org, and we will work with them to introduce and engage your college or university with the Foundation.

Education
The HBCU Technology Foundation offers opportunities for faculty and students to learn how to transform their ideas into commercial enterprises that can then generate needed funding for future projects. Likewise, the Foundation educates interested students with an entrepreneurial bent about investing in intellectual property assets. The Foundation will conduct free educational presentations available to all students and faculty and will offer internships for students who are interested in intellectual property development and asset management.

Technology Transfer
For those HBCUs who do not have their own technology transfer departments, the HBCU Technology Foundation is prepared to take on that role. Specifically, the Foundation will assist the NAFEO member HBCUs and PBIs their faculty, staff, and students in identifying patentable ideas and other intellectual property, coordinate with outside counsel to obtain registration of patents, trademarks or copyrights, and finally, attempt to commercialize the intellectual property where appropriate.

Licensing
One of the most overlooked areas of funding for HBCUs is the licensing of their intellectual property. Oftentimes, HBCUs have valuable resources that were developed for academic purposes, but which also have value for the institutions to leverage. Because the HBCU Technology Foundation represents multiple institutions, it has the power to consolidate similar technology offerings from these sources into patent pools, as well as support the licensing of individual patents for families. Thus, the Foundation can work with the HBCUs and faculty to identify existing intellectual property assets and license them for the benefit of the institutions and their faculty

Patent Post Exchange
HBCs and Individuals affiliated with HBCUs can list patents to stimuate interest in monitization, research, collaborations; spur inquiries to the patentholders. There will be direct patentholder-to- patet inquirer contacts. 100% of the rights and whatever flows from the connections will remain with the patent posting agent.

Impacting Policy
CONGRESSIONAL NATIONAL EMERGENCY CYBERSECURITY CALL TO ACTION ANCHORED BY NAFEO & HBCUs
Born as it was from NAFEO, the nation’s only membership and advocacy association al all HBCUs and PBIs, the HBCU Technology Foundation will also have a policy advocacy component designed to impact policy to expand investments in IP at HBCUs and PBIs and to support investments in these institutions to expand their campus and community reach in educating underserved, under-resourced and under-banked persons especially those suffering vestigial impacts of relining and other intentional exclusion from full participation in American commerce.

NAFEO has joined US Hart Cares as a premier strategic collaborator on behalf of all HBCUs and PBIs. NAFEO and the HBCU Tech Foundation joined US Hart Cares and WOZ ED-RX5 at a March 22nd congressional convening and in developing and honing an action agenda that will flow from that convening. The action agenda will include educating Congress and federal agency executives about the economic and equity benefits of utilizing available government and private funding mechanisms, and leveraging the HBCUs and PBIs that are preparing diverse students and communities in cybersecurity, or that are poised to expand their offerings in cybersecurity, to fill the critical analytics, data, and cybersecurity positions in the public and private sectors. Congress has responded with bipartisan support.

We hope to have someone from your campus join us on the HBCU Technology Foundation call Friday, June 26st, 10:00am ET. We will send a Zoom link to everyone who registers for the call by 2:00p.m. on Wednesday, June 26 th.

Please RSVP via return email to Mr. Ray Anderson andersonrayjr@gmail.com

Lezli Baskerville,
Founding Chair &
President, NAFEO