Derrius Quarles

Derrius Quarles is an award-winning social entrepreneur, author, keynote speaker, digital marketer, and foster youth advocate.[1][2] Born on the south side of Chicago (1990), he is the Co-Founder of BREAUX Capital,[3] and Million Dollar Scholar[4] as well as the Founder and Chief Digital Officer of DQ and Partners.[5]

Derrius Quarles
Quarles speaking at TED Conference Headquarters in 2017
Born
Derrius Lamar Quarles

Chicago, Illinois
NationalityAmerican
Alma materKenwood Academy
Morehouse College (B.A.)
University of Pennsylvania (M.S.Ed)
OccupationSocial justice entrepreneur, digital marketer, innovator, author, speaker
Known forCo-Founder of BREAUX Capital and Million Dollar Scholar
Notable work
Million Dollar Scholar: Winning The Scholarship Race
WebsiteDerrius Quarles Website

He is the author of Million Dollar Scholar: Winning The Scholarship Race,[6][7] 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 make an American higher-education more affordable and went on to make the Amazon education bestseller list in the counseling category.[8] Derrius and his vision to impact higher education affordability through Winning The Scholarship Race have been featured on CNN, NBC News, and MTV2.[9][10] As a writer, Derrius' first op-ed, "To Be a Black Man In An Office Full of White People" has been read over 100,000 times and is one of LinkedIn's most-read articles on race and culture in workplace environments.[11]

In 2013, Derrius was invited to the White House, where he was awarded the Points of Light Daily Point of Light Award[12][13] for his 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.[14][15] As a part of the Residency, Derrius wrote and delivered the TED Talk "How banks are failing African-Americans".[16][17] In 2018, Derrius Quarles and his company BREAUX Capital were named to the Inc. Magazine list of 30 Under 30 companies.[18]

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 venues including Harvard University, the United Nations, and TED. The Associated Press, HuffPost, Time Magazine, and BET amongst others have highlighted his continuing activism and entrepreneurial innovation.[19][20][21]

Million Dollar Scholar

Quarles co-founded Million Dollar Scholar[22] after being named a Scholar of the Gates Millennium Scholars Program and competitively securing 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.[23] As a first-generation college student, he went on to attend and graduate cum laude from Morehouse College. During his matriculation at Morehouse in sociology, biology, and public health, he studied the relationship between obesity, hypertension, and diabetes within inner-city Food desert environments and wrote the thesis, Falling Through The Cracks which examined the United States’ child welfare system and race-related inequities. 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.[24] 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 Co-Chief Executive Officer of BREAUX Capital, the first financial technology and services company for Black Men, "which provides a financial health platform where Members can pool their capital, and invest collectively, and gain financial knowledge via peer networks".[25] BREAUX Capital helps enhance the financial wellness of the 70% of Black millennials (starting with Black men) who self-report that they are not in a financially healthy position through a combination of software that automates savings behavior, peer crowdsourced knowledge, and culture.[26] BREAUX Capital is built upon primary research performed while studying education entrepreneurship at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education.[27] 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.[28] 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 males millennials to automate their savings for long-term asset accumulation.[29] [30]

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 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.[31][32] 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.[33][34]

