A Moment of Opportunity: Managing Interns of Color in 2020

As racial injustice connected to COVID-19 and police violence have dominated the news cycle, it has also consumed the souls of those of us who live with systemic racism every day while we also attempt to show up for work well. I found myself in deep pain this month, struggling with a sense of helplessness, but also elevated by the promise of the young people of color whom I work with to secure internships as a pathway to competitive careers. I am energized by their ideas, creativity, resilience, and tenacity to turn the challenges of this season into an opportunity to find ways to power a future they can be proud of. 

Everyone is asking what happens next and how we function. The unrest related to the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery during the pandemic is causing many of us to rethink the ways we can disrupt, heal, and impact change in our individual places of living and work. An opportunity that comes to mind for me is implementing practices that support the humanity of people of color at every level of our organizations as a fundamental imperative. 

We cannot divorce our humanity from our work. The humanity of young people of color, who are attempting to see themselves as valuable when viral attacks of their identity tell them otherwise, must be accounted for in the workplace as well. An internship can be a place where racism is reinforced or it can be an pathway for talent innovation, where their humanity, brilliance, and the notion that they matter is affirmed. 

Many internships across the country will begin this week, and to ensure that managers have tools and resources for success through this lens, I have outlined five points for consideration. How can managers utilize internships during this time to connect, support, encourage, and make diversity and inclusion real? 

1. Create space for customization.

This class of interns is just different. Students have weathered cancelled proms and commencement ceremonies, braved exiting campuses abruptly, finished semesters virtually, and worked part time jobs to support families in flux economically. Despite all the challenges of COVID-19, young people of color are still finding a way out of no way. They've secured internships during a period where nearly 40% of internships have been eliminated or postponed. They are pivoting from in-person to virtual, joining your teams with incredible skills while navigating how to operate with excellence the Monday following nationwide protests in response to racial violence. 

Honor their resilience with flexibility, and nurture their talent by meeting them where they are. Customize your internship experiences by asking specific questions. What can I do to help create an environment for you to do your best work during this time? How can I support you specifically this week? In what environment do you do your best work? How can I create that in our virtual engagement? How can I adjust things to help make projects more manageable right now? What qualities are important to you in your manager? If you need support in building out questions, Claire Lew, CEO of Know Your Team, builds these prompts to help managers understand employees with an intentional level of specificity.

This is not the time for one size fits all. Lean in! If internships are in-person, ensure that your colleagues don’t ask to touch their natural hair. Be flexible on requiring meeting attendance during Salat times when Muslims perform prayers if that is their religion. Ask what gender pronouns are preferred. Spell and pronounce their names correctly and encourage the wider team to do the same. 

These may not be company wide policies, but they are practices you can enact to take your intern’s experience to the next level.

The best statement of affirmation is, “I see you" Dr. David Stovall

2. Create space for leadership and problem solving.

The future of work is rapidly changing. What that path forward will be is a question that is complex, and the answers will impact us all. The dialogue must include the generation who will soon lead innovation. Allow your interns to help you envision what the future could be. This is the time for them to lead and use their talent! Internships in white spaces many times push people of color to shrink. We need young people of color to see themselves as leaders--not just leaders trying to survive but individuals leading from a place of power and transformation.  

Build projects for hands-on, real-world learning, provide growth opportunities, and engage interns in programming that builds a portfolio of experience rather than merely build resume points. 

They are more equipped to solve the problems of this period than any other generation. They are living and learning in the age of social media engagement. They are naturally entrepreneurial and tech savvy. Unfortunately, many have been consistently been told to stay out of the way, under the radar, and silent because it's safer that way. Allow them a voice. Give them opportunities to present, to solve problems, to engage their thinking. Enhance their network by inviting them to connections with employee resource groups and internal connections with influence. It will serve a mutual benefit.

"That’s why they follow me huh? They think I know the way." Nipsey Hussle

3. Create space for wellness. 

Opportunities for peace and positive reflection is critical during this period. Operating as a person of color in predominantly white spaces can create feelings of uneasiness, discomfort, and even stress. If adults are having a tough time navigating how to show up during this crisis, imagine how much more challenging this is for teens and young adults. Understand your current workplace strategies for mental health and include your intern. 

