HP Inc. Deepens Investment in Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Launches Distance Learning Business Challenge - Seite 2

“The HP-HBCU Business Challenge is a valuable event for our students to engage in experiential learning and has boosted their industry acumen and likelihood to secure internships and career opportunities,” said Anthony C. Nelson, dean of the School of Business at North Carolina Central University. “With the volatility of the marketplace being further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, it is increasingly important for our students to receive opportunities like the one HP is offering to better prepare them for an ever-changing global economy.” 

HP joined the HBCU Business Deans Roundtable as a founding member back in 2017, and on June 1 2018, led a delegation of HBCU Business Deans to the New York Stock Exchange to ring the closing bell in celebration of the conclusion of the annual Roundtable meeting.  Over time, HP has deepened its partnership with HBCUs with new areas of joint focus including financial contributions to the HBCUvc’s Student Relief Fund to help students during COVID-19  and connecting HBCU students to HP’s reskilling programs including HP LIFE and BeChangeMaker.

In March this year, HP launched a pilot learning program with North Carolina A&T State University, providing HP MultiJet Fusion printing equipment (the company’s most advanced plastics 3D color printing solution) and a commitment for internships and apprenticeships to the university’s College of Engineering and College of Science & Technology. Under the supervision of Geoff Foster, North Carolina A&T adjunct professor and Core Technology Molding Corporation CEO and founder, this pilot collaboration will inform and set the stage for a broader program with other HBCUs in subsequent years.

Government data shows that while about 12 percent of Americans are Black, African Americans make up only about 7 percent of the US high-tech workforce and just 3 percent of the total Silicon Valley workforce. HP’s partnership with HBCUs seeks to dispel the myth of the "pipeline problem" for qualified young Black candidates. Challenge participation numbers show that the talent is there: over the previous three years, almost 300 students across 44 HBCUs worked in teams to develop business plans tackling real-world challenges and of them, more than a dozen participants accepted positions with HP in the Boise, Houston and Rio Rancho offices.