In order to recruit and retain a diverse workforce, you must start at the entry-level. Gen Z makes up the most diverse workforce yet, but focusing on traditional recruiting pipelines may make it difficult to hire students from underrepresented backgrounds. By hiring primarily from a few core schools, you could be missing out on a lot of great talent who attend smaller or less well-known colleges. One way to increase your diversity hiring at the entry level is to partner with organizations that support underrepresented minorities. There are countless organizations that provide support, resources, and training to diverse candidates, and many are happy to work with corporate partners. By supporting these organizations, your company can not only provide training and assistance to underrepresented candidates, but you can open up your pipeline and hire interns and entry-level employees directly from their membership base. Here are 28 diversity-focused organizations to partner with.
Professional Associations
A professional association is an organization with members who are part of the same industry or career field. Many professional associations have student chapters or accept student members who are majoring or interested in the field that the association supports. They’re a great way for students to find mentors in their field, receive extra training, attend conferences, and even to find internships or job opportunities. Many students specifically join professional associations to improve their job prospects, so partnering with these organizations is a great way to reach talent. The associations listed below are specifically dedicated to supporting underrepresented groups, and can be ideal organizations to work with to find talent in areas where you’re looking to increase representation.
Prospanica, The Association of Hispanic MBAs & Business Professionals, aims to empower and enable Hispanic professionals to achieve their full educational, economic, and social potential. Prospanica has chapters at six universities, and offers a unique university partnership program, scholarships, internship opportunities, and more.
National Black MBA Association
The mission of the National Black MBA Association is to lead in the creation of educational, wealth building, and growth opportunities for those historically underrepresented throughout their careers as students, entrepreneurs and professionals. Membership is open to undergraduate students, who can benefit from scholarships, a challenging undergraduate case competition, professional development opportunities, and more. NBMBAA also offers the Leaders of Tomorrow Program to support youth who aspire to hold leadership roles.
National Association of Black Accountants
The National Association of Black Accountants is dedicated to bridging the opportunity gap for black professionals in the accounting, finance and related business professions. They offer student memberships, a national scholarship program, and dedicated conferences for college students.
International Consortium of Minority Cybersecurity Professionals
ICMCP's goal is to achieve consistent representation of women and minorities in cybersecurity through programs designed to foster recruitment, inclusion, and retention – one person at a time. They offer a number of scholarships and learning opportunities for their members.
National Association of Black Journalists
NABJ strives to foster a worldwide community of Black journalists and media professionals. They offer a full slate of student services, including training, scholarships, internships, and fellowships.
SWE is is the world’s largest advocate and catalyst for change for women in engineering and technology. They offer a number of scholarships, and their standout Collegiate Leadership Institute works to equip college students with the skills and knowledge to succeed in engineering careers.
Ascend is the largest, non-profit Pan-Asian membership organization for business professionals in North America. Student members have access to conferences, mentorship programs, scholarships, and professional development opportunities.
National Society of Black Engineers
NBSE works to “to increase the number of culturally responsible Black Engineers who excel academically, succeed professionally and positively impact the community.” They have chapters for both high schools and universities, with a large number of programs available for students. They offer everything from competitions, to scholarships, to learning resources, and internship opportunities.
Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science
SACNAS works to foster the success of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans, from college students to professionals, in attaining advanced degrees, careers, and positions of leadership in STEM. They have many student chapters and offer professional development opportunities and unique programs like Community College Day.
American Indian Science and Engineering Society
AISES works to increase the representation of Indigenous peoples of North America and the Pacific Islands in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) studies and careers. They have a number of student chapters and offer scholarships, internships, numerous learning resources, and opportunities to participate in engineering fairs and challenges.
Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers
SASE works for the advancement of Asian heritage scientists and engineers in education and employment so that they can achieve their full career potential. There are collegiate chapters across the United States that offer professional development, promote diversity, and give back to their local communities.
