Pinky Cole Hayes Surprises Savannah State University Graduates with $8.75 Million Donation During His Commencement Address

Pinky Cole Hayes knows what it’s wish to overcome adversity in business. Now he’s laying the inspiration for future leaders who will give you the option to travel a neater path to success.

While speaking at Savannah State University’s 2024 commencement ceremony, founder Slutty vegan and Bar Vegan surprised graduates with an $8.75 million gift, individual memberships in Operation Hope’s support organization, and free in-kind services that include:

• Entrepreneurship education resources
• Mentoring from 1MBB, including individual financial advice
• An eight-week training course for small businesses, including marketing strategy development courses and credit and money management courses
• 3 months free on Shopify to construct an e-commerce platform for young entrepreneurs ready to begin a business

1MBB is a collaborative effort between Operation HOPE and Shopify to support a stronger Black business ecosystem by 2030.

“I am passionate about raising the next generation of leaders and entrepreneurs in our world,” says Cole Hayes in a press release. “I know firsthand what it means to have a mentor and how someone believing in your dream can make a difference. This graduating class has experienced a lot of adversity. Their college years began with a global pandemic and they faced unprecedented events. Through all this, they have grown and are ready to enter the “real world” with more experience and confidence to face life’s new challenges. I believe in these graduates and hope this gift will help them move on to the next stage of their lives.”

Coles Hayes has achieved extraordinary success in lower than a decade since launching its plant-based fast food brand Slutty Vegan in 2018. While growth could seem fluid, Cole Hayes has been open in regards to the challenges she has faced on her entrepreneurial journey.

As she writes in her latest book, I Hope You Fail, Cole Hayes shares that she has dreamed of economic security her whole life. After a hearth destroyed a New York restaurant, she put every part into the constructing and went back to square one, working hard to make another person’s dream come true. Shortly thereafter, she decided to strike out on her own, and the remaining is history. Her latest chapter supports aspiring business leaders and changemakers in making their dreams come true.

“Since I founded Operation HOPE, it has been based on my experience as a young black entrepreneur who was willing to walk down the ladder with one hand to lift people up with me. Entrepreneurship is a path to success that I discovered thanks to a banker who came to my elementary school to teach financial literacy and taught me what an entrepreneur is. This banker changed my life,” said Operation HOPE CEO John Hope Bryant in a press release shared with ESSENCE. “Pinky Cole Hayes is a living example of what happens when a brilliant idea meets an opportunity. With 1MBB, we want to offer opportunities to implement as many brilliant ideas as we can, and we are excited to partner with Pinky to help elevate the next generation of Black entrepreneurial excellence,” says John Hope Bryant, CEO and founding father of Operation HOPE.