INROADS Announces 2013 Top 10 Strategic Partners

Technology Innovator Tops List Supporting Diverse STEM Talent Pipeline

ST. LOUIS, Jan. 30, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- INROADS, Inc., a multi-cultural non-profit specializing in leadership development and facilitating access to career opportunities for high potential, underserved youth, has announced its Top 10 Strategic Partners.  This social enterprise has successfully recruited and developed diverse talent for internship placement in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) disciplines. United Technologies Corporation (UTC) tops the list with a long history of supporting the diverse STEM talent pipeline, approaching 3500 interns in the STEM related opportunities during this long-standing relationship with INROADS.

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"UTC is focused on developing and retaining top talent," said William Ampofo, Vice President, Supply Chain Business Process Management for UTC Aerospace Systems and Executive Champion for the UTC INROADS Alumni Network. "I began my career at UTC as an INROADS intern almost 20 years ago and our partnership with INROADS continues to produce a rich pipeline of talent. UTC INROADS alumni can be found across the various UTC businesses, and our ability to leverage this rich pool of talent allows us to continuously improve our processes and create innovative products and services."

"Our partners are among the nation's most successful companies for good reason," says Forest T. Harper, CEO of INROADS. "They recognize that tomorrow's leadership pipeline is expanded and made more robust by investing in the professional and personal development of high potential youth today.  Through their partnership with INROADS, many visionary companies are helping to maintain a sustainable, diverse workforce of future business leaders."

INROADS recognizes its Top 10 Strategic Partners based on the number of INROADS interns they sponsored in 2013, which includes a paid, career designed internship.  By sponsoring interns into INROADS, these businesses demonstrate their belief with an investment in the talent pipeline, and in the value of career development, while proactively supporting solutions to the high rate of youth unemployment. 

The INROADS Top 10 Strategic Partners for 2013 are:

1. United Technologies
2. Deloitte & Touche LLP
3. Kaiser Permanente
4. JC Penney
5. Cintas Corporation
6. MetLife, Inc.
7. Travelers Companies, Inc.
8. General Electric Company
9. Pricewaterhouse Coopers International  
10. Target Corporation

For more than 40 years, INROADS has been a trusted partner for Fortune 500 corporations and more than 250 universities in leadership development, retention, diversity and inclusion, workforce readiness and productivity, as well as talent sourcing.  The internships, while critically important are just one part of the success equation. The other critically important parts include year-round coaching, mentoring, relationship management, learning and development and academic advising.  Together, probability of career and personal success is realized with the 78% of INROADS interns gainfully employed upon college graduation.

About INROADS
Our mission is to develop and place talented underserved youth in business and industry and prepare them for corporate and community leadership.  Founded in 1970, INROADS has placed students in over 154,000 paid internships throughout its history and graduated over 26,000 Alumni into fulltime professional positions with over 35 offices throughout the U.S., Mexico, and Canada. Visit us at: http://www.INROADS.org.

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SOURCE INROADS Inc.