Lawrence Bancroft Joins Student Freedom Initiative® Board In The Furtherance of Common Vision

By: Student Freedom Initiative via Business Wire

August 10, 2022 at 09:00 AM EDT

Board expanded with Billion Dollar Manager with 23 years of experience

Student Freedom Initiative unanimously selected Lawrence Bancroft as a member of the Board of Directors at its 2022 Annual Meeting.

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Lawrence Bancroft, President and Chief Executive Officer of Bivium Capital (Photo: Business Wire)

Having received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Cornell University, Lawrence Bancroft founded Bivium Capital in 2002 and currently serves as President and Chief Executive Officer. With $2.2 billion assets under management, Bivium is a value-centered firm providing outsourced Chief Investment Officer solutions through a global network of investment managers and asset classes. Bivium’s rigorous research, open-architecture manager selection process, consultative approach to client services, ability to meet clients’ diverse needs, competitive historical performance returns, diverse leadership, and commitment to social and environmental justice fully align with the vision and values of Student Freedom Initiative.

“Lawrence’s commitment to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) is self-evident. His partnership with the organization really began 14 months ago when he and Bivium agreed to provide probono services to HBCUs seeking to realign their Investment Policy Statements with their values,” said Robert F. Smith, Founder and Chairman of Student Freedom Initiative, and Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Vista Equity Partners. “Their work was instrumental in allowing several HBCUs to broaden the demographic makeup of their investment manager divisions, and allowed them to further diversify their portfolios to improve their performances. With over two decades of experience and his absolute dedication to racial and social justice, Lawrence will continue to be a truly invaluable asset.”

“As one of the few organizations that is holistic in its approach, utilizes data to inform its strategies, and collaborates with like-minded institutions to extend a student’s opportunities, Student Freedom Initiative is exactly the type of strategically effective organization that I was searching for, to commit both my time and my efforts,” said Lawrence Bancroft. “Working to address the long-standing systemic barriers that impact minority students’ attendance rates, graduation rates, and their earnings gap upon graduation is incredibly important to me. I am humbled and excited to join the all-star line-up that Robert has assembled and look forward to actively applying my skills and abilities to further the Student Freedom Initiative.”

“With the inaugural board members and with the addition of Lawrence, the Board has been rigorous and judicious in its selection,” said Michele McCullom, General Counsel and Secretary of Student Freedom Initiative. “The fact that the vote to add him to the Board was unanimous demonstrates a vote of utmost confidence in Lawrence based on his proven track record and alignment with Student Freedom Initiative’s mission.”

About Student Freedom Initiative

A single purpose nonprofit organization, Student Freedom Initiative aims to reduce the wealth gap through the lens of education. This is achieved by providing a catalyst for freedom in professional and life choices for students attending Minority Serving Institutions by increasing their social and economic mobility using a student centric, evidence based, holistic, and collaborative approach. Primarily focused on HBCUs, Student Freedom Initiative enables mobility through four transformational components: (1) Student Freedom Agreement^® as an income contingent alternative to Parent Plus loans, (2) Internships and industry-driven certifications, (3) Tutoring/Mentorships/Other Services, and (4) Targeted HBCU Capacity Building (e.g., access to affordable broadband, strengthening endowment governance and risk adjusted returns, workforce development in clean energy). Student Freedom Initiative collaborates with community-based organizations, businesses, and governmental entities through public-private partnerships to make sustainable, systemic changes to support the entire HBCU ecosystem.

To date, the Student Freedom Initiative has received generous contributions from Robert F. Smith, Fund 2 Foundation, Cisco, Jane Street, Prudential, and the Walmart Foundation. The program has also been acknowledged and supported by the Business Roundtable's Racial Equity & Justice Subcommittee on Education. Our ability to provide support to MSI students is based on the continued financial support of these donors and others interested in supporting our mission.

To learn more, visit www.StudentFreedomInitiative.org or find us on Twitter @StudentFreedom.