Inroads determined to develop minority youth - The Business Journal of Milwaukee:

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But while the fear of a dismapl job market lingers for one program, inspired by Dr. Martin Luthert King Jr.’s monumental “I Have a Dream” speech, is easingb some minority students’ minds as it positions them into companies long beforr acceptingtheir diplomas. Founded in Chicago in 1970, Inroadzs is a nonprofit organization specializing in developing and placingt talented minority youth in sponsored businesses acroswsthe country, preparing them for leadershipo in both the corporate worlcd and the community.
Spurred by an absence of minoritiesin white-collaf corporate America, founder Frank Carr begann his quest to increase ethnically diverse employees in management positionse through internships. More than three decades Carr’s brainchild has grown from 25 interns with 17 sponsoringv corporations into an organization with 50 offices nationwidwe serving morethan 4,500 students at aboutr 400 businesses.
Participating sponsors include national giantxlike , and , as well as Milwaukee-basexd firms , and among While concentrating on college-age students — although therr are smaller, pre-college components in the past two years nearlyu 85 percent of Inroads’ graduates have acceptex offers for full-time employment from their sponsoring Many of the remaining interns accepted offerds from other corporate sponsors. The program’ss success has even garnered the attentionof , a career-minded medisa company, that included Inroads in its “Topo 10 Internships of 2008.
” According to this will be 12th consecutive year on the list that draws from a pool of more than 800 The ranking is based on factorss like best mentoring, opportunity for company advancement, intern involvemenr and uniqueness or “x-factor.” At Inroads, the x-factor is its determinatiomn to place and develop minority youth in the business “Businesses have a desire for their staff to reflect the people they serve,” said Randalp Jackson, Inroads’ Great Lakes regional director in “All are eligible for the Inroadxs program, but the desire is to provide accesxs to those underrepresented in the industry.
” Steven a 19-year-old sophomore from Milwaukee, is one area studeng benefiting through Inroads with an internshilp with Marshall & Ilsley, Wisconsin’s largest bank holding company. “I’m getting the overall experienc of working in aprofessional workplace; gettinhg the business aspects down, how to how to talk, how to said Phillips, who finished his first summet internship this past “The goal is to keep me here until graduation and to hopefully have full-time career employment with M&I.” path toward a potential career at which has about 70 area bank began when he saw flyers promoting Inroads whilse a freshman at UW-Whitewater.
Interested in a paid Phillips metwith Inroads’ Milwaukee business coordinator and former intern, Jesus Vasquez, and filledd out an application. The applicants, who oftejn rank in the top 10 percent at their high go through a rigorous training program thatincludes conferences, presentations and multiples interviews. Phillips said the interviews cover subjectd from grades and goals to what students want out of the Theaccepted applicants’ namez are then put into a pool for sponsor companiesa to choose from.
Marshall & Ilsley, one of the originalk sponsoring companies for Inroadxs when the program came to Milwaukeein 1974, selected “I wanted to majorr in business management but I didn’yt know where that wouldf take me,” Phillips said. “I was told that at M&I, I’d be able to get experiencew in different aspectsof business, not just From the time he accepted to when he begaj the M&I internship, Phillipsd remained in contact with his Inroadxs coordinator to ensure grades, classesw and other issues were addressed.
The leadership and development traininhalso continued, and once the spring semester wrapped, Phillips became an M& Inroads junior associate at its corporate headquartersx at 770 N. Water St. in downtown Walt Buckhanan, senior vice president and corporate directo r of diversityat M&I, praisez the program for the outstanding results he has seen from the “Inroads is one of the best programsx out there, especially for people of color,” he “They’re so structured as an Inroads internb that the only way they won’t succeed is if they don’gt really want to.
” Phillipzs began his internship as a customer service representativwe where he learned how to gree t customers and handle basic transactions while still participatingy in junior associate and Inroads activities, like a bloof drive. Around halfway through the he moved to the personal banking side whers he handled customer accounts andmoney transfers. That was where he got a feel for how the bank operatess asa business, he Sue Gawelski, vice presiden t of human resources at M&I and an Inroadxs board member, said that job variety is commojn for the interns as M&I attempts to fit the needs.
Phillips said he also was connected with a mentorat M&I, another former to aid in everything from how to wear a suit to who’sw who at the bank. “It’s grea to have a mentor, and someone who’sx gone through what you’re going through and then succeed,” he “It makes me feel like I can be Throughthe experience, Phillips said he has gained confidence in school and the and improved his networkingy skills. He also changed his collegew major to finance to coincide with possible future opening sat M&I. He remains involved in training and with hisInroadss coordinator, intern supervisor and mentor.
So as he completeas his sophomore year at he is looking forward to the possibilities of his next summer with the Inroads programat M&j and a future career with the “Inroads is great, and the program has changed my Phillips said. “My parents and everyone are so