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

References
  1. Carpenter, John (July 28, 2014). "Chicago native makes scholarships his business". Chicago Tribune. http://www.chicagotribune.com/bluesky/originals/chi-derrius-quarles-million-dollar-scholar-bsi-ngux-story.html
  2. Clinton, Chelsea (April 12, 2013). "Four Myths About Millennials". TIME. http://www.ideas.time.com/2013/04/12/four-myths-about-millennials//
  3. Wisniewski, Mary (June 25, 2018) American Banker. "Are black millennials a blind spot for fintech firms?". https://www.americanbanker.com/news/are-black-millennials-a-blind-spot-for-fintech-firms
  4. Carpenter, John (July 28, 2014) Chicago Tribune. "Chicago native makes scholarship his business". http://www.chicagotribune.com/bluesky/originals/chi-derrius-quarles-million-dollar-scholar-bsi-ngux-story.html
  5. Krueger, Alyson (January 26, 2020) The New York Times. "The Work Diary of Derrius Quarles, Million-Dollar Multitasker". https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/16/business/derrius-quarles-work-diary.html
  6. https://books.google.com/books?id=wihPAwAAQBAJ&pg=PR3&dq=%22Derrius+Quarles%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiU0q3U58bMAhVBpR4KHb3yCAwQ6AEIHTAA#v=onepage&q=%22Derrius%20Quarles%22&f=false
  7. CNN (June 7, 2012). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRncdCpc0Cc
  8. https://www.amazon.com/MillionDollarScholar-Winning-Scholarship-Derrius-Quarles/dp/1257647342.
  9. Derrius Quarles on Scholarships. CNN. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRncdCpc0Cc
  10. Derrius Quarles Journey to One-Million In Scholarships. NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/video/how-a-high-school-student-won-more-than-1-million-in-college-scholarships-588258883658
  11. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/young-black-man-working-office-full-white-people-derrius-l-quarles/
  12. Tinuoye, Kunbi (July 16, 2013). The Grio. "Morehouse College graduate recognized by the White House for service to the community". http://thegrio.com/2013/07/16/morehouse-graduate-recognized-by-the-white-house-for-service-to-community/
  13. Favole, Jared (July 15, 2013). "Obama, Bush Families Honor Volunteers".The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 18 July 2013.
  14. Townsend, Tyrus (July 26, 2017) "BE Modern Man: Meet ‘Mr. Millennial’ Derrius Quarles". https://www.blackenterprise.com/millennial-derrius-quarles/
  15. "Meet the Fall 2017 class of TED Residents". TED Blog. https://blog.ted.com/meet-the-fall-2017-class-of-ted-residents/
  16. TED Talk (Youtube) - Derrius Quarles. "How banks are failing African-Americans". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsgxD7nn2Y8
  17. TED Talk (TED.com) - Derrius Quarles. "How banks are failing African-Americans". https://www.ted.com/talks/derrius_quarles_how_banks_are_failing_african_americans
  18. Henry, Zoë. "This Startup Wants to Help Black Millennials Invest in Themselves, With a Unique Spin on Banking". https://www.inc.com/zoe-henry/30-under-30-2018-breaux-capital.html.
  19. Libby, Oliver. "Too Many Aspiring Entrepreneurs Want to Be Hoodie-clad Billionaires". New York Post. https://nypost.com/2018/05/12/entrepreneurs-hoodie-clad-billionaires/
  20. Thrival Festival. "THRIVAL INNOVATION 2016 – SEPTEMBER 20-22". https://thrivalfestival.com/2016/07/14/thrival-festival-2016-innovation/
  21. Good Black News. "Former Foster Child and Morehouse Graduate Derrius Quarles Recognized by White House for Service to Community". https://goodblacknews.org/2013/07/16/former-foster-child-and-morehouse-graduate-derrius-quarles-recognized-by-white-house-for-service-to-community/
  22. Million Dollar Scholar Website: https://www.milliondollarscholar.com
  23. Banchero, Stephanie (October 4, 2009). "Former foster child in Chicago now a million dollar scholar". Chicago Tribune. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2009-10-04/news/0910030175_1_gates-millennium-scholarship-million-dollar-horatio-alger/2
  24. https://www.huffingtonpost.com/tavis-smiley/a-culture-of-innovative-i_b_5087430.html
  25. Malone, Hasani (December 14, 2017). "Morehouse Grads Create Financial Service Start-Up with Black Millennial Men in Mind". https://atlantablackstar.com/2017/12/14/morehouse-grads-create-financial-service-start-black-millennial-men-mind/
  26. Bates, Erica (September 18, 2018). "BREAUX Capital Is Leading Black Men To Financial Wellness". https://theqgentleman.com/2018/09/breaux-capital-financial-wellness/
  27. Kurshan, Barbara (Jan 21, 2016). "Degree Programs for Emerging Entrepreneurs in the Education Innovation Ecosystem". Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/barbarakurshan/2016/01/21/degree-programs-for-emerging-entrepreneurs-in-the-education-innovation-ecosystem/#7cca9c323290
  28. https://www.pci.upenn.edu/icorps-cohort/
  29. BREAUX Capital Inc. Magazine Profile (April, 2018). Inc. Magazine. https://www.inc.com/profile/breaux-capital
  30. Bates, Ericka (September 13, 2018). "BREAUX Capital Is Leading Black Men To Financial Wellness". Quintessential Gentlemen. https://theqgentleman.com/2018/09/breaux-capital-financial-wellness/
  31. DQ and Partners Website: https://www.dqandpartners.com
  32. Krueger, Alyson (January 26, 2020) The New York Times. "The Work Diary of Derrius Quarles, Million-Dollar Multitasker". https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/16/business/derrius-quarles-work-diary.html
  33. "Black Atlanta students trying to improve diversity problem in tech, here’s how" AJC Arts and Culture Blog. http://artsculture.blog.ajc.com/2017/04/19/heres-how-auc-students-and-alumni-are-hoping-to-improve-diversity-in-tech/
  34. Perez, Miranda (March 22, 2019). "Tech Meets Turn Up For Creatives And Techies At HBCU: Introducing TechGroove Fest" Her Campus. https://www.hercampus.com/school/cau/tech-meets-turn-creatives-and-techies-hbcu-introducing-techgroove-fest
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