Meet Nitiya Walker | Seeds of Fortune Inc., Executive Director

We had the good fortune of connecting with Nitiya Walker and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Nitiya, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I am passionate about solving the college affordability issue through educational and economic empowerment for women of color. As the Executive Director and Founder of Seeds of Fortune Inc., a unique organization combining girl power, financial literacy, career development, and higher education pipeline to put opportunity and financial power back into the hands of young women of color. who are informed about the best decisions to avoid the tramps of financial scarcity to afford college.

The program helps minority teen girls become financially empowered by helping them learn about money through the college and scholarship higher education process. I created the program in my Senior year of college inside my dorm room. I was inspired to share the skills of obtaining scholarships, she learned in High School that allowed me to win a Full tuition, Posse Leadership Scholarship to Babson College, Girl Scout Future Women of Distinction Scholarship, and more. I believed it was my duty to help ease the financial burdens of those in her generation since she was able to graduate debt free.

I started the organization with $12 from an award from Student Government Association and now my scholars have earned over $45 Million in college scholarships and grants to attend top colleges across the country through undergoing an intense cohort college preparatory process. While building Seeds of Fortune Inc. I was able to create strategic partnerships and advisors. The platform recruits in high schools nationwide with more than 2000 partnerships across High Schools and pre-college organizations. Since its inception, we have expanded the high school program to a University Network, in which she has graduated 90% of its participants from College, and connected them with career opportunities with major companies such as BMO Capital Markets, JetBlue Airways, City Council, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and more.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
In 2020, we launched the Seed Online Network, the 1st tech platform exclusively for young women of color to provide 11-12th grade an exclusive network to begin to understand money through exploring, developing scholarship and college packages, career skills, and financial literacy through an intensive online preparatory process. The online curriculum is based on the original award winning Scholars program. The online program has been highlighted and supported by national and local press, including the Forbes 30 Under 30 in Education, PayPal, Citizens Committee of New York and more. Currently there are 2000+ members on the platform. Members are selected by merit and their desire to empower their financial circumstances through education and the goal of reduced debt. We were able to navigate unpredictable shifts during and post covid to maintain the quality of our service and offerings to our student population.

One of our top programs coming out of the platform is our Seeds of Fortune Inc. Scholars program in partnership with Yale Women in Economics. It provides high school rising seniors the opportunity to learn economics with Yale Professors, as well as deliver an economics capstone project while conducting a residency on Yale’s campus in the Summer.

The application for 2024 will launch on 10/31/2023 for our 2024 Scholars Class, here: https://www.seedsoffortune.org/apply.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Mangos Caribbean Restaurant is one of my favorite places to go for good food, music and a fun vibe.

They have two dollar Tuesdays Rum Punch special that will have you ready for hump day and a good time. Then the Peach Cobbler factory is across the street for amazing dessert option.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Phyllis D. Pearson a Girl Scout Troop Leader volunteered her time to teach me the art of obtaining Scholarships when I was a Senior in High School. Through her mentorship I was able to learn how to brand myself to colleges and scholarship organizations. I was able to obtain a full ride to college with her leadership and it provided the blue print for Seeds of Fortune Inc.

Website: https://www.seedsoffortune.org/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seedsoffortune/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nitiyawalker/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/seedsoffortune