Programs

Our Coalition’s Board of Directors and Advisory Board members lead the charge in developing and executing programs that promote racial justice and equity within our community. We will continuously update this information as programming efforts evolve through their commitment, leadership, and efforts.

Youth Internship

This internship program will advance racial equity in the workplace through talent pipeline efforts. By promoting collaboration, education and opportunity for underserved students, this program will bridge qualified diverse talent with valuable internships at organizations that value DEI.

There is a distinct gap in racial workforce equity. Underrepresented segments struggle to secure high level careers when compared to others of the same level of education. This disparity is especially apparent in executive roles, with racially diverse individuals holding fewer executive positions within businesses nationwide. Part of the Coalition’s efforts will be used to develop an internship program to promote racial equity within organizations’ talent pipeline.

This program found that even as we as a country were making substantial gains in diverse groups entering the workforce, they were not equally represented at the mid- and senior levels of management in government or corporate sectors especially were also significantly underrepresented on corporate boards. The NDC is the only national internship program in the United States focused on future corporate leaders that reflect our communities that they serve. The NDC goals include: Ensuring that our interns are exposed in an elite internship and that they will have the access and exposure to true meaningful business projects. Enhancing and developing these young leaders’ abilities whose commitment, contribution and dedication will help ensure a vibrant and sustainable future for the United States.

The Youth Internship Program aims to promote job and mentorship opportunities for youth of color. Partnering companies that wish to participate in this program will offer youth of color a high quality internship opportunity that will comprise hands-on mentorship around navigating the corporate realm, learning effective communication skills, and enhancing professional development overall.

Reentry Project

Ex-offenders are often faced with various obstacles as they attempt to re-enter society after serving time. Individuals with criminal backgrounds usually experience barriers to obtain employment. This could be a result of the reluctance of employers to hire ex-offenders due to concerns about their past record, or based on organizational rules and policies that may prohibit hiring those with a criminal history. In other instances, finding employment may be difficult as formerly incarcerated individuals may have not had the opportunity to receive the necessary education or skills training. With this, many of them may also lack knowledge on how to navigate the job search, develop a marketable resume, or hold an applicant interview.

The Reentry Project serves to assist formerly incarcerated individuals by contributing intentional efforts that lead to a successful transition into the workplace. Through organizational partnerships, this project will connect these individuals to company leaders who will engage them in the application process for job opportunities and/or mentorship programs.

The Police Academy

The Police Academy program aims to promote racial equity within the community by providing intentional and actionable training for local law enforcement officers. Through a combination of presentations and group roundtable discussions, community leaders and police officers engage in relationship building and knowledge sharing. Topics include:

  • The role diversity and inclusion plays within communication and action
  • How to recognize, challenge, and overcome stereotyping and judgments
  • Working effectively across cultures
  • How the private and public sectors can work together to create positive change within the community

Policing in America has always been a contentious relationship with the African American community well before the 1963 Civil Rights Movement, under the leadership of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. People of color have been rioted against, lynched, dogs released on them, communities burned to the ground, unjustly arrested, wrongfully incarcerated, racially profiled and even killed at the hands of the police. It is incredibly disheartening that some of these tragic and unjust incidents are still taking place today. Systemic racism has been integrated into our police departments across the country. The term “community policing” is foreign because it does not seem to exist based on the recent, continual, tiresome and unfathomable situations that continue to unfold before our very eyes via social media outlets, news broadcasts and headlines. The time to dismantle bias-based policing is now. Business leaders, community leaders and government officials must unite and work together to create actionable outcomes between the community and the police, who have taken an oath to “Protect and Serve,” not divide and conquer.