Jesse Williams Joins Scholly As Chief Brand Ambassador

The actor joins Scholly’s board of directors as the brand’s ambassador in an attempt to lend a hand to less privileged students looking for scholarships.

Jesse Williams is very popular for his role as Dr. Jackson Avery on the hit TV series “Grey’s Anatomy”, and his work as a social activist. He also delivered an amazing and inspiring speech when he was given his Humanitarian Award at the 2016 BET Awards.

Williams used to work as a high school educator in Philadelphia before his rise to fame. According to Yahoo Finance, the nature of his former job as a public school teacher prompted him to join Scholly, a Philly-based phone app that offers a scholarship-matching service, which was built to aid students who want to go to college but are without the means to achieve their goals.

Jesse Williams told y’all. ‘If you have no interest in equal rights for Black people, do not make suggestions to people who do. Sit down’.

— Mirror Me (@FisayoLonge) September 12, 2016

The app’s CEO Christopher Gray, 24, reached a $40,000 deal with entrepreneurs Lori Greiner and Daymond John when he was on the TV show “Shark Tank” in 2014. Williams, a regular viewer of the TV show, said he was amazed by Gray’s idea of an app that helps unprivileged students get scholarships.

“It really struck a chord with me because finances were a big part of whether or not I was going to make it into college,” he told Yahoo Finance. “And throughout my college experience, it was a source of a lot of stress and strain and work study and worrying about whether I’m going to be able to afford the next semester and a lot of scrambling. So [Scholly] seemed really important and impactful.”

Some We Actually LOVE: Jesse Williams Helping Students Find Scholarships Through Scholly App https://t.co/WWNvFSyg4o pic.twitter.com/YNay0Y7pwN

— Bossip (@Bossip) September 11, 2016

Gray said that his decision to create the app was fueled by the number of hours he spent searching for college scholarships on the internet. “There was information online, but it was scattered all over, and often outdated.  I did a lot of Googling. I thought there had to be a better way,” he said. Scholly provides merit-based and need-based scholarship options to its users.

Scholly’s CEO explained his decision to bring Williams into the team: “Jesse was a former educator here in Philly and that resonated with our mission as he understands first-hand the problem we are trying to help solve,” Gray said. It has been reported that the app has granted scholarships worth over $50 million since its launch in 2014.

Black children form a major part of the minorities that face the difficulties of affording high-class education in America. They have fewer opportunities to get scholarships and enter colleges. The education system is imperfect because it doesn`t provide access to higher education for underprivileged students.  Thanks to Black celebrities and successful people, they have a great chance to get scholarships and thus, good jobs in future. The Black community should unite and contribute to the prosperity of our children so that they could have equal economic and social opportunities.

Source: AtlantaBlackStar