GR black professionals unite
Creating a place where black professionals can come together to develop professionally, socially, and personally in a primarily white community is the goal of a newly-formed Grand Rapids network. Beyond that, developing black culture in the region and using it to spur economic growth is one goal to building and strengthening a diverse Grand Rapids workforce.
According to excerpts from the story:
A fledgling network for Grand Rapids-area black professionals is hoped to become a community recruiting and retention feature, organizers say, though another attempt at forming such a group foundered several years ago.
“It’s just that level of comfort, once you walk out the door and feel that there are other people out there like you,” says Kimberly Richardson, a labor-law specialist with Varnum, Riddering, Schmidt & Howlett.
Richardson envisions a Black Professionals and Executives Network that would empower African-Americans to develop professionally, socially and personally in this predominantly white community.
It could serve as a platform to help employers recruit and retain blacks and highlight the area’s racial diversity, she says.
Read the complete story here.
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