Billionaire philanthropist and entrepreneur Robert F. Smith and renowned author Deepak Chopra are launching The Soul of Leadership, a program focusing on the mental health and leadership development of the Black community.
According to a press release, the partnership is facilitated by Chopra’s NeverAlone movement, which will focus on providing mental health services and leadership development courses to Black youth who are interested in entrepreneurship.
“In order to build the leaders of tomorrow, first we must set a solid foundation where young people can fully thrive,” Robert F. Smith, founder, chairman, and CEO of Vista Equity Partners said. “Addressing mental health is a critical component of this leadership development. By arming Black youth with tools to understand their mental and emotional needs, we are setting them on the path to success and creating empathetic leaders of the future that have a greater capacity for understanding and navigating the world around them.”
This is one of Smith’s many significant contributions to the advancement of the Black community. Smith will donate $15 million to Cornell University’s College of Engineering to support underrepresented students. Additionally, he paid the outstanding tuition costs for the entire Morehouse graduating class in 2019.
“I am privileged to work with Robert F. Smith on this much-needed initiative for the empowerment of our future leaders, particularly from the Black American community,” Dr. Deepak Chopra, founder of The Chopra Foundation, stated in a news release. “As our nation focuses greater attention on the current mental health epidemic, we must deploy our resources in an equitable manner to ensure that everyone is able to receive the help they need.”
Beginning in early 2023, The Soul of Leadership will be a free online catalog of leadership development courses.
