Amos Brown’s legacy, example continue lighting path toward inclusive solutions
The headlines rang out in every direction earlier this week: Eric Holcomb’s 2024 legislative agenda — his last as governor of Indiana — is aimed squarely at easing our state’s workforce development challenges.
Anyone who’s tried to fill team vacancies in the past few years likely applauded this news. According to data from a 2022 survey by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce, talent is the top concern for our state’s employers. The same survey also found that three-quarters of Indiana employers left jobs unfilled in 2022 due to a shortage of talent.
But Governor Holcomb isn’t the only Hoosier in a position to positively impact the availability and preparedness of the diverse, skilled workforce our local economy needs to thrive. Organizations of all sizes, for-profit and nonprofit, in virtually every industry can have enormous impact by creating or expanding paid internships for students of color.
Every year, the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) releases a raft of research on employment trends for college-educated workers, including recent college graduates. The association’s findings on the impact of internships on both students and employers are striking.
First, the good news: NACE’s annual survey of internship employers has consistently found that 50% to 60% of eligible interns convert to full-time employees. What’s more, interns who become employees where they interned are retained at higher rates than other new hires; 75.5% of “converted” interns are still with the organization after their first year on the job, compared to just 51.5% of nonintern employees (NACE 2023 Internship & Co-op Report).
Now, the complicated news: Not all internships are created equal. According to CNBC[1], more than 40% of college internships across the country are unpaid. Why, you may be wondering, am I calling that “news,” at all? Well, NACE has found that students who take part in paid internships receive more job offers, have shorter job searches and garner higher starting salaries when they enter the job market compared with those who participate in unpaid internships (NACE 2022). And I don’t mean paid interns earn just slightly more. I mean more-more. In fact, paid interns in the 2022 NACE study earned a median starting salary of $62,500; the median starting salary of unpaid interns was $42,500.
Finally, the bad news: Women, Black, Hispanic and first-generation college students are significantly underrepresented in paid internships, while white, male and continuing-generation students are disproportionally overrepresented in paid internships. This means white, male and continuing-generation college students reap those extended benefits of paid internships — more job offers, shorter searches and higher starting salaries — in greater numbers than their nonwhite, nonmale peers, furthering systemic inequities. Those of us in a position to do so can help balance this reality by creating or growing internship opportunities specifically for students of color.
In 2016, I was honored to lead the creation of one such internship at Hirons. In our case, however, it wasn’t research reports or employment trends driving the decision.
It was my friend Amos.
I’d had the great pleasure of working closely with communications veteran and community activist Amos Brown on the Indianapolis Complete Count Committee for the U.S. census in 2010. The friendship we built led me to a much deeper appreciation of the real deficiency shared by our closely aligned industries: a workforce that, in racial and ethnic terms, did not reflect the population of the surrounding community.
Like so many, I was heartbroken when Amos passed away in 2015. Understanding how much he wanted his legacy to be one that inspires progress and meaningful change, I led a successful effort at Hirons to partner with The Indianapolis Recorder, Radio One and Amos’ family to create a paid internship in his honor. Offered every summer, the Amos Brown Internship creates a pathway for students of diverse backgrounds to pursue careers in communications and advertising. (For more information about the internship, please visit hirons.com/careers/amos-brown-internship.)
I think about Amos often, about the determined, passionate, persistent way he worked to model and build true inclusion. I’m lucky to get to collaborate with Oveda Brown and our partners at The Indianapolis Recorder and Radio One every year and proud to carry on a piece of Amos’ legacy through the Amos Brown Internship. I’m equally proud that Hirons is sponsoring the inaugural Amos Brown Community Advocate Award at this year’s Champions of Diversity Awards Dinner, recognizing Deon Levingston of Radio One.
Like Amos, Deon keenly understands the intersection of community and communications. His advocacy clearly illustrates how ultimate success with public outreach, education and purpose-driven communications rests upon ensuring the leaders of such efforts represent the true diversity of communities we’re seeking to impact. I can’t help but think Amos would smile to see The Recorder, Radio One and Hirons come together to honor him by celebrating a kindred community and communications pioneer in Deon.
Hirons’ motto has always been, “Be Bold” — words that easily could have been Amos’ motto as well. I’ll continue seeking bold ideas to honor his legacy in the hope that we all challenge ourselves to hew ever closer to his example.
[1] https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/17/more-than-40percent-of-interns-are-still-unpaidwhy-thats-legal.html
