On Wednesday, Feb. 21 in the Memorial Union Ballroom, the Center for Career and Experiential Education in collaboration with the Multicultural Student Services Center hosted its third annual Building Unity and Inspired Leaders of the Diaspora event.
The event aimed at fostering important and active relationships between URI students of color and career experts.
Kristy Embrack Searles, the CCEE’s marketing and event coordinator, spearheaded the event and said that it is not like any other career fair.
“We wanted to create an avenue for our students of color to feel seen by employers,” Embrack Searles said.
The event was not so focused on getting students jobs, but more so creating networks between students of color and career professionals who could relate to the students, Searles said. Students were able to talk to employers and discuss not only their job, but the journey they took to get there.
A handout from the event noted all of the different professionals who were present. They range from Anitra Galmore, the system vice president of South County Hospital, to Derrick Williams, director of diversity, equity and inclusion at Mohegan Sun, among many others.
Embrack Searles also mentioned the idea of “pipeline leakiness,” or the idea that students need to see themselves represented in a career or major in order to believe that they can also get there.
“Sometimes students don’t persist in the job of their dream because they do not see people who look like them doing it,” Embrack Searles said.
Holly Hernandez, assistant director of employer relations, also helped to organize this event and said that from an employers standpoint, it is important to have a sustainable relationship with different businesses so that students can feel represented at multiple different events.
“It’s not just about one relationship,” Hernandez said. “It’s about coming to all of our career events so our students can feel supported and seen.”
Since this was not exactly a career fair, it was important for employers to create bonds with URI students, Hernandez said. They want employers to be able to come back when there is a career fair, or when they know of opportunities within their companies because they remember URI students.
“We can’t have career fairs where everyone looks the same,” Hernandez said.
Another aspect of the event was that different cultural organizations on campus were able to set up tables showing off their experiences, Embrack Searles said. Organizations such as the Black Student Union and Cape Verdean Students Association were in attendance and were not only forming professional relationships, but also were able to talk about their various programs and leadership initiatives.
The CCEE is hosting various other events throughout the semester. The next one is the Alumni of Color Network Panel in the Memorial Union on March 28.
To find out more about future events from the CCEE, follow @uriccee on Instagram or go to web.uri.edu/career. To learn more about the MSSC, follow @ uri_mssc or go to web.uri.edu/mcc.
Since I couldn’t go to the event, I asked for photos just in case y’all wanted to use them. They sent me these