Darren Stephens, a senior at Clark Atlanta University’s School of Business, has been announced as the winner of the inaugural Bloomberg and HBCU ESG Trading Challenge.
The Bloomberg and HBCU ESG Trading Challenge is a new virtual investment competition that was launched by business news company Bloomberg.
The challenge is aimed towards Black students throughout America that are underrepresented in the finance industry, and was started to help them to gain the knowledge and skills necessary to compete for finance careers, according to Bloomberg.
Over 60 students — including Stephens — from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) competed in the challenge, testing their respective knowledge on finance.
The competition took place completely through the Bloomberg Terminal, which is a computer software system that enables users to work with financial data.
At the conclusion of the challenge, Stephens was declared the winner of the competition after putting his investment skills on display.
“This was my first time interacting with the Bloomberg Terminal, and the Bloomberg team did a great job teaching me how to navigate and complete analytical research on companies,” said Stephens. “I learned through this experience that investing requires you to take risks.”
During their participation in the challenge, students received access to the Bloomberg for Education ESG Certificate course. The course taught the students about sustainable investing, among other finance-related subjects.
After the course was finished, the students received a certificate of completion, which Bloomberg says can be utilized for career-related means, such as resumes or LinkedIn profiles.
“Bloomberg for Education aims to better equip university students for the everchanging financial world,” said Emily Perrucci, Bloomberg Global Head of User Support. “These interactive courses give students the opportunity to grow their working knowledge and familiarize themselves with the Bloomberg Terminal.”
In addition to gaining educational knowledge, the participating students also attained valuable job interviewing and resume building support from Bloomberg recruiters, according to the company.