Opening Doors: Trevor Rozier-Byrd (LAW’10)

Bostonia: You just launched. What’s the early interest?

Early feedback from the Stackwell app is overwhelmingly positive and reinforces many of the reasons why I founded Stackwell. We are really pleased to see how the app is performing just a week after launching. Our users really appreciate the intentionality with which the product was built, and they appreciate the simplicity in terms of use and design and accessibility.

When we were building the platform, we sought to address the barriers that were pervasive across the Black community head-on. At its core, Stackwell’s platform is designed specifically to overcome the fear and mistrust of the financial system and institutions in this country, and empower individuals to see a space for themselves in investing.

Our model portfolios facilitate the process of getting started and address lack of guidance and proximity to the markets. Our financial wellness and education content answer for the lack of information that is culturally congruent and give people confidence to opt in. And the low-cost entry and subscription fees help assuage heightened risk aversion and concerns people have about investing without a safety net.

We feel confident and excited about how people are responding to the product. And the strength of our strategic partnerships will allow us to introduce ourselves to the community in authentic ways and develop a strong user base. This will, in turn, help us drive the impact we’re trying to see. We look forward to expanding and diversifying our partnerships across other sectors over time.

Additionally, Stackwell has an influential student ambassador program that launched earlier this year that works with student-athletes to raise awareness about building wealth in the Black community. We have 30-plus ambassadors at 15 schools, including several ambassadors from Boston University. One of the best examples I can think of: one of our ambassadors has helped several of her family members to open a Stackwell account, including her grandmother! We are seeing the platform fostering discussions across generations in her family about money, investing, and wealth—all in real time.

Bostonia: Who opened doors for you in your life and business career?

My parents created tremendous opportunities for our family, which afforded me the opportunity to go to schools like Boston College and later, BU LAW. I’ve been fortunate to have a number of mentors, advisors, and friends who have invested in me personally and professionally and who have had a significant impact on my ability to achieve success in my business career. I’m proud to say many of these individuals were classmates at BU LAW or alums of the school, and remain friends today. Specifically, within BU LAW, these people were particularly impactful: Professor Tamar Frankel, Tom Farrell (LAW’91), Mike Fricklas (LAW‘84), Wendell Taylor (LAW’95), Eugene Holmes (LAW’95), Jamie Whitney (LAW‘94), Sharee Eriks (LAW’10), Gursimarjit Singh (LAW’10), Ross Epstein (LAW’10), and Daniel Broderick (LAW’10).

Bostonia: Was LAW opening and welcoming toward you?

Yes, very much so. I attended law school at the height of the financial crisis, which was a tough time to be in graduate school. Because of that, networking became more important in law school than it had been previously. There were a number of BU LAW alums who were very giving of their time, willing to mentor and help me build a network to gain access to potential opportunities. Almost all jobs that I’ve had in my post–law school career came through a BU alum connection. And beyond the jobs themselves, there are many other opportunities that have come as a result of being a part of the BU LAW community. As I left my job to found Stackwell, my first outside investor was a BU LAW alum, and many of my classmates have been early investors.

Bostonia: What can people do in their workplaces to make them more diverse and welcoming?  And what can financial services firms, including established ones, do to help address the wealth gap?

There is a need for financial services firms to focus on intentionally serving the needs of a broader, more diverse set of consumers. It’s similar to the diversity conversation in the workplace: many firms acknowledge the importance of diversity, but their actions are not sustained over time. If financial services firms are actually focused on solving this problem, they need to be intentionally invested in actions that match their words. This includes being more sensitive and aware to the problems that the Black community faces, and committed to investing in these communities to better serve their needs.

At the core of solving the racial wealth gap is the need to address, and correct, long-term societal challenges, such as the long-held misperception about needing wealth to be able to start investing, and being thoughtful and inclusive with educational materials and resources. If we can get to the root issues and offer solutions, we can effect monumental change.