INROADS' Digital Transformation Wins National Honor from Handshake

ATLANTA, April 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Handshake, a leading website for connecting college students to jobs, honors INROADS with its inaugural Early Talent Award that celebrates employers who have transformed their recruiting strategies to meet the demands of a digital-first world.

Handshake's Early Talent Award recognized 120 small- to large-sized companies, across 12 industries. The award recognizes organizations who have excelled in four main areas of their early talent program: student interest, message engagement, brand resonance and virtual event participation.

Handshake's inaugural honor is one of very few that showcase the incredible work of companies who are brilliantly using technology to connect with our future leaders.

"When the world started reeling from COVID-19, it became clear to us early that we needed to pivot our in-person services to digital platforms," said Forest T. Harper Jr., president and CEO, INROADS, Inc. "Through innovation and partnerships with companies such as Symba – a virtual internship platform – we were able to continue our mission of impacting the lives of talented, underrepresented youth by creating access and opportunities for paid summer internships and training."

Continuing to offer virtual programs will allow INROADS to scale and impact more students across the country. INROADS is embracing this digital transformation of not only recruiting, but also training and mentorship. INROADS is expanding its partnership with Symba in support of its College Links program. College Links works with underrepresented high school students interested in STEM and business, to prepare and strengthen them for both college and career success. Additionally, INROADS has also partnered with Mentor Spaces, a virtual mentorship mobile app, creating organic opportunities for mentorship across the entire INROADS community, allowing students, interns and alumni to network with each other, easily connect with mentors, and further cultivate their own communication skills to excel in their careers.

"We are thrilled to recognize our employer partners and the great work they have done this past year to recruit early talent with our first annual Early Talent Awards," said Garrett Lord, CEO & Co-founder of Handshake. "The pandemic has expedited the shift to digital in all areas of life, but especially in recruiting, where we saw the in-person element taken away. The Early Talent Award celebrates those employers who have thrived by embracing that shift, extending their reach and connecting with students and new grads at a scale previously unknown," said Lord.

To learn more about the awards, visit https://joinhandshake.com/early-talent-awards/.

About Handshake
Handshake is the number one site for college students to find a job. Today, the Handshake community includes 17 million students and young alumni at over 1,100 colleges and universities – including 180+ minority-serving institutions. Handshake connects up-and-coming talent across all 50 states with nearly 500,000 employers recruiting on Handshake from every Fortune 500 company to thousands of small businesses, nonprofits, startups, and more. For more information, visit http://joinhandshake.com.

About INROADS
INROADS was founded more than 50 years ago. Inspired by the famed I Have a Dream speech, Frank Carr founded INROADS to remove career barriers to corporate opportunities for people of color. It is the largest nonprofit organization committed to leadership and career development for underrepresented talent in the world. INROADS has prepared more than 154,000 diverse leaders with pre-employment skills and graduated more than 30,000 alumni into full-time professional positions with more than 1,000 corporate partners. Currently, INROADS serves 800-1,300 interns and 200 corporate clients. Learn more at INROADS.org and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn: @INROADSInc.

SOURCE INROADS Inc.