Derrius Quarles

Quarles co-founded Million Dollar Scholar after being named a Scholar of the Gates Millennium Scholars Program, Coca-Cola Scholarship, and Dell Scholarship; Derrius competitively secured over 1.1 million dollars in scholarship awards before graduating from Kenwood Academy High School in 2009. He was coined "a million dollar scholar" by education journalist Stephanie Banchero of the Chicago Tribune. As a first-generation college student, he went on to attend and graduate cum laude from Morehouse College. During his matriculation at Morehouse, Derrius studied sociology, biology, and public health and wrote the thesis, Falling Through the Cracks which examined the United States' child welfare system and inequities in outcomes for Black foster youth. He and co-founder Ras Asan Olugbenga secured the majority of Million Dollar Scholar's early investments by winning top prizes from some of the most prestigious and competitive entrepreneurship competitions across the United States including the: Yale School of Management Education Business Plan Competition, Tavis Smiley Social Innovation Challenge, and Miller Lite's Tap the Future Competition. To date, Million Dollar Scholar has assisted students in gaining over $5,500,000 in scholarships and grants for post-secondary education through its online platform and impacted the lives of over 55,000 low-income students in the United States. == BREAUX Capital ==

Derrius is the Co-Founder of BREAUX Capital, the first financial health platform and community for Black Men. The company provides Black Men a space "where Members can pool their savings, invest collectively, and gain financial knowledge via peer networks". BREAUX Capital has been awarded honors for its focus on Black men in the financial services and its business model. With Membership representing neighborhoods within Atlanta, Los Angeles, Raleigh-Durham, New York City, Chicago, New Orleans, Tucson, Houston, and Washington DC – BREAUX Capital serves a diverse client base across North America. BREAUX Capital started after a conversation between Derrius and Ras Asan in 2015 and is built upon ethnographic and behavioral economics research led by Derrius while studying Education Entrepreneurship at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education. In May 2016, BREAUX Capital secured a grant from the National Science Foundation's I-Corps Program to perform market research and collect data on the overall financial wellness of Black millennials and the factors that impact the ability of Black millennials to be financially healthy. In April 2018, Inc. magazine included Derrius and BREAUX Capital co-founder Ras Asan on its list of 30 Under 30 entrepreneurs, highlighting their innovative business model of engaging Black male millennials to automate their savings for long-term asset accumulation. ==Books==

• Million Dollar Scholar: Winning The Scholarship Race (2012) ==References==