Burlington, Mass., Jan. 22, 2021 – Haley & Aldrich launched a student essay contest focused on diversity and inclusion in the workplace. The contest is open to all current community college and university students and the essay submission deadline is March 15, 2021. Ten essay winners will each receive $1,000 and participate in a virtual workshop with Haley & Aldrich leaders. This will allow the winners to network with Haley & Aldrich staff while exploring opportunities for the company to offer a more welcoming, inclusive, and diverse workplace.
“Haley & Aldrich is committed to creating a culture of diversity, inclusion, and equity – one that reflects the communities we serve,” said Larry Smith, President and Chief Executive Officer at Haley & Aldrich. “We created this essay contest because we know that students, as our future leaders, bring vitally important perspectives that can help us identify ways for our company to increase access for underrepresented groups to our industry.”
To participate in the contest, students must submit an essay of up to 500 words in response to the following prompt: “If you were to envision a welcoming, inclusive, and diverse work community, what would it look like? If you were in a position to help Haley & Aldrich make progress, what steps would you take?”
A diverse panel of Haley & Aldrich staff will select a group of 10 students with the most thoughtful responses. Those 10 students will participate in a four-hour online workshop with Haley & Aldrich staff on April 10, 2021. During the workshop, participants will identify impactful actions the company can implement to improve its diversity and inclusion.
Haley & Aldrich is working in collaboration with the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) Transportation and Infrastructure Special Interest Group, which will share the contest with its collegiate region members. NSBE has more than 300 collegiate chapters with over 13,000 members.
Haley & Aldrich is currently engaged in other equity, diversity, and inclusion efforts, including partnering with high schools to host students who will shadow technical staff and working with community colleges to promote diversity in STEM education via scholarship assistance and internship opportunities.
Learn more and register for the contest on the Haley & Aldrich website.
