PH I LANTHROPY RUL ES !
BUILDING NEXT GENERATION LEADERS THROUGH ADVERSITY Helping first-generation and under-served students successfully navigate the transition from college to a meaningful career.
OUR ROADMAP FOR CAREER SUCESS
the program, speakers present key concepts ranging from project management to market analysis to presentation skills that the interns can apply directly to the work that they are doing in their case study. At the end of the program, Driving Forward gives awards and cash prizes to recognize the top- performing teams. The mentorship program is the glue throughout our entire program. We pair our interns with mentors across a wide variety of industries that give them individualized coaching to help them with the case study program, develop interpersonal skills, and prepare their resume and interview skills to compete for top jobs. This relationship is an essential step in helping the interns build their own professional networks. Finally, we offer our interns opportunities to work directly with our corporate partners. This option allows them to gain direct experience in the workforce, further gauge their interests, and build their resumes by demonstrating expertise. These opportunities vary based on the company and have included helping train machine learning and technology consulting. Our student engagement team tracks our students throughout their experience and helps them overcome hurdles that they face along the way. Ultimately, our student’s success is our success.
It all started when our founder, Marv Richardson, posted on LinkedIn and reached 30,000 people in May 2020. This social attention helped us develop a team of over 200 volunteers who passionately fulfill our mission. Furthermore, we started to create a network of corporate sponsors and received over seventy-thousand dollars in funding and in-kind donations in the last nine months. We are focused on reaching the most at-risk students and have established eighteen university partnerships to get us closest to the students in need. We were also recently one of four teams that won The University of Chicago’s global entrepreneurial competition called Global New Venture Challenge. Driving Forward’s career development program focuses on upskilling first-generation and under- served students entering the workforce. The unique career accelerator consists of three primary components: our flagship case study competition, a mentorship program, and a corporate internship. The flagship case study program is an eight-week competition where interns are assigned to five- to seven-person teams to research a selected company and problem statement. Examples include Airbnb’s response to the pandemic and Bitmain’s impact on environmental regulation. Students propose innovative ways for these companies to thrive and compete in the changing industry landscape. During each week of
BY: CLAIRE PEDERSEN Board of Directors at Driving Forward Institute NFP Inc.
W hen the pandemic canceled over half a million internships, Driving Forward heard the call and mobilized in thirty days to welcome our first cohort of interns. While our first summer focused on COVID response, we found our ongoing mission and are demonstrating that we’re here to stay. Over seventy-five percent of first-generation or low-income college enrollees do not earn their degree or land a strong job. Simultaneously, thousands of CEOs pledge to take measurable action in advancing diversity and inclusion in the workplace through hiring and retention. Driving Forward bridges this gap.
FRESHMAN
SOPHOMORE
JUNIOR
SENIOR
Engage & Recruit
Corporate Internship
Flagship Case Study
Mentorship & Early Career Preparedness
38 | Philanthropy Rules! Driving Forward
Philanthropy Rules! Driving Forward | 39
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