Spike Lee and Gersh are collaborating on the Atlanta University Center Consortium’s undergraduate Spike Fellows program

Filmmaker Spike Lee is partnering with The Gersh Agency to create the Spike Fellows Program, an award that supports students from the Atlanta University Center Consortium, which consists of three historically black colleges and universities: Morehouse College, Spelman College and Clark Atlanta University.

The Spike Fellows program is based on the principle that access plus exposure creates opportunity. The first class will consist of five AUCC graduates — selected by a panel that includes Lee, the AUCC community and Gersh management — who will receive academic debt relief, industry mentorship, graduate internships and full-time employment from Gersh.

Gersh’s Head of Culture Jayson Raad will oversee the program, to which Lee and the agency have made a multi-year commitment. The first cycle starts this month.

“It is my great honor, privilege and pleasure to announce the Spike Fellows in collaboration with my partners The Gersh Agency and the AUCC,” said Lee. “From the jump, right from the start, I knew when (not if) I was going to open a crack in the door, I captured as many black and brown people in front of and behind the camera as I could.”

Lee is an AUCC graduate who graduated from Morehouse and took classes at Spelman. Because of this, he says he knows the quality of education at the HBCUs “first hand.” “I am who I am because of my grandmother (Zimmie Jackson) and my mother (Jacquelyn Shelton Lee), who both graduated from Spelman College. I am who I am because of my grandfather (Richard Jackson Shelton) and father (William Lee), who both graduated from Morehouse,” muses Lee. “It was on Spelman and Morehouse’s campus that they met, fell in love and got married. As my parents always told me: ‘Deeds, not words’.”

“As an industry leader, we have always taken seriously the responsibility to build a more diverse, dynamic ecosystem where people of all races, backgrounds and experiences can thrive,” said Leslie Siebert, Senior Managing Partner of Gersh. “We are honored that Spike has chosen us as its first partner and we are proud to welcome the first five Spike Fellows to our organization.”

“I have joined Gersh to take the lead in identifying strong opportunities and defining moments to advance cultural competence and accelerate social impact,” the Board concluded. “As an HBCU graduate, I am very proud of Gersh and Spike for their commitment to expanding opportunities for AUCC graduates.”

Lee is an Academy Award winner and four-time nominee who frequently uses his works as a vehicle to reflect on pressing social issues, including race relations, in the United States. He began his career in the late 1970s, most recently directing the HBO Max docuseries New York Epicenters 9/11-2021½the Emmy Award-winning film version of the acclaimed Broadway show David Byrne’s American UtopiaThe war drama in Vietnam Since 5 blood for Netflix, the Netflix series She must have it based on his own classic 1986 film starring John David Washington BlackKkKlansmanwhich won the 2018 Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Like Lee, Gersh comes to the Spike Fellows program with a long history of supporting social causes, both as an agency and in support of its clients.