When I asked Cam Flowers, the CEO of Floreo Labs, to share his insight about college access for first-generation students, he responded without missing a beat: “Definitely.” 

At Floreo, a creative technology innovation lab and consulting company in New York City, Flowers merges “social impact with business innovation” while teaching people “the skills they need in design, business and technology to make impact in every aspect of their lives.” Originally from Chicago, Flowers moved to New York 6 years ago and started “this wonderful company with a . . .really amazing group of friends.” 

While not first gen himself, he says that as a POC founder, creating opportunities for those without access to tech education has been central to his mission. Flowers stresses the value of skills-based education. Floreo does “a lot of education work, so it helped a lot of people learn . . .skills of tech, get jobs that they never thought that they would get, and helps people launch businesses of their own.”

A graduate of Tufts University, Flowers expresses gratitude for the access to higher education that allowed him to extend opportunities to underrepresented innovators. In fact, he mentored me for a project aimed at increasing college access and connectivity for first-gen students, the networking platform First Win Students “To see people like you go ahead and thrive in your own way means a lot to me, too,” he tells me. He says that he didn’t set out to run his own business, but was driven by the stories of those he worked with and the educational gaps he saw in society. 

He sees “so many problems that exist in the world today that it is almost an injustice to be aware of everything going on in the world and not choose to find a way to contribute positively to the wellbeing of our planet and of the people on the planet.”

Flowers’ parents were first-gen students who placed profound value on higher education. His father immigrated to the US from Belize; his mother is from Chicago. Like those of so many first gens like me, Flowers’ elder relatives were “very invested in preparing us for what that would look like.” He was raised by “a family of folks who were the first of their family to do a lot of things.” 

His relationship to education “came first from my family.” But it was not until high school that Flowers understood that “well, that's not enough to really motivate you to be going through school, because school is a job, school is hard, it's a lot of work and a lot of stress.”  As a teenager, he “got the knowledge, the vocabulary, and the feelings that made that even more apparent to me. And I think in sophomore year of school. . . all of that pressure really got to me in a way that I experienced as depression.”

He didn't know how to address that roadblock. “How do I tell my parents, who made it seem as if school was the only important thing, right? I'm feeling depressed by school in certain regards.”  His friends were “also going through similar things, and we became very close because we could relate to one another.” Exceptional teachers changed how Flowers, a scholar-athlete, viewed himself and related to academics. “I had a couple of teachers at that time that really looked out for me and made me realize, like, hey, we know you're stressing and struggling and that you're not showing your fullest potential.”

Flowers managed the pressure and started to “actually care to do the best I can to learn and show that I care about learning. I always have cared about learning. But I think the systems in which we learn have to change so that it's easier for us to learn.” He resolved to “take my education into my own hands. And that's where I was really fortunate to be able to do things like create my own major, take a bunch of different types of courses that aligned to my interests.”  An interdisciplinary curriculum prepared Flowers for the type of entrepreneurship that “I lead now.” He wants to “change the systems that we use to learn and make them easier through technology.” He considers himself “a lifelong learner” and hopes to “use that knowledge of the value of learning in all of the facets of my work.”

College applicants, he says, “have to have a sense of confidence in why you're making the decision you're making. . .paying for your education.” He believes that students can benefit from doing a  “purpose and something strategic.” Flowers raises a critical subject. “I don't think that that's something that students who come from lower class backgrounds, minority based students, racial minority based students, first generation students like you talk about.” He suggests that strategy should be baked into our academic plans. 

“I think that's one of the biggest things that a student like you and folks who are first gen that are going to college need to keep in mind too, because it's way more than to just go to school, do the class, get a good GPA.” There are, he believes, “other forms of capital that you have to develop while you're at school, right? And the networks you come into contact with, the resources at your school you interact with, those things end up being also important when it comes to after you've graduated.”

He speaks about how he navigated this challenge. “I went to a school in Massachusetts, which was a complete culture shock for me. And I identified with a lot of the friends and folks I kicked it with at school that were first generation students, I should say. So I wasn't first generation, but I ended up experiencing college in ways that were very similar to folks that were.” Peer groups matter, he says. “Find that group of close friends that you can turn to for emotional support... a dedicated group of friends that you can turn to, just to just admit ‘this is hard.’” 

Joining extracurriculars is important, too, he says, and first gens “should remember that they belong on campus ...every resource on your campus is a resource that you deserve access to, right? And that's kind of a big mental shift for a lot of folks.” But students need to be proactive. “Don't just expect that your school is going to give you everything that you need. You have to actively seek the stuff you know you need and ask around like, hey, does the school offer this? ...So really pushing and advocating for yourself, I think is important. And [that’s] easier when you have a group of people behind you.”

I ask if he would offer any more advice for students starting college now. “If I were starting school over, I would definitely say, hey, do the thing you care about. ...If you know you care about Spanish, study Spanish. But no matter what you do, study something that you know will help you be employable, like do entrepreneurship, business development, do something in technology, because you know that those are skills that get you paid at the end of the day.” Much of college entails “learning on your own,” he says, and “finding experiences.” He gathered wisdom from “seniors and folks who were older than the upperclassmen to connect with to ask them these questions.”

Flowers tapped into these resources. “I think this is a life hack. ...a cool strategy for you Gen Z folks going into college now.” He also advises that students use LinkedIn to access alumni. “Just look up people who went to your school. Once you know where you're going, just hit up people ...say, ‘Hey, I'm getting ready to go.’  If they just graduated, they're way more likely to hit you back than somebody who graduated a while ago and is probably busy with work.” People are the most valuable resource in this process, he says. “And I think seeking someone older than you to give you some insight into the landscape is going to be tremendously helpful.”

As we wrap up our interview, Flowers notes that strategies can help people “from a lower class background, predominantly from a racial or ethnic minority-based background,” and that solutions come from  “people who experience the problem first hand.”  Empathy plays an important role in this process, he says, and he is “grateful to be able to support even in a small way.”