If an organization internship imparts some knowledge to the scholars it employs, that’s sometimes ok. If these interns educate an organization about itself, flip weaknesses into strengths and create a greater future for everybody concerned, that’s the best final result.
Seven years in the past, Common Motors paired its Chevrolet model with the Nationwide Newspaper Publishers Affiliation (NNPA) to launch “Uncover the Surprising,” a 10-week internship and scholarship program that permits HBCU college students to attempt advertising and marketing with Chevrolet and community-based journalism with the NNPA. This 12 months, 10 college students from Howard, Morehouse, Delaware State, Florida A&M and Hampton obtained a $10,000 scholarship and an $8,000 stipend whereas spending the summer season growing their expertise on the highway.
Over the summer season, Chevy’s DTU interns took a 2024 Chevy Trax throughout the U.S. whereas creating social-media content material based mostly on the car’s security options that multicultural company of report Carol H. Williams was digital content material for the NNPA website. With assist from Chevy’s social, experiential and customer-relationship administration groups, college students took the Trax from a boot camp session with entrepreneurs and mentors in Detroit to the NNPA Nationwide Conference in Nashville, a Tennessee State College DTU content material shoot, the HBCU Swingman Traditional throughout Main League Baseball’s All-Star recreation in Seattle and behind-the-scenes at a Chevrolet Journey and Drive occasion.
Thus far, this system has given 59 college students from 22 completely different HBCUs greater than $750,000, but in addition a possibility to advance their careers. Three former DTU fellows have since been employed by GM, with one returning as an intern in GM’s communications division this 12 months. Extra have been employed by NNPA publications, with this 12 months’s fellows contributing to the The Tennessee Tribune, Washington Informer, Philadelphia Tribune, Atlanta Voice, Houston Ahead Time and Dallas Examiner.
“What we see as an enormous alternative is pipeline improvement,” mentioned Charles Chapman, GM’s multicultural advertising and marketing supervisor who leads the DTU program. “When it comes to bringing in these college students, they’re inexperienced, they’re studying, however what we’ve achieved is uncover numerous gems.”
