DEAN’S REPORT | PHILANTHROPY
BUSINESS COMMUNITY SUPPORTS BUSINESS EDUCATION
Building the Future for UCR Business Beverly and Scott Bailey’s $1 million pledge to the School of Business will help create and maintain a new complex for professional development and community engagement
The Bailey family includes, from left, Brandon, Alyssa, Beverly, Scott, and Kyler.
Beverly Bailey knows a thing or two
50 Fastest Growing Women-Owned/Led
Entrepreneur of the Year for the
about building things.
Companies.
Inland Empire in 2000, the 2016
As a student at Riverside City College,
Their recent $1 million pledge to UC
she helped her boyfriend, Scott, hang
Riverside helps build a bright future
patio covers on the weekends. When
for the university’s School of Business:
she turned 20, she bought and ran
The endowed gift will provide building-
a small café in Chino, putting her
maintenance funds for the new
entrepreneurial spirit to the test as
business school complex.
she worked some of the longest days of her life. Then, she earned her real estate license, making a living helping
“The designation of this gift is to support the maintenance operations
people build their dream homes.
of the new school [building]. Being in
She married Scott, and for the
into disrepair because maintenance
past 30 years, they’ve expanded
costs were never thought about or
Stronghold Engineering, a company
factored in,” says Beverly. “We envision
they started from their kitchen
a state-of-the art facility that will
table that is now one of the premier
feed the minds of potential hungry
general contracting firms in Southern
entrepreneurs and be a catalyst for
California; it is ranked among the
relevant, local, and international
top 10 minority- and women-owned
business education.”
construction companies in the nation and was recognized by the Women’s Presidents’ Organization as one of the
16
business.ucr.edu
construction, I have seen facilities fall
Beverly’s success as president and CEO of Stronghold has garnered her top awards: the Ernst & Young
Enterprising Woman of the Year Award, 2020 American Heart Association Legendary Women of the Heart, 2020 Outstanding Philanthropist of the Year Award, and most recently, the 2021 Construction Leader of the Year Award at the Women in Energy Leadership Summit. Currently serving as both a UCR Foundation trustee and outgoing chair for the School of Business Dean’s Advisory Council, Beverly was also a School of Business executive fellow, and along with Scott, established the Executive Fellows Endowed Scholarship Fund. “The school is full of gratitude, and we’re honored to be a friend and partner of Beverly Bailey,” says Yunzeng Wang, dean of the UCR School of Business. “Her recent expression of generosity is very exciting and will help build momentum in support of the new state-of-the-art facility.” ‒ By Sarah Nightingale
