SOM Hosts Women of Color Internship Program
Filed under Diversity
Posted by , March 23, 2005
View all posts for March 2005
The Center for Gender in Organizations (CGO) and the Entrepreneurship Initiative at the School of Management recently selected three undergraduate management students for its new Women of Color Entrepreneurial Internship Program.
Funded by The Diversity Council (TDC), this diversity action plan initiative will enable interns Tiffany Amado ’05, Rachel Anderson ’05, and Kathleen Votolato ’05 to work directly with women entrepreneurs of ethnic diversity for the spring semester. The internship program furthers the SOM’s goal of integrating issues of diversity more thoroughly into the curriculum by adding a focus on women of color entrepreneurs to its new entrepreneurship initiative.
The interns not only will benefit from a mentoring relationship, but also will gain firsthand knowledge about entrepreneurship. During the program, the interns will apply the skills they’ve learned in their management classes at Simmons. The project is led by Jill Kickul, Elizabeth J. McCandless Professor of Entrepreneurship; Associate Professor Stacy Blake-Beard; and Patricia Deyton, CGO interim faculty director.
“This internship program provides an opportunity for each of the students to walk in the path of a woman of color entrepreneur and to expand their horizons on possible career opportunities,” said Blake-Beard.
“Our initiative is driven by our recognition that women of color are the fastest growing segment of entrepreneurs. Our focus on this area represents a critical opportunity to gain insights and access to the challenges and prospects facing women of color entrepreneurs and to expose our students to models of diverse women creating and leading organizations,” she said.
For more information about the SOM’s entrepreneurship initiative, visit < http://www.simmons.edu/som/entrepreneurship.html >
