Partnering to Invest in HBCU Students, Develop Diverse Talent Pipeline

Business Roundtable, representing America's largest employers, is partnering with the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) to invest in students attending Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and develop a pipeline of diverse talent for their companies.

Through the partnership, Business Roundtable companies will provide scholarships, internships and professional development opportunities to HBCU students and open pathways to employment and advancement. 

To date, more than 50 Business Roundtable companies have partnered with TMCF, and some of the commitments they have made include:

  • Providing financial contributions to support scholarships for students to attend HBCUs;
  • Participating in professional development programs that equip students with the critical soft skills required for career success and help bridge the gap between post-secondary academic training and permanent job placement opportunities in corporate America; and
  • Creating diverse talent pipelines through immersive experiences and internship opportunities, which help open doors to full-time employment.

Business Roundtable CEOs are committed to advancing racial equity and justice and addressing the racial wealth gap. The partnership with the Thurgood Marshall College Fund is one way Business Roundtable member companies are doing their part to ensure equitable economic opportunity for all Americans.

In addition to partnering with TMCF, many Business Roundtable member companies also work directly with and provide support to HBCUs and other minority-serving institutions in the communities where they are headquartered or operate.

MEMBER COMPANIES

Over 50 companies are part of this initiative, including:

Alphabet

Amazon

American Express

American Tower

Anthem

Apple

Bank of America

Baxter International

The Boeing Company

Boston Consulting Group

Caterpillar

C.H. Robinson

Chipotle

Chevron

The Coca-Cola Company

Corning

CVS Health

Deere & Company

Eastman

Eli Lilly and Company

FedEx Corporation

Ford

Gap

Goldman Sachs & Co.

Hanesbrands Inc.

Hearst

JPMorgan Chase & Co.

KeyCorp

Kohler

KPMG International

Lowe’s Companies Inc.

McCormick & Company

McDonald’s

Medtronic

Microsoft

Nasdaq

NextEra Energy

PepsiCo

Pfizer Inc.

Raytheon Technologies

S&P Global

Stanley Black & Decker

Steelcase Inc.

Synchrony

Tapestry, Inc.

Truist Financial Corporation

UPS

Vanguard

Verisk

Verizon Communications

Visa

Walmart

Wells Fargo & Company

Xerox Holdings Corporation

COMPANY SPOTLIGHTS

Pfizer

Pfizer is committed to increasing diversity by providing opportunities to advance early talent to grow our leadership pipeline. Our participation in Business Roundtable’s Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) partnership is part of our broader commitment to invest early in talent of diverse backgrounds and, in this case, to those attending Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Pfizer also recently established a first-of-its-kind Breakthrough Fellowship Program (BFP) – a nine-year commitment to advance students and early career colleagues of Black/African American, Latino/Hispanic and Native American descent with a goal of developing 100 fellows by 2025. The program begins with a 10-week internship of rising college Seniors, followed by 2 years of employment upon graduation, a fully funded MBA/MPH degree, a summer internship between year 1 and 2 followed by returning to Pfizer at the Manager level. Pfizer will continue to identify external and internal partnerships that support a diverse corporate culture by creating career advancement opportunities across all business units from entry through executive levels. 

The Boeing Company

In 2018, Boeing made a $6 million investment to support the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. The five-year strategic investment provides talented, innovative and deserving HBCU students with scholarships, internships, immersive boot-camp experiences at Boeing sites across the United States, and on-campus engagements for students, faculty, and administrators.

Additionally, TMCF, in partnership with The Boeing Company, established the 2020-2021 Boeing | TMCF Scholar Program. This program provides an unparalleled career opportunity and scholarship for outstanding students attending Boeing HBCU partner schools. The program also provides students with complete college to career support- opening the door to a full-time career with Boeing across all business units. The highly competitive program targets students for opportunities in: engineering, IT and data analytics, finance, accounting, supply chain management, human resources, environmental health and safety, and facilities management.

Boeing also provides support for the Boeing HBCU Immersion program – a highly competitive program that brings together the brightest freshmen and sophomores from HBCU partner schools. Scholars attend a multi-day, all-inclusive introduction program at Boeing that highlights future career opportunities in Business, Information Technology, and Engineering. In addition, Boeing sponsors a three-day virtual immersion day to learn more about Boeing. In 2021, the virtual program included a case competition and site tours.

The Boeing | TMCF HBCU Investment is an initiative to build capacity within STEM and business-related functions at its partner HBCUs. To reach this goal, TMCF awards up to $50,000 in capacity-building grants to each of its eight priority HBCUs yearly for projects that build a pipeline of talented students pursuing and persisting in STEM and business fields through Boeing-aligned research and professional development.

Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo has a long history of providing significant support to speed underrepresented students along their higher education journey. Since 2010, the firm has provided more than $49.4 million to support programming and scholarships for TMCF, the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) and the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, with more than $87.8 million provided to all diversity-focused programs for the same period.

For UNCF and TMCF, Wells Fargo provides scholarship and emergency grants to offset the costs tuition, fees, room and board and books for students who are attending HBCUs. Wells Fargo Talent Acquisition Strategy and Targeted Programs Team also recruits and hires interns and full-time employees from both UNCF and TMCF member schools. Events like the Wells Fargo HBCU Forum and LatinX Forum provide HBCU scholars and others the opportunity to pursue career opportunities with the firm and gain valuable insight on the financial services industry as a whole. Wells Fargo also provides online training modules for students and recent graduates via our Beyond College Webinar Series. Covering a wide variety of topics from personal finance to professional development, the Beyond College Webinar Series helps to prepare students for what’s next after college.

Wells Fargo also sponsors the TMCF Leadership Institute and 'The Pitch’ Competition.


Verisk

Verisk’s efforts to promote opportunities for all span a range of programs and geographies. The company supports non-profit programs that enable talented students from disadvantaged circumstances to pursue their academic ambitions, gain valuable business experience through internships at the company, as well as encourage youth to enroll in STEM-related courses, and the company’s returnship program makes it easier for professionals returning to the workforce after time away.

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