Jun 20
by Jeff Fannell & Associates in Events 0 comments tags: A Better Chance, ABC, College, MLBPA, Scholarship, student support, Students

A Mission of Hope

  Recently, my wife and I were blessed to attend the 2017 A Better Chance Awards Luncheon in New York City.  We were guests of one of the honorees, Tony Clark, the Executive Director of the Major League Baseball Players Association.  Joining Tony as honorees were Marvin R. Ellison, Chairman and CEO of JCPenney, and David Coleman, President and CEO of The College Board.  Though each of the award recipients was impressive, the work of the organization and the beneficiaries of that work stole the show.   According to its printed and digital materials, the mission of A Better Chance “is to increase substantially the number of well-educated young people of color who are capable of assuming positions of responsibility and leadership in American society.”  ABC achieves this through its College Preparatory Schools Program, which recruits, refers and supports about 500 student scholars in grades 6-12 at more than 300 member schools in 27 states.  Through ABC, these students gain access to rigorous educational opportunities at some of the most prestigious college preparatory schools in the nation.  Since 1963, ABC “has been finding talent in communities where it is often overlooked and placing it in the path of opportunity.”   […]
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Jun 19
by Jeff Fannell in Uncategorized 0 comments tags: College, Scholarship, Sports business, sports law, student support

Scholarship Update

  Back in January, I posted about my desire to create an academic scholarship as a way to express my gratitude for all of the help and the blessings I have received over the course of my studies and my career.  Several people were kind enough to reach out to offer advice and guidance.  Now, less than six months later, I am overjoyed to announce the creation of the Fannell Family Scholarship at my law school alma mater, St. John’s University School of Law in Queens, NY.   Through a pledge of $50,000, combined with a dollar-for-dollar match from the Brennan Family Scholarship Matching Program once the pledge threshold is met, we will have a $100,000 endowed scholarship at St. John’s Law that will provide one or more partial scholarships each year to an African-American student with a demonstrated interest in labor and employment law.  One of the beauties of the endowed scholarship is that once created, the capital is preserved, providing financial assistance to generations of students in perpetuity.   I am thrilled at the opportunity, through the scholarship, to help others as others have helped me.  My sincere thanks to Philip Maroney, Advancement Officer at St. John’s, for […]
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Jan 30
by Jeff Fannell in Uncategorized 0 comments tags: College, Scholarship, Sports business, sports law, Students, Support

Looking to lend a hand

We all are products of our experiences and how we choose to navigate them. In my case, dropping out of college is one of several indelible marks on my soul. I was one of those “most likely to succeed” cats coming out of high school, so dropping out of college a few months later was an unexpected re-write. Remaining a college drop-out for the next eight years was humbling and sometimes disorienting, as I watched former high school classmates repeatedly lap me on the career track. When I got an opportunity to go back to college, thanks to the intervention of a dear family friend, I made the most of it and graduated with honors. When that same family friend encouraged me to apply to law school, I turned a deaf ear. With a wife and two children to care for, I needed to get out of the classroom and into the job market – or so I thought. After a year of rejections and disappointments, I bit the bullet, took the LSAT and applied to law school. By now, we had three children, so the family demands were increasing. I applied to only one law school – St. John’s Law in Queens, NY. It was the […]
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Sep 03
by Jeff Fannell in Basketball, NBA, People 0 comments tags: Basketball, Charity, Hometown Hero, Lebron James, Philanthropy, Scholarship

Lebron James Gets It.

Photo credit: Jason Miller via Getty Images There are a lot of LeBron James haters out there. As independent-thinking people, everyone is entitled to his or her opinion. To be sure, there are some who have never gotten over “The Decision.” When LeBron left his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers as a free agent and “took his talents” to South Beach, there were millions of people who vilified him and have never forgiven him for it. Who can forget the footage of the irate fans in the streets of Cleveland burning LeBron’s jersey? Or Cavaliers’ owner Dan Gilbert’s ill-conceived letter in which he called LeBron “our former hero” who “cowardly betrayed” Cavs fans. Gilbert blasted LeBron’s decision as “heartless” and “callous” and told Cleveland fans that they could “take it to the bank” that the Cavs would win a championship before LeBron would. (Whoever took Gilbert up on this promise found the bank not only closed, but out of business!). Of course, now is all forgiven in Cleveland because LeBron returned home last year and promptly led the woebegone Cavs to the NBA Finals. LeBron, indeed, is a lightning rod for many. Although I am not a Cavs fan, I am a […]
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