Undaunted by the fight, Nia Phipps is a current undergraduate student from Baltimore, Maryland. Nia is a Junior Economics major and Management and Organization and Japan Studies double minor attending Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia. Nia has been diagnosed with juvenile idiopathic arthritis, uveitis,
glaucoma, and a learning disability. However, she lives intentionally and has never allowed a diagnosis to apply limitations.

During high school, Nia helped to close the racial education gap by spending over 100 hours tutoring and mentoring students from Baltimore City Public Schools. Also, she studied in Japan in high school and hosted two Japanese exchange students when they traveled to the United States. Nia has spent over 100 hours volunteering to help blind and visually impaired people. She also designed and organized 50 profitable events to earn money to travel abroad with Girl Scouts of Central Maryland.

During her first year of college, she was selected to participate in the highly selective Boeing Company’s HBCU Immersion program, where her team placed second in the case competition. During her sophomore year, she participated in the Miss Sophomore pageant and raised awareness about mental health and the importance of community. As an inaugural member, Nia joined the Alt Finance Fellowship, a program dedicated to diversifying the finance industry. Nia successfully completed her first year after securing a finance internship in New York City for the summer and has proudly chosen to continue into her second year of the program. Nia spent her sophomore year summer actively working with two internship programs simultaneously. Besides working in finance, Nia worked with HBCU First as a Mentor in their near-peer mentoring program. She decided to return to HBCU First for her fall semester of Junior year and now serves as the Mentoring Program Lead.

As a junior, she is currently the vice president of the Atlanta University Center Baltimore Club, Vice president of the Pre-Alumnae Council, and Treasurer of the Future Business Leaders of Spelman. Nia devotes her time biweekly to volunteering with SpelReads, a literacy program for Atlanta elementary students. She has also spent her free time volunteering for multiple small black business startups developing websites, creative content, and essential materials, offering free administrative assistance and many other skills. Nia has continued her volunteer work to help blind and visually impaired people as she works to develop new programming and organize resources that ensure equity.

She has received many awards, including a spot-on Spelman’s Dean’s List, a citation from Baltimore City for her volunteerism, and an honorable mention on the National Japanese Exam, and she plans to aspire for more. Nia Phipps aims to lead by example through passion and dedication and aspires to enforce significant and necessary change as she continues to become a successful businesswoman.