AbbVie Joins the HBCU Partnership Challenge to Support Black Students and Grads

AbbVie ranked No. 23 on The Fair360, formerly DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity list in 2022.

 

AbbVie has joined the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Caucus Partnership Challenge to promote engagement and support between companies and HBCUs. Over 90 companies have joined the challenge, welcomed by Congresswoman Alma Adams and Congressman French Hill.

“I want to thank our newest HBCU Caucus Partnership Challenge Members Abbvie, Amgen, and Protective Life Corporation,” Congresswoman Alma Adams, founder and Co-Chair of the Congressional Bipartisan HBCU Caucus said in a press release.  HBCUs face major capital infrastructure and funding challenges. It’s an important moment for private and public partners to continue to commit to support our HBCUs. I applaud all our private partners for taking the pledge at such a critical time.”

The HBCU Partnership Challenge aims to improve diversity in the workforce by focusing on the foundation: the schools of the future workforce and their students.

Seventy-six percent of job seekers evaluate workforce diversity when considering job offers and where to apply, according to a survey conducted by Glassdoor. Companies lacking in diversity are missing the opportunity to hire a new generation of talent.

The impact HBCUs have on the workforce is clear. These colleges produce:

  • 40% of all Black engineers
  • 40% of all Black U.S. Congress members
  • 50% of all Black lawyers
  • 80% of all Black judges

“At AbbVie, developing and delivering innovative life-changing medicines for the wide diversity of our patients requires the thoughtfulness and creativity that comes from having a wide range of inputs,” Rae Livingston, Chief Equity Officer at AbbVie, said in a press release. “AbbVie’s commitment to partnering with Historically Black Colleges and Universities is one way we continue our focus on attracting impact-making talent to help us deliver on this important mission of improving patient lives. Through relationships with these top institutions, we are creating new pathways to careers in the pharmaceutical industry. And AbbVie has the opportunity to tap into the innovative and futuristic thinking of talented students who are often untapped. I am beyond excited about partnering with the challenge.”

See photos of AbbVie employees meeting with HBCU events on LinkedIn.

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