In September, a global cohort of Black MBA students will begin an eight-month long fellowship that ends with direct work placement at Marsh McLennan, a risk, insurance, and consulting company. The fellowship, called Racial Injustice and Social Equity (RISE), is a first-of-its-kind program developed in a partnership between Marsh McLennan, Fisk University, and the National Black MBA Association (NBMBAA).
In 2020, a study by the Graduate Management Admission Council revealed that Black MBA candidates still make up only about 10% of the workforce.
“This is a trend we’re hoping to arrest,” said Joe Handy, president and CEO of the NBMBAA. “We want to see more exposure, and we want to see this program replicated.”
“The NBMBAA has direct access to mid- to senior- level talent that can quickly get up to speed,” said Nzinga Shaw, chief inclusion and diversity officer at Marsh McLennan. Putting more Black leaders into these positions “creates more critical mass where we need it, versus starting from scratch at entry-level,” she said.
Second year MBA students or recent MBA graduates from the US, the UK, and Canada who are Black, African American, Afro Latinx, and Afro Caribbean can apply to join the first cohort.
Participants are paired with mentors from Marsh McLennan and leadership from the NBMBAA. At the end of the fellowship, all students will be guaranteed a job at a more senior level position at Marsh McLennan, should they wish to accept the offer.
“The broad conception of social justice isn’t just about social and racial justice. It’s about corporate responsibility,” said Dr. Sharon Schembri, the Cal Turner Endowed Chair and dean of Fisk’s undergraduate business program. “There’s a gap in underrepresented minorities in business leadership. That’s a market opportunity, and Fisk is stepping up to the mark.”
