CBT creates a scholarship-to-internship program to support Diversity and Inclusion by directly connecting underserved talent to employment outcomes; this first of its kind program offers “work from home” college internships during the COVID-19 crisis.
We are proud to announce a new Future of Work Inclusion initiative focused on building economic equity through career opportunities. The program supports students studying at the university level who come from severely underprivileged backgrounds with scholarships and internship opportunities. Interns will join CBT’s marketing department and support premiere global partners such as Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), PTC, and Intel.
This program was created by CEO and Founder Kelly Ireland and offers a scalable and repeatable model for other businesses to recruit talent from non-traditional backgrounds. Plans for the program had been in the works months prior to California’s shelter-in-place order, and rather than rescind any offers of employment, we are accommodating with a fully remote internship program.
“CBT represents innovation, partnership, and people-first mindset. Our tagline says it all: technology with a human touch” states Ireland. “I built CBT not only to help our customers, but also to create economic opportunity for our employees, and diversity and inclusion have been at the heart of that growth. Our values don’t change because of COVID-19. We are delighted to work with industry-leading partners to create this hands-on marketing career program which we anticipate will grow to include our entire partner and customer ecosystem.”
CBT’s inaugural scholarship-to-internship highlights graduates of the Shanti Bhavan Children’s Project who come from absolute poverty. Shanti Bhavan has been featured in the Netflix documentary ‘Daughters of Destiny’; their mission is educating children from the untouchable caste and breaking the cycle of generational poverty through education, leadership, and compassion. Ireland selected Shanti Bhavan based on the exceptional student education and outcomes the school has achieved.
The first Shanti Bhavan graduate to enter the program is Thulasi Priya Ramesh, Marketing and Digital Media student at the College of Idaho.
This program marks the needed evolution of diversity and inclusion programs from a feel-good conversation to directly connecting education to career opportunities. Since its founding in 2001, Ireland has ensured that CBT supports social and economic justice causes. Ireland is also encouraging her clients and global partners to participate, creating an alliance of companies deeply committed to putting diversity and inclusion into action in the tech industry.
For more about our Diversity and Inclusion efforts read the latest blog, “Diversity and Inclusion. Why it Matters and How CBT is Taking Action.”