Create avenues for interns to have moments of mindfulness. Generate weekly schedules with a built-in “wellness hour,” and insert inspirational talks, meditation, breathing exercises, yoga videos, therapy related podcasts, and all things wellness. Supporting moments and methods of self-soothing for trauma and grief can be revolutionary. 

“Kids, we assume, are resilient and much more adaptable than we are; we’ve decided they will be just fine. But children are feeling the same immeasurable strain adults are.” Michelle Molitor

4. Create space for their authentic leadership.

We know the danger of the single story. It took me thirty plus years before I defined what authentic leadership meant for me. Being a Black woman from Compton and a first generation college graduate has made me a different kind of leader, uniquely qualified for executive leadership. It was a journey to arrive at that statement after years of allowing imposter syndrome to dominate my own narrative. Seeing my skin color, my neighborhood, my gender, and my voice as strengths took a lot of work of untangling narratives given to me in power structures starting with my first internship. Don't wear those braids, people won't take you seriously. Don't speak too loud. Always wear a dark suit and a white colored shell if you want to be respected. Don’t say you’re from Compton, say you're from Los Angele--it’s more recognizable and less intimidating. Never appear smarter than your boss. One mistake can be the end of your professional ascension. Never talk about your background especially if it's different from others on your team. Work harder than everyone else. Be nothing less than perfect. Be grateful for whatever you’re given, and never object. 

Having an executive coach and being a Surge Institute Fellow gave me the tools to unlearn and thrive as my full self. Give your interns today what it took me over a decade in the workplace to fully uncover.

Ask your interns to define authentic leadership for themselves, and let that definition serve as a roadmap for the culture you create. Give this gift to your interns as a catalyst to their personal enlightenment. This is a tool to help students lead freely in a way that represents the best parts of them. 

"It's a tiny revolution to express yourself fully and be who you want to be, especially when systems tell you that you can't." Amanda Stenberg

5. Make cultural competence a required part of your training.

You can still operate as a culturally competent manager even if your company is without quality diversity and inclusion strategy. You can be the change you want to see. Seek out tools. Solicit quality training and learning. Ensure that you are equipped to truly leverage this opportunity as a manager. Just as managers are employing training for virtual management, invest the time in making sure that you can rise to the occasion in managing diversity. In order to drive a vehicle you go through a course and receive a license. Consider the dangers of driving a vehicle without a license and before you're prepared. The same applies here. Don't be the manager that uses the internship to test your bias. They are not here for practice. Solicit help. Request budget for training. Hire a consultant. Organizations like The Equity Lab are not slowing down but doubling down on engaging organizations on issues of race, equity, diversity, and inclusion.

Don't be a threat to ambition for interns of color. This is an opportunity for you to be the manager their power and potential deserves.

"We have to look at Black talent development as an investment..." Sherell Dorsey

We are all trying to come out of this season stronger. There is radical layered work that must be done in this country to combat systemic racism and this is not a solve, but it is a step if you find yourself in the management seat. Let your internship program be a path of strength and innovation for you and your company. How do you do that? Understand that the future of work will be led by the beautiful Black faces you see in protest and talent strategies must include them. That starts with one opportunity. Social justice begins with one act. The potential marriage of these is this summer’s internship program. Developing talent pipelines and creating transformational and inclusive opportunities can begin with one manager-to-intern relationship. Plant the seed, and allow it to grow in your organization. 

For my students reading this, know that you are next up. Our future is safe because you will lead it. The Black experience in this country is complex but you are a light in the center of it. There is not much I can do to ease your pain, because there's little I can do to ease my own. But I am with you. I support you. And I am supporting spaces that reclaim your humanity. 

Halleemah Nash is an executive who leverages company leadership, coaching, and people engagement to deliver a more diverse and talented workforce. Halleemah has worked as a social impact executive for The Chicago Bulls, Chicago Housing Authority, iMentor, and The Academy Group and as a consultant and speaker for TEDx, Nike, H&M, Morgan Stanley, The City of Compton, and Obama Administration White House Council for Women and Girls.

Follow Halleemah Nash on LinkedIN for a June series on internships and the power and potential of Generation Z.