Meet Brandon Comer, a Champion of Financial Literacy in Our Community

Born in Gary, Indiana, Brandon Comer is a man whose passion for both finance and entrepreneurship was ignited at an early age. He was introduced to the world of finance on a personal level when his father gifted him stock for his 9th birthday. Learning that he was an "owner" of major corporations like Coca-Cola and Nike created a mindset that would inspire him to bring value, positive change and financial independence to people in his community for the rest of his life.

Wanting to be around Black people who were truly about achieving great things in life he found himself at Xavier University in New Orleans. During his time there, he launched his first official company that consulted people on starting their business. Over time, he wanted to learn more about the market and the role it played in the whole financial system. He saw how the financial ecosystem worked and the more he studied it the more intrigued he became and realized that most people have a very limited knowledge base and experience with the financial ecosystem, and didn't appreciate the impact that it has on their lives. That has been a major driver for him from a financial literacy standpoint. He ensures that people know more than just the basics and allows them to understand that they are impacted on so many different levels by the decisions that they make.

When we asked him about what finance means to him he says, "Finance is more than money. It's in essence that component that frankly makes most things possible. Finance is that thought around how to ensure things move and operate efficiently whether that's from a personal perspective or business perspective and how to capitalize those things that are essential for whatever purpose."

When Brandon began to appreciate his financial acumen, he began to see that something that started as a sense of intrigue, actually became something that reinvigorated the interest in financial wealth in our community starting with Black banks. He has also worked on deals that have helped save HBCU's and hospitals that serve predominantly Black communities from closing. Brandon has recently partnered with the city of St. Louis to create a college kid savings program from parking revenue. Every kid starts off public school with a college savings account. This increases the likelihood of them graduating college.

Brandon offers these financial tips:

• We need to better appreciate our collective financial power. Understand our contributions to the economy

• Understand the markets and what building wealth looks like.

• Learn how to avoid unnecessary financial pitfalls. Learn about investing, good credit.

• Appreciations for the institutions that serve us and the resources they are lacking without our support. Investing in them allows them to thrive and continue to support our community.

Brandon Comer is a brother that has been gifted with a strong financial acumen who has been utilizing that and walking in purpose to help communities businesses, HBCU's and more access capital and increase their financial position. He believes that with the implementation of more conversations surrounding finance we can start to strengthen the financial infrastructure in our homes and our community.

To learn more about Brandon and his Comer Capital business, visit his website.