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Empowering LGBTQ2+ Leaders of Tomorrow: Out for Undergrad
GlobalMindED is highlighting the work of LGBTQ+ organizations during Pride Month, and is pleased to share more about Out for Undergrad (O4U), a nonprofit organization helping high-achieving lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ2+) and otherwise diverse undergraduate students to explore their authentic selves, consider what matters most in life and work, jump-start their careers with direct introductions to recruits, and engage with a supportive, professional, and peer network from 100s of campuses and within the world's 200+ leading corporations.
What is your organization’s story and mission statement?
Our mission is to help high-achieving LGBTQ2+ undergraduates reach their full potential. To achieve this, 100+ early-career LGBTQ2+ professionals volunteer annually to create immersive, industry-specific conferences and ongoing personal and professional development programming for almost 1,000 undergraduates and 200+ sponsoring organizations. Our programming inspires a diverse class of students to pursue ambitious careers, provides direct access to corporate recruiters, mentorship, community support, and a curriculum focused on living authentically, deciding what matters most in life and work, and career preparation. We work to empower the most underrepresented individuals in corporations so that alumni are granted the access they deserve and are ultimately inspired to lead change.
How does the organization promote diversity and inclusion?
O4U works to eliminate barriers to entry for those we serve. To do this we submit ourselves to rigorous assessment and dynamically shift processes as needed to ensure that we leave no one out or behind. To assess our effectiveness and to engage in continuous growth, we conduct a self-evaluation with the Global Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Benchmarks each year. The benchmarks aim to create a more equitable world, advance inclusive culture, and improve organizational effectiveness. We utilize them as a beacon in our work, to build a foundation that leads to internal and external excellence.
Some examples of our work in this area include: MOSAIC programming for Black, LantinX/E, and/or Native/Indigenous students, pre-conference TRANSCEND Programming for transgender, gender non-conforming, and non-binary students, required anti-racism programming for all volunteers and conference attendees, and inclusive language and process for documentation, forms, applications, and our website.
What have been some of the organization’s biggest milestones or achievements?
- We have served over 8,000 undergraduate students during that time.
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In 2023, we co-launched Out to Succeed 2.0 in partnership with Out Leadership, the world’s largest research study of the trajectory of LGBTQ2+ employment.
- We actively diversify and expand the population we serve, especially students from the most underrepresented backgrounds within the LGBTQ2+ community, including people of color, transgender individuals, and those from geographic areas that restrict LGBTQ2+ human rights.
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We offer consulting and a corporate training portfolio responding to support organizations in essential DEI work.
- Out for Undergrad has a 20-year history of developing leadership capacity and skills in more than 1,000 early-career-stage professionals who volunteered to build and host O4U conferences, manage strategic initiatives and operations, and run task forces and advisory councils. They now work in corporations throughout the world where they support voice and agency for others and can model inclusive and empathic leadership.
How has the organization impacted the lives of the people it serves?
Our annual industry-specific conferences, Learning Community, Mentorship Program, Breakthrough Speaker Series, Alumni network, and Job Board are all designed to address and correct critical needs within corporate recruiting and retention strategies. O4U’s impact on undergraduates is transformational, described by the majority of students as life-changing, both personally and professionally. We create an environment in which corporations engage with high-achieving students, provide mentorship and networking opportunities, and offer them internships and jobs. We empower students to be their most authentic selves, to ask tough questions of employers about inclusion and advancement and to find the place in which they are most valued. Following our 2023 conferences, 99% of student attendees indicated that they felt they belonged and 95% felt prepared to face upcoming career choices.
How can GlobalMindED help your organization reach your goals?
Please encourage folks to share sponsorship opportunities for organizations.
Readers can also personally support our life-changing work by donating to O4U
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