Access Is a Game Changer

I knew from an early age that I was different. I grew up a Black kid in an Irish Catholic family in Kankakee, Ill. My father was absent, and my mother had dropped out of high school to have me. I worked hard — both in the classroom and in sports — not just to succeed, but to belong. Yet, I never truly did. And I wanted more. 

College had never been part of the conversation in my family. No one had gone. But after I scored well on a military aptitude test, a recruiting officer suggested I consider ROTC. When I learned it could pay for school, I saw a way forward. I didn’t even think about applying to schools out of state. In fact, I applied to just one: Northwestern. It had a great wrestling team, and I had wrestled in high school. To my surprise, I got in — with a full scholarship that made ROTC unnecessary. (Though, ironically, I did not make the wrestling team!)  

Northwestern was my golden ticket. For the first time, I was surrounded by students and professors of extraordinary caliber. Fascinated by how people think and make decisions, I started out as a psychology major. But in my sophomore year, the university changed its financial aid formula, increasing my expected contribution. It was not much by some standards — just a few thousand dollars — but it was more than I had. My mother couldn’t contribute, and I feared I would have to drop out.  

So, I turned to my grandfather, the most formative person in my life. Even now, it nearly brings me to tears, because he made many financial sacrifices to keep me in school. Northwestern also required students to have a computer, which I couldn’t afford. My grandfather co-signed a loan — at a staggering 22% interest rate — to buy a Macintosh. I remember calculating how much that loan would grow to by the time I graduated; it was a significant portion of his net worth. Yet, despite having only a seventh- or eighth-grade education, he understood what a college degree could mean for me. He never hesitated. And I never took his sacrifice for granted.  

With my growing student loans in mind, I switched my major to economics with a minor in psychology. At the time, I didn’t realize I was building a foundation in what is now known as behavioral economics — an emerging field back then. That foundation helped me when I landed on Wall Street, where I initially felt outmatched by my Ivy League peers. But I soon realized that my background and liberal arts education — far from being a disadvantage — gave me a unique edge. My ability to think differently, to see human psychology at play in markets, became my strength. That mindset still defines how I operate today as the leader of a global investment firm. 

Northwestern didn’t just shape my career — it changed the arc of my life. I found a brotherhood in Alpha Phi Alpha, which strengthened and supported me in ways I had never experienced. And I gained access to opportunities I never dreamed of. One of my work-study jobs was operating the audiovisual equipment for campus events, which meant I got to meet visitors ranging from the hip-hop group De La Soul to the U.S. attorney general and numerous academic luminaries. By my senior year, I was elected president of the Associated Student Government, advocating for students to have a voice at the table with the University’s Board of Trustees.  

Now, I sit on the other side of that table. As a Northwestern trustee and chair of the student life committee, I work to ensure that students’ voices are not just heard but valued. Talk about a full-circle moment.  

I believe talent is equally distributed, but access is not. Opportunity should not be dictated by the circumstances of birth. And support must extend beyond financial aid — it takes mentorship, advocacy and a true investment in students’ futures. Too many promising students fall through the cracks. I was lucky. I had my grandfather. But many don’t have that safety net. 

In 2011 I founded SEO Scholars San Francisco, a college access nonprofit that now serves over 500 low-income, first-generation public high school students in the Bay Area — providing mentorship and resources to help them get to and through four-year colleges, including Northwestern.  

As an investor, you plant seeds that compound into something bigger. There is no better investment than empowering young, ambitious minds to reach their full potential.  

Adam R. Karr ’93 is president and portfolio manager at Orbis Investments and founder of SEO Scholars San Francisco. He holds an MBA from Harvard University and serves as vice chairman of the Northwestern Board of Trustees. Two of his children currently attend Northwestern.