Restaurant Founder Gives HBCU Graduates a Head Start
Graduation Speaker: Restaurant Owner Pinky Cole Hayes addresses Savannah State University’s 2024 graduating class. | Photo contributed: Savannah Tribune
The 2024 graduating class of Savannah State University got more than inspirational words after inviting the founder of the Slutty Vegan and Bar Vegan restaurants to be its commencement speaker.
Pinky Cole Hayes not only gave the graduation address, she also promised each of the graduates membership in One Million Black Businesses (1MBB) – a partnership with Operation HOPE and Shopify to start and help support 1 million Black businesses by 2030. Of Georgia’s 10 HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities), Savannah State is the oldest public institution.
In addition, the class as a whole will receive $8.75 million worth of in-kind services with Operation HOPE, which will include:
- entrepreneurial educational resources
- mentoring and financial counseling from 1MBB
- an eight-week small business training session that includes courses in credit and money management and business plan development
- three months free with Shopify for young entrepreneurs to build an e-commerce platform.
Operation HOPE offers financial tools and training to people in underserved communities, helping them work toward a secure financial future. Shopify is an online commerce platform that helps people start, manage and grow their own businesses.
Hayes says she wanted to help this class in particular because the students had faced so much adversity, starting college at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and adapting to it with resilience and grace.
This isn’t the first time Hayes has been so generous. In 2022, she funded the creation of LLCs for the graduating class of her alma mater, Clark Atlanta University, to enable them to begin businesses. And in April, she sponsored the prom for Benjamin E. Mays High School in Southwest Atlanta, providing free admission to all students, catering, decorations, a DJ and even prom attire.
