IHG Hotels & Resorts has announced partnerships with two of the U.S.’s leading Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs): Morehouse College and Clark Atlanta University, which are both located in Atlanta, Georgia. The global hospitality company will contribute resources and expertise to support students aspiring for careers in hospitality as well as establish a robust pipeline of employment opportunities within IHG.
“Our partnerships with Clark Atlanta University and Morehouse College underscore IHG’s commitment to supporting the success of future leaders and increasing ethnically and racially diverse talent within our company,” says Elie Maalouf, CEO, Americas at IHG. “Our goal is to create meaningful engagements that open more doors of opportunity for underrepresented groups. I recently had the pleasure of meeting a few of our summer interns from both schools and it was inspiring to be among a new generation of up-and-coming talent that we hope will soon come back to IHG.”
The partnerships emerge as part of a larger effort to deepen IHG’s early-career recruitment among underrepresented groups, which includes engagement with other schools and the National Black MBA Association.
Students from Morehouse and Clark have already participated in IHG’s summer internship program, which afforded engagement with senior leaders and a range of in-depth projects across the business. IHG will participate in Morehouse’s Business Association Week, Spring Symposium, Firm Day and Freshman Colloquium, while also supporting the college’s new student orientation and select signature campus events.
At Clark, IHG will hold information sessions and speaking engagements to connect with students interested in hospitality. This will include collaboration with a hospitality club and access to virtual learning platform IHG Skills Academy as well.
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