An acclaimed talent development program for high-potential minority MBA students is being brought to Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management through a new partnership with Management Leadership for Tomorrow (MLT).
MLT is a prominent nonprofit organization that provides talented black, Hispanic and Native American men and women with critical elements to succeed at each career stage and advance to senior leadership. MLT will work with prospective Owen students, as well as first and second year MBA students.
MLT will help Owen attract more minority MBA candidates and equip these students with the skills and tools they need to succeed in business school and throughout their post MBA careers on up to senior leadership. MLT provides rising leaders with a personalized, proven playbook, one-on-one coaching, door-opening relationships and ongoing access to a network of more than 4,000 diverse mentors and peers. These resources are essential for developing senior leaders, but historically have been less available to minorities.
“We are delighted to be part of MLT,” said M. Eric Johnson, the Bruce D. Henderson Professor of Strategy and dean of Owen. “This organization is focused on launching minority students into business careers through access to business education, opportunities and a community of successful minority business leaders. Our participation will enhance opportunities for Vanderbilt students.”
Vanderbilt recently enrolled its most diverse undergraduate class in history with 36.3 percent minorities, a factor that John Rice, founder and CEO of MLT, cited as contributing to the new partnership.
“Owen, too, shares this commitment to increased diversity,” Rice said. “For more than 10 years, MLT has cultivated deep partnerships with top MBA programs across the nation (including Harvard Business School, Stanford GSB, and The Wharton School). [rquote]We are thrilled to have Vanderbilt and Owen as another terrific partner in our mutual efforts to diversify the nation’s top corporate, social sector and entrepreneurial ranks.”[/rquote]
Despite representing 30 percent of the U.S. population, black, Hispanic and Native Americans hold just 6 percent of the top entry level business jobs, represent 8 percent of students enrolled at top 50 MBA programs and hold just 3 percent of all senior executive positions at corporations, non-profits and entrepreneurial ventures, according to MLT statistics.
MLT provides its MBA Prep and MBA Professional Development fellows with personalized coaches and hosts workshops and boot camps facilitated by corporate partners and business school admissions leadership. MLT is the No. 1 source of diverse talent for many of its corporate partners, including Google, Goldman Sachs, Procter & Gamble and Deloitte. Ninety-two percent of MLT’s rising leaders describe their experience with MLT as “life-changing.”