Cultivating new and diverse talent pipelines
HP partnered with the National HBCU Business Deans Roundtable to provide over 80 historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) with a chance to participate in the competition, which challenged participating teams to submit a written business plan and qualified them for a chance to present to HP senior leaders. 17 HCBU campuses submitted plans across two tracks—PC Services Innovation and Office Print Relevance. Throughout the challenge, student teams showcased their talent to HP executives, including the business challenge executive sponsors Bill Avey, General Manager & Global Head of Personal Systems Services, Tom Saathoff, Head of Strategy & Portfolio Management for Managed Print Services, and Darren Needham-Walker, Head of Worldwide Office Printing Solutions Marketing. Student team members also learned about internships and full-time career opportunities with HP.
What, exactly, were these students competing for? The winning teams scored visits to three HP campuses – including Boise, Vancouver and HP headquarters in Palo Alto. In addition, they will meet and present their projects to Chief Diversity Officer Lesley Slaton Brown, members of HP’s Executive Leadership team, hiring managers, and others. Teams will tour HP Labs, visit the original offices of HP Founders and the HP Garage where the company’s legacy began.
Fields Jackson, Executive Director of the National HBCU Business Deans Roundtable and CEO of Racing Toward Diversity magazine, helped bring the competition to life. He partnered with HP to enable the National HBCU Business Deans Roundtable further its primary goal: to better prepare students for the workforce while equipping them with opportunities to participate in real-world business initiatives.
“The National HBCU Business Deans Roundtable works to cultivate strategic partnerships with corporate companies like HP, providing essential tools and resources to prepare students during their university and post-graduation careers,” says Jackson. “With HP’s pioneering history in technology and passion for diversity and inclusion, it was an easy decision for the National HBCU Business Deans Roundtable to put its resounding support behind this new program.”