Sponsoring Diverse Talent
By Kirsten Marriner, Clorox Chief People Officer
I recently had the opportunity to engage with hundreds of inspiring individuals at an event we co-hosted with Management Leadership for Tomorrow (MLT). MLT is a nonprofit that helps young and experienced leaders from largely under-represented minorities — Hispanic, African American and Native American — transform their lives and careers.
The energy, passion and sense of community among this group of students was palpable. It’s easy to see that this experience creates life-long relationships and builds both skills and support structures that will provide value throughout their careers.
MLT works with a wide range of individuals, from first-generation college students to undergraduate junior and seniors, MBAs and executive leadership. At the same time, it’s helping more than 100 leading businesses, social-sector organizations and universities build their talent pipelines with these leaders of tomorrow.
MLT Fellows at a Clorox event.
MLT Fellows make us stronger
Over the past 10 years that Clorox has partnered with MLT, we’ve met individuals with the tenacity and ability we need to drive our business strategy. MLT Fellows who have joined Clorox bring new perspectives, exemplify our values and help us continue to deepen inclusion and diversity on our teams.
That’s why Rob Ferguson and the rest of the Clorox college recruiting team spend time building partnerships with MLT and its Fellows, as well as with other diverse professional organizations. We care about building these relationships, and we value their positive impact.
This year, Clorox hosted a Career Prep event for graduating seniors. More than 300 students gathered at the Clorox Pleasanton Campus for two days of professional development, and 30 of them interviewed with Clorox for roles in Finance, IT, PSO, R&D and Sales. And, we’re proud to say that several of those students have accepted offers to join Clorox post-graduation!
We are committed to building a diverse team here at Clorox, and we like to develop and promote our own talent from within whenever we can. That’s why getting these strong students in the door now — and then making sure they feel supported and included once they are here — is so important.
Leslie Parra
Making strong connections
Leslie Parra, a Clorox 2018 Sales Intern, 2019 incoming Sales Analyst and MLT Fellow captures what makes programs like MLT so special.
“MLT provides invaluable coaching. As a result of this program, I turned an amazing internship at Clorox into an exciting full-time opportunity,” Leslie said. “I most value the relationships I built through this program — my peers, the coaches, the alumni and the partners. I’m ‘graduating’ from the program knowing at least 100 new and exciting faces. What’s great is that these relationships can develop into friendships, mentors and everything in between. For that, I am eternally grateful to MLT.”
So are we, Leslie. And welcome to Clorox!