FedEx and Point Foundation join to support LGBTQ students
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) has been a cornerstone at FedEx for nearly 50 years. We are committed to empowering diverse voices and providing access to leadership, education, and employment opportunities that inspire people to succeed.
Among the many diverse investments the company makes are a wide variety of college scholarship organizations, including the Point Foundation. Point Foundation’s mission is to “empower promising lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) students to achieve their full academic and leadership potential-despite the obstacles often put before them-to make a significant impact on society.” FedEx supports a named four-year scholarship, and in the current academic year, Point is supporting over 400 students through four-year scholarship programs with ambitions to reach 500 supported next year. Let’s look at one of these remarkable students.
Meet Andrew Ntim. Born to a low-income father from Ghana and raised in the conservative suburbs of rural Illinois, Andrew’s early years were marked by discrimination—both institutional and interpersonal—at the intersection of his diverse identities. Coming to terms with his pansexuality throughout middle and high school in the midst of economic and familial upheaval, as well as the harassment and marginalization that he faced early on motivated him to fight for others with similar experiences.
Once Andrew began his studies at Stanford University in 2014, he worked extensively in advocacy, direct service, and academic projects focused on mental health, LGBTQIA+ issues, and social justice.
At The Bridge, a student-run mental health counseling clinic, Andrew worked with LGBTQIA+ campus community centers to develop mental health and cultural competency trainings for student staff, coordinating the work of 70 counselors. At Stanford, Andrew also performed with “The Freeks,” a queer theater and drag troupe, and conducted research on prison programming and the collateral consequences of punishment.
After graduating from Stanford in 2018 with a B.A. in Public Policy, Andrew began working at Arnold Ventures as a Criminal Justice Fellow. At Arnold, Andrew focused on promoting research and policy, ensuring that marginalized people have access to defense counsel in criminal courts. In 2019, Andrew entered Yale Law School, continuing to focus his efforts on public service. Andrew says, “Point funding and programming has been instrumental to every one of my personal and academic goals that I have pursued while here at Yale. Receiving funding has helped me to pursue unpaid activist work while in school along with pursuing a less lucrative public interest career without worrying about debt.”
At Yale, Andrew works on initiatives for LGBTQIA+ causes and social justice as a committed member of the Black Law Students Association and OutLaws.
Following law school, Andrew hopes to use impact litigation to help end the mass criminalization of queer, black, and brown people, and help build movements for LGBTQIA+, economic, and racial justice in the criminal justice reform space.
“I’m so honored to be a FedEx Point Scholar, not only because of the ways that it’s impacted my own academic journey, but also because of the ways I have been able to impact the future generations of LGBTQ+ leaders.”