FedEx Corporation, which is headquartered in Memphis, has announced a pledge to commit $5 million to four historically Black colleges and universities in Mississippi and Tennessee. The initiative will create valuable education and job readiness for students at Tennessee State University, Jackson State University, Mississippi Valley State University, and LeMoyne-Owen College.
The initiative is a collaborative effort among FedEx and each school designed to help prepare students for the workforce beyond formal education. A portion of the multi-year commitment will be used to offer relief support to help students, faculty, and staff at each school who have suffered adverse economic impact due to COVID-19.
“With many students and families struggling right now as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, our hope is that this timely investment will help keep more students in school and provide future access to leadership, educational, and employment opportunities,” said Judy Edge, corporate vice president of human resources at FedEx. “This contribution further deepens our commitment to creating more equitable communities by breaking down barriers to work and making a sustainable, long-term impact on underrepresented groups.”
FedEx has also launched a Student Ambassador Program that will begin in March. The program will help prepare students who attend HBCUs to be future leaders with opportunities to learn about the FedEx enterprise from executives, build leadership and career-ready skills, and participate in unique experiences, while also helping expand the company’s pipeline for diverse talent. Students were selected based on their career interests in various areas, including e-commerce, sustainability, IT/tech, logistics, marketing communications, sales, data/analytics, operations, and more. The students will have the opportunity to participate in seminars designed to provide empowerment, engagement, and education; plus, access to resources that will hopefully offer them an edge as they prepare to enter the workforce after college.
In addition to the four HBCUs mentioned above, students from Lane College in Jackson, Tennessee, Paul Quinn College in Dallas, Fayetteville State University in North Carolina, and Miles College in Fairfield, Alabama, have been selected for the first cohort of Student Ambassadors.
If FedEx was really serious about students at HBCUs they would have created a paid summer summer internship for undergraduate students and a summer fellowship for HBCU MBA students. I am more real interested in knowing what type of similar programs does FedEx already have with Historically White Colleges and Universities (HWCUs). I wonder how much money FedEx have made off of those selected HBCUs?