At UMD, learning is transformative in many ways. For James Poindexter ’23, it launched a career that all started with a conversation after class. When Cloudforce Founder and CEO Husein Sharaf visited Poindexter’s Essentials of Negotiations and Marketing for Entrepreneurs class as part of the Southern Management Leadership Program (SMLP), Poindexter took the opportunity to research, ask questions and grow.

Now, he’s a Cloud Solutions Administrator for the company—a Gold Partner Microsoft Consultancy and leader in AI Solutions for businesses and higher education institutions.

We talked with Poindexter about his experiences in the scholarship program, which creates an affordable, supportive pathway from community colleges in Prince George’s and Montgomery counties to University of Maryland. This impactful model provides students like Poindexter with up to two-thirds tuition in scholarships, individual mentorship, and education in entrepreneurship and leadership development.

I attended Prince George's Community College back in 2020. There was an open house and the program representative was at a table. I told them I would love to develop my leadership skills, to be more business-oriented. I took a shot in the dark and applied.

Before PGCC, I attended a different university. I went in not knowing anyone and it was isolating. So to come to UMD with a group of friends already established because of this program’s cohort made it easier to get out and experience what UMD had to offer.

There were classes on basic business terminology and reading and understanding financial reports. Another one was about understanding an entrepreneurial mindset. A class that I really enjoyed was a negotiations course. We did mock negotiations with actual investors. We negotiated how much we could get for our minimal viable product.

I keep going back to that negotiations class because it had such a payoff for me. Husein Sharaf, Cloudforce’s CEO, was a guest speaker to talk about startup negotiations. We were tasked with researching the guest speaker coming in at least a week in advance. I spent a lot of time looking at the Cloudforce website to be ready to ask questions. I remember sitting in the front row taking my notes. I was laser-focused and asked as many questions as I could.

After class, I talked to Husein and said, “How can I learn more about Cloudforce? I just learned about cloud computing in a class. I’m not really familiar with the consulting space but would love to learn more. Would you have any opportunities available?” And then he said, “I'll get you in touch with our HR team to see if there are any roles available.” About a month later, I got an interview. I was hired as an intern as soon as I graduated. I moved from there to a Cloud Solutions Associate and now I’m a Cloud Solutions Administrator.

The partnership between this program and Cloudforce is such a good one because it allows so many students to find out more than just what the classroom teaches you and have an opportunity to be a part of this important field—business. Keeping that partnership alive in any capacity is really helpful for the next generation of Terps. Cloudforce is actually hosting an event to benefit the program on April 9 and anyone is encouraged to attend and learn more!

Support this transformative program or email Director Sara Herald with any questions. All funds raised count toward Forward: the University of Maryland’s Campaign for the Fearless, the university’s largest fundraising initiative to date with a goal to raise $2.5 billion. Join the Fearless and help us move Forward for tomorrow’s trailblazers.