Vita Pickrum has spent more than a decade in advancement marshalling support for Delaware State University students and connecting with her peers in development at historically Black colleges and universities. Here’s why, she says, strategic focus and showcasing impact are crucial today.

What led you to found the HBCU Philanthropy Symposium in 2010?

I was working with our university’s president cultivating a major foundation that was then an anchor for HBCUs. We were having a conversation about funding, and the then president of the foundation said to me, “Vita, we don’t fund single sites anymore.”

At that time, many foundations were changing their philosophy on funding to have a larger footprint. Institutions the size of Delaware State didn’t seem like enough of an impact. If we were having this issue, so were other schools. I called a few of my colleagues to join forces.

Three schools came together: Delaware State, Morgan State, and Cheyney University. And that was the birth of the HBCU Philanthropy Symposium. Since then, it’s continued to grow; we’ve had 54 HBCUs participate.

It’s established a bond between HBCUs and minority-serving institutions, and now even some predominantly white institutions have attended because of the knowledge that’s presented. The networking is so important. It’s a safe space to ask any question—an environment much like an HBCU. Large school, small school: We’re all facing the same types of challenges.

What is one challenge you see for HBCUs today?

Knowing your brand, your strengths; the direction and vision of your university; and what you want to be good at. So one thing that’s a challenge for HBCUs is building confidence in our brand—that we’re institutions of high quality. We graduate more people of color in the major professions [such as law or medicine] than any other universities, large or small.