“Early pipelines of talent make a difference,” said Martin Davidson, Associate Dean and Chief Diversity Officer of the Darden School of Business, who welcomed a talented group of the nation’s minority youth to Darden for this summer’s Leadership Education and Development Program (LEAD) Business program.
The LEAD program, a national partnership of America's top corporations and business schools, has been instrumental in preparing a talented and diverse workforce for the business environment. By encouraging outstanding high school juniors from diverse backgrounds to pursue careers in business, LEAD continues to develop and inspire a new generation of business leaders.
“In fact, many of Darden’s LEAD students show up later at Darden as MBA students,” said Davidson.
Since 1980, LEAD's Summer Business Institutes (SBIs), hosted at top business schools, have graduated more than 7,000 aspiring leaders, 65 percent of whom currently work in the business world. Darden has graduated 780 students. This year’s group includes 30 students from all over the United States; two hail from Puerto Rico.
During the program, from June 7–27, students will attend case study discussions, participate in group projects and take part in a business plan competition. They are introduced to prominent business executives and entrepreneurs and visit companies such as Capital One, Exxon Mobil and AOL Time Warner.
“It’s a great opportunity,” said Corey Burnett, a resident advisor and 2006 LEAD graduate. “The students really appreciate the connections that they make to faculty and corporations.”
“What they take away from the classroom is incredibly valuable,” added Daniel Allen, also a 2006 graduate and resident advisor, who will enter the University of Virgina’s McIntire School of Commerce in the fall. “This is stuff that you don’t have access to in high school. I use the lessons I learned in accounting all the time.”
For the first time, the University of Virginia’s School of Engineering will participate in the LEAD Program for Engineering, launched in 2008, by hosting students interested in the field of engineering from June 14–July 3.
“This is another expression of the University’s present day institutional commitment to diversity,” said Davidson.
Founded in 1955, the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business is a professional school that improves society by developing principled leaders for the world of practical affairs.
For comments and/or additional information, contact communication@darden.virginia.edu.