Having access to a network is crucial for young people to gain economic mobility, according to Elizabeth Lindsey, CEO, Urban Alliance.
WorkingNation sat down with Lindsey at Presented by JFF Horizons – See Beyond 2022 in New Orleans.
Urban Alliance connects mostly high school seniors of color with paid work-based learning experiences. Lindsey says participants gain professional skills, development and mentorship. “We support them in moving onto a pathway into a great career, either through moving directly into college or directly into the workforce,” she says.
“We work with employers in all of our cities. Our employers are the key partners in our work. In each city we have signature partners like Bank of America, Rocket Mortgage, the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. with whom we work and who provide these experiences for our young people,” says Lindsey.
She adds, “We also focus in on connecting young people to careers in high-demand industries where there are many opportunities for folks without college degrees. Some of those industries include IT, health care and property management.”
Lindsey says the organization supports its students in building networks to help them as they navigate their career paths. “Social capital seems like it’s this buzzword, but it’s actually essential to the development and maintenance of any career. I know so many of us are in our current positions because someone recommended us or because we heard of an opportunity through a friend or a colleague. Many young adults of color, many young adults who are first generation college students or who will be – have no access to professional networks.”
Urban Alliance serves high school students in Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Detroit, and Chicago. But Lindsey notes, “We very much want to expand into other cities. Right now, we’re planning and starting conversations in cities across the country. So, stay tuned.”
Learn more about Urban Alliance.
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Dana Beth Ardi, PhD, Executive Committee, is a thought leader and expert in the fields of executive search, talent management, organizational design, assessment, leadership and coaching. As an innovator in the human capital movement, Ardi creates enhanced value in companies by matching the most sought after talent with the best opportunities. Ardi coaches boards and investors on the art and science of building high caliber management teams. She provides them with the necessary skills to seek out and attract top-level management, to design the ideal organizational architectures and to deploy people against strategy. Ardi unearths the way a business works and the most effective way for people to work in them.
Ardi is an experienced business executive and senior consultant who leverages business organizational transformation through talent strategies. She uses her knowledge and experience to develop talent strategies to enhance revenue and profit contributions. She has a deep expertise in change management and organizational effectiveness and has designed and built high performance cultures. Ardi has significant experience in mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, IPO’s and turnarounds.
Ardi is an expert on the multi-generational workforce. She understands the four intersecting generations of workers coming together in contemporary companies, each with their own mindsets, leadership and communications styles, values and motivations. Ardi is sought after to assist companies manage and thrive by bringing the generations together. Her book, Fall of the Alphas: How Beta Leaders Win Through Connection, Collaboration and Influence, will be published by St. Martin’s Press. The book reflects Ardi’s deep expertise in understanding organizations and our changing society. It focuses on building a winning culture, how companies must grow and evolve, and how talent influences and shapes communities of work. This is what she has coined “Corporate Anthropology.” It is a playbook on how modern companies must meet challenges – culturally, globally, digitally, across genders and generations.
Ardi is currently the Managing Director and Founder of Corporate Anthropology Advisors, LLC, a consulting company that provides human capital advisory and innovative solutions to companies building value through people. Corporate Anthropology works with organizations, their cultures, the way they grow and develop, and the people who are responsible for forming their communities of work.
Prior to her position at Corporate Anthropology Advisors, Ardi served as a Partner/Managing Director at the private equity firms CCMP Capital and JPMorgan Partners. She was a partner at Flatiron Partners, a venture capital firm working with early state companies where she pioneered the human capital role within an investment portfolio.
Ardi holds a BS from the State University of New York at Buffalo as well as a Masters degree and PhD from Boston College. She started her career as professor at the Graduate Center at Fordham University in New York.
