Jackie Robinson Foundation Honors Gallatin Undergraduate
Ellison, second from left, received a $10,000 check from Unilever.
Gallatin senior Marcus Ellison (BA ’07) recently received the Jackie Robinson Foundation’s 2006 Unilever Legacy of Leadership Award for his commitment to the Student Relief Organization (SRO), a nonprofit he cofounded to promote equal access to sustainable learning for students. Ellison, a Jackie Robinson Foundation Scholar since his freshman year at NYU, has devoted many of his college weekends to helping high school students in low-income neighborhoods of New York and Boston. Meanwhile, he rounded out his Gallatin education by taking classes at NYU’s College of Arts and Science, Stern School of Business, Tisch School of the Arts, Steinhardt School of Education, and School of Continuing and Professional Studies; taking part in internships in corporate strategy at Deloitte Consulting; and going on social justice trips to Guatemala and Argentina. Jackie Robinson Foundation President and CEO Della Britton Baeza stated, “just as Jackie Robinson’s achievements transcended the baseball diamond, Marcus Ellison has been more than just an outstanding college student—he has created opportunities for disadvantaged high school students to reach their full potential.” Gallatin Today caught up with Ellison to learn what intelligence, determination, and an entrepreneurial spirit can accomplish.
GT: What was your impetus for cofounding SRO, and what was the process of establishing the organization like?
ME: My motivation: to make the world a better place. Embarking on an entrepreneurial endeavor is one of the most profound learning experiences imaginable. Establishing an organization is exciting, and at times, draining. But each day is the potential for something better and something great. It is a perpetual process of learning and improvement. In a way, the process itself is an achievement.
GT: Who were your cofounders?
ME: Michael Ellison, my identical twin brother, is chairman; I’d refer to him as one of the greatest leaders that ever lived. Lori-Ann Ramsay is CEO. Motivation and discipline are boundless in this individual. She is both the glue and the engine.
GT: What are some of SRO’s greatest achievements to date?
ME: SRO’s greatest achievement is the successful implementation of the Professional Opportunities program. It’s a program that combines experiential education, professional skills workshops, mentoring, and internships in order to help mold successful, college-bound individuals that will be able to act as incredible agents of change for their communities.
GT: How has your work for SRO been challenging and/or uplifting?
ME: There are many instances in which I’ve had to figure out how to do things with no resources. Every time I’ve found out that I need to do something that I don’t yet know how to do…that is challenging. Making progress every day, making an impact in just one person’s life…that is uplifting.
GT: What work are you doing for SRO right now?
ME: Right now we’re revamping—from a very foundational nature—the entire way SRO functions. We’re changing the name to Business Advancement and Social Entrepreneurship (BASE). A comprehensive research study is being undertaken in New York City in the fall of 2006. We have been immensely successful with fundraising campaigns and are in the process of continual expansion.
GT: As part of the Legacy of Leadership Award, Unilever gave you $10,000 to use for tuition or to donate to a charity of your choice. What are you doing with these funds?
ME: I’ve used part of the money to go towards a mentoring initiative I helped run in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. With some of the other money I produced a short film. The rest I put towards developing the infrastructure of a real estate investment and development company I cofounded, Saulter & Ellison Real Estate.
GT: What’s your concentration at Gallatin?
ME: Entrepreneurship and Social Justice. These subjects are where my passion originates; they are my beginning points for changing the world. My studies focus on understanding the world, understanding how to make things happen, and being responsible and sensitive through it all.
GT: Who is your faculty adviser?
ME: My adviser is Daniel Banks. Daniel has provided me with constant support for anything that I’ve chosen to do, including when I wasn’t even sure what I really wanted to do.
GT: Have you had any other Gallatin mentors?
ME: At a Gallatin Roundtable I met Victor Politis, a special guest speaker (see Spring 2006 Events, page 8). He is one of the most amazing individuals I’ve ever met and a true representative of many of the things I’d like to become. His words and guidance were invaluable.
GT: Now that you are in your senior year, do you have any plans for after you graduate?
I’m going to run my real estate investment and development company full time, and I’m considering some projects in St. Petersburg, Russia. Within ten years I’d like to have a magazine and make movies. I plan to be a serial social and for-profit entrepreneur. I’ll go wherever my passion takes me.