The Coca-Cola Company recently announced the launch of The World Is My Yard. The exclusive platform provides HBCU students with educational and professional opportunities such as grants, externships, mentorship and more.
The platform also offers special perks and informs users about engaging experiences that celebrate the magic and culture of HBCUs.
Stephanie Eaddy, Senior Director of Cultural Marketing at Coca-Cola, shared thoughts on the initiative. “We’re really excited about bringing this platform to life for our students,” Eaddy told ADW. “We have had a long-standing history with HBCUs in particular, and this program, or platform as I’m calling it, is a holistic approach to how we are creating more experiences, greater opportunity, and honestly, fun and celebration for the HBCU students during their time at school.”
During this weekend’s Spelman Homecoming, Coca-Cola was on site to give info to students.
“Homecoming is one of the ways in which we are introducing the platform to the students,” Eaddy said. “So ‘The world is my Yard’ is accessible to students when they download the +One app. Through this app, students get a curated and customized experience where they will be able to learn about invaluable resources, different on campus, experiences and tools that are available to them as HBCU students exclusively. So we have a three-pillar program that offers world readiness programs, things that help students prepare for life beyond the classroom, everything from internships and externships to real classroom experience and mentorship. But we also want to celebrate the culture of HBCUs. We bring fun experiences to the yard. And then our third pillar is really around refreshing and renewal of students to help them get access to exclusive partnerships. So we’re really excited to introduce this platform and get it into the hands of students.”
Jasmin Jackson, a senior attending Delaware State University, also provided insight.
“The externship was eight weeks, and after the eight weeks, we had a two day on site visit to the Atlanta headquarters where we presented our final presentation,” Jackson said. “So throughout the eight weeks, we had to solve a marketing problem and make like a case around it, using research data. And then at the final presentation, all the students got to present. I definitely got to learn a lot. I met a lot of students, and I had great mentors as well, which was really cool…I would say, if you’re interested in going to HBCU, definitely do it. And when you get there, talk to everybody. Get involved in as many things as you can, and just put yourself out there and create a brand for yourself so that people know to come to you when they have opportunities. So yeah, just talk to people, network and, of course, apply yourself.”
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