How $5M Is Helping Black Students Prepare for and Land Corporate Jobs

Research shows that only 5% of senior executives at Fortune 500 companies are Black or Latino despite that 30% of Americans belong to those racial groups.

To help change the leadership gap, at least five companies, including General Electric, Biogen, Epic Games, EY, and Nespresso, and others are investing $5 million this year to help educate and prepare students including Black Americans to become future corporate leaders.

The funding is linked to programs offered by Thrive Scholars. The national nonprofit works with corporate sponsors to support scholars’ academic and career success through five pillars: college advising, academic preparation, social-emotional support, financial assistance, and career development.

In 2022, there have been 803 Thrive Scholars, including 307 Black Americans. That means the $5 million raised from corporate sponsors this year helped support those students through high school and college by paying for programs that students are enrolled in.

The effort aims to erase obstacles for Blacks like a lack of diversity, underrepresentation, and inequality. The program helps scholars from low-income communities combat barriers by equipping them with the needed tools and resources to land corporate jobs.

Thrive Scholars reported that its students have a 98% college graduation rate and an average GPA of 3.4. Its program helps place scholars in internships and full-time corporate jobs post-graduation.

Coffee maker, Nespresso, reports that its collaboration with Thrive Scholars shows how businesses can use Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) to activate employees and bring about social impact. Thrive Scholars shared that it hopes Nespresso’s efforts will create a model for employee engagement to nudge companies to pursue diverse talent.

Further, Thrive Scholars expects to raise $11 million to support their programs including the 2023 cohort of scholars. The program’s start date occurs during the summer after a student’s junior year of high school. Interested students can apply for next year’s class here.

Ava Archibald, chief diversity, equity, and inclusion officer at Thrive Scholars, said the scholars are mainly students of color from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Students can benefit in several ways from coaching, mentoring, academic enrichment, and professional networking to successfully graduate from college and increase economic mobility.

“We help Scholars explore how to navigate these environments and how to overcome the emotional challenge of being a first-generation college student,” she said.

Jerry Goss, a senior majoring in electrical and electronics engineering at Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering, shared via email how he benefitted from working with alumni and professionals in the program. Goss’ college is among the nation’s top three engineering programs.