Growing up in East Palo Alto, California, amid the crack cocaine epidemic, Douglass J. Fort lost friends to jail and gun violence and was shot twice at the age of thirteen. Despite the chaos, he was a gifted student. However, by high school, he shunned books for the fast life. “Being a nerd wasn’t cultivated where I’m from,” he said. “Maybe if it had been, I wouldn’t have gotten caught up in the streets.”
After high school, a friend suggested he apply to Jackson State University (JSU). Yet, when Fort was accepted, he was hesitant to leave the Bay. “An older O.G. I ran with told me it would be the best decision.” When he stepped foot on the JSU campus, Fort said, “I became myself.” He majored in Criminal Justice with a minor in Urban Affairs/Development and, after graduation, returned home to start the violence prevention program For Youth By Youth.
The pursuit for excellence that JSU instilled in Fort was something he had hoped to pass on to his son, who earned a full-ride sports scholarship to Atlanta’s Morehouse College but opted instead to play D1 football at a predominately white institution. “I was heartbroken,” Fort recalled. His close friend, Troy Brown, a Howard University graduate and his son’s godfather, argued that he had to let his son chart his own path. He suggested focusing on students who wanted an HBCU experience. “Only 1% of athletes make it to the NFL; we’re hustling backward, focusing on sports over academics,” Fort asserted. “We need to talk to our kids more about being scientists, mathematicians and doctors.” His goal was to shift that energy.
In 2016, he started The BLERD Academy (a blend of the words “Black” and “Nerd”), a non-profit wealth-building program that assists high-achieving Black American students to graduate from more than 100 HBCUs debt-free. While working at a Bay Area Black College Expo, he met honor roll student Philip Patrick Jr. “When I asked P.J. about his grades, he rattled off a 3.6 GPA and 28 ACT score like it was nothing.” Fort offered the teen a JSU Presidential scholarship on the spot.
PJ’s mom, Allison, was shocked. “I wanted my kids to be at schools where they would be celebrated, not tolerated, see professors and administrators that looked like them, and cultivate lasting friendships and professional networks,” she said. “JSU was that and more.” Patrick graduated in 2020 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology/Pre-Med and is now in the third year of a five-year program at UC Irvine School of Medicine in Orange County, California, completing a Master of Science degree in Public Health and a medical degree to become a cardiac anesthesiologist; the university finances both degrees. He is also engaged to BLERD Makaelah Murray, a student at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine.
“They’re our first success story,” Fort beamed.
But not the only one.
Since 2016, Fort has secured over $8 million in academic/athletic scholarships for 63 students. PJ’s sister, Marissa, graduated from Hampton University with a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting and a Master of Science degree in Enterprise Risk Management from Columbia University, debt-free. She now lives in New York and works as a Solution Consultant at the accounting firm Deloitte. Two BLERDs are Obama-Chesky Voyager Scholars, one working in the front for the NFL’s Chicago Bears. Several others are in fully financed graduate programs.
Fort looks for students with a 3.5 GPA, a 28 ACT score, or a 1300 SAT score for full-ride scholarships; or a minimum 3.2 GPA, a 23 ACT score, or an 1130 SAT score for tuition-only scholarships. Participation in AP and/or Honors classes, community service and school leadership is also beneficial.
His work has gotten busier since the U.S. Supreme Court ruling (Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College and Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. the University of North Carolina) struck down Affirmative Action in college admissions. Several HBCUs saw a surge in applications, including Howard University, Clark-Atlanta University and Florida A&M. “Parents aren’t aware of just how much money and resources are available to their high achieving kids,” Fort explained. “They’ve excelled in the classroom and deserve to reap the rewards.”
Now advising the class of 2029, Fort encourages his students to leverage their BLERD and secure their bag of money through graduate school. “If they can get that MBA or Law Degree debt-free, they can travel, get married, buy a home and start beautiful Black families faster.” Ask why he is so committed to this mission and Fort responds without hesitation: “It’s a spiritual calling, a ministry,” he said. “Black young men are vital to the growth of our community. They are the ones who will be the providers for their families. We exist to build a Black, educated, resourceful, and determined community, one BLERD at a time.”
To learn more about The BLERD Academy, visit theblerdacademy.org.
