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Curiosity Leads to Passion The Shepherd Poverty Program put Brent Beshore '05 on a different career path than the one he imagined.

Brent-Beshore-1 Curiosity Leads to PassionBrent Beshore ’05

Brent Beshore ’05 is a successful entrepreneur and venture capitalist who is on the Alumni Advisory Committee. He received a Distinguished Alumni Award from the university in 2015.

Q: How did the Shepherd Program shape your years at W&L?
The Shepard Program started off as a curiosity and then became my passion. It opened me up to a completely different world than I had experienced and made me realize how unusual my life had been. It provided humility, self-awareness, and a depth of gratitude that I hadn’t previously experienced.

Q: How did the Shepherd Program impact your career/graduate studies?
The Shepherd Program put me on a completely different trajectory. It gave me a new “why” for all the striving. I consider alleviating others’ suffering to be a core component of my life. It made me kinder, more nuanced in my thinking, and helped me to understand the overwhelming complexity of human capability.

Q: Why is this program important for W&L?
This may sound over the top, but I can’t imagine W&L without the Shepherd Program. When I think of the university, I think of the Shepherd Program. It’s a wellspring of interdisciplinary education, meaningful interaction, and an incredible source of lifelong relationships. What it offers to the school and its students is priceless.

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