Association of American Indian Physicians
AAIP works to pursue excellence in Native American health care by promoting education in the medical disciplines, honoring traditional healing principles and restoring the balance of mind, body, and spirit. They offer scholarships, internships, and fellowships for college students, along with workshops and conferences.
National African American Insurance Association
NAAIA works to empower and celebrate African American insurance professionals and to attract talented individuals to the insurance industry. They offer a scholarship, conference, and numerous learning and networking opportunities.
Association of Latino Professionals For America
ALPFA works to empower and develop Latino men and women as leaders of character for the nation, in every sector of the global economy. They serve almost 100,000 professionals and students across the country and offer scholarships, fellowships, and access to thousands of internships.
Out to Innovate, formerly known as the National Organization of Gay and Lesbian Scientists and Technical Professionals, empowers LGBTQ+ individuals in STEM by providing education, advocacy, professional development, networking, and peer support. They offer a mentoring program, career services connections, and a scholarship program.
Leadership Organizations, Scholarship Funds, and Others
In addition to professional associations, there are many organizations dedicated to supporting underrepresented students in their personal and professional development. Some of these programs work with students from the time they’re in high school, helping them develop the skills they need to succeed in college and beyond. Since many of these programs work with these students to gain skills and prepare for the workforce, they can be great organizations to partner with to find candidates who are ready to succeed at your company. The organizations listed below support many different underrepresented groups, and are great partners for finding diverse candidates.
Ron Brown Scholars are African Americans of outstanding promise. Scholars are provided with academic scholarships, leadership and service opportunities, and mentorship.
The American Association of People with Disabilities
The AAPD works to increase the political and economic power of people with disabilities. Their scholarship program places students with all types of disabilities in paid summer internships with Congressional offices, federal agencies, nonprofit and for-profit organizations in the Washington, DC area.
Management Leadership for Tomorrow
Management Leadership for Tomorrow works to close the college-to-career transition gap for underrepresented minority students. Each year, over 1,600 MLT Fellows are prepared to attend top business schools, earn high-trajectory jobs, and reach senior leadership positions.
Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics
LEAP works to achieve full participation and equality for Asian and Pacific Islanders through leadership, empowerment, and policy. They offer a number of leadership programs, trainings, and resources for the API community.
Posse gives their diverse Scholars, of which 57% are first-generation college students, full scholarships to partner schools, pre-college training, support throughout their college career, and top professional development opportunities, including internships and career coaching.
INROADS helps businesses gain greater access to diverse talent through continuous leadership development of outstanding ethnically diverse students and placement of those students in internships at many of North America’s top corporations, firms and organizations.
Campus Pride is the leading national nonprofit organization for student leaders and campus groups working to create a safer college environment for LGBTQ students. They offer a wide range of resources for LGBTQ students, as well as internships, job boards, and career fairs.
Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics
LEAP works to achieve full participation and equality for Asian and Pacific Islanders through leadership, empowerment, and policy. They offer a number of leadership programs, trainings, and resources for the API community.
The Jackie Robinson Foundation is committed to leveling the playing field in education by providing scholarships, mentoring, support, and internship and job placement to JRF Scholars.
Disability: In is the leading nonprofit resource for business disability inclusion worldwide. Their NextGen Leaders program connects students with corporate partners to prepare them for employment through mentorship, networking and recruiting opportunities.
SEO Scholars is a free, academic program that gets low-income public high school students to and through college–with a 90% college graduation rate. The SEO career program recruits and trains high achieving Black, LatinX, and Native American college students for summer internships that lead to great full-time jobs.
The T. Howard Foundation works to promote diversity in media and entertainment by increasing the number of diverse and underrepresented groups and underserved communities within the industry. The foundation’s internship program recruits URM college students for a program that includes networking opportunities, professional development, scholarship opportunities, and mentoring.
America Needs You works to increase economic mobility for ambitious, first-generation college students.Their two-year fellows program works to provide career development, mentorship, robust networks, and holistic support to low-income, first-generation students.