The Partnership, Inc., Helps Middle and Upper Management Minorities Get Ahead

It’s not a level playing field. Research shows that promising white professionals are put on the fast track earlier in their careers and they reach middle- and upper-management years ahead of their counterparts of color. The question this raises for a high-potential minority professional is, can I beat the odds without burning out before I get there?

The Partnership, Inc., founded in 1987, is a nonprofit that helps minorities answer that question while helping local businesses attract, retain, and develop professionals of color. Its core activities are its intensive career development programs: the Boston Associates Program for early-stage professionals, the Boston Fellows Program for mid- to senior-level professionals, and the Senior Executive Program for high-level executives. Participants are typically promising employees who are nominated by their companies for enrollment. More than 1,300 minority participants have passed through the Partnership’s programs, representing some 200 Boston area firms. Eighty-four percent of the participants have remained in Boston. Of these, 70 percent say that The Partnership is the reason why.

This year’s associates program began last January at Boston’s Seaport Hotel and participants will to meet monthly through the end of 2005. Among their seminars are "Behavioral Strategies that Optimize Productivity," "Best Practices for ‘Being Mentored,’" "Mastering Skills for Conflict Resolution," and "Leadership Development through Civic Engagement."

Harvard Business School Professor David Thomas, chair of The Partnership and author of Breaking Through: The Making of Minority Executives in Corporate America, delivered January’s keynote address. It is his research that has documented the separate, unequal career tracks of white and minority professionals. His studies also show that those professionals of color who have managed to move into the upper ranks:

• had mentors investing in their growth and development;
• placed a higher priority on learning, excelling, and growing than on salary and title promotions that didn't really advance their careers;
• had strong networks that helped them develop professionally, but their networks included more and a broader range of people than the networks of their white counterparts;
• as middle managers, had highly visible successes in areas related to their company's core strategy.

"I am trying to lay out for people a realistic view of what's possible and what's required so that they can make choices with their eyes wide open so they don't become victims of a system that's tilted against them," says Thomas.

The associates program creates a safe environment for promising young professionals of color to think hard about their futures and their values, learn strategies and stay focused, support and be supported, and create a strong network of peers and mentors. When asked what she hopes participants will take away from the program, The Partnership's President and CEO Benaree Wiley says, "That they can control their career. That they can reach their potential. That it is good to have a developmental network. That they feel validated. And that they have a responsibility to others that goes along with their success."

The 52 young professionals enrolled in this year's Boston Associates Program represent 23 companies. They have embarked on a year-long journey of selfassessment, personal and professional goal-setting, and career strategizing. The energy they generate when they come together in a room to talk about the joys and challenges of improving themselves, becoming leaders, and facing choices, is palpable. Facilitator Clemia Brittenum of Fidelity Investments kicks off discussion by asking, "‘We need to set our sights higher.' What does this mean to you?"

Her question, stated so simply, is deliberately open-ended and provokes a spectrum of answers. An operations manager at Verizon replies, "It means to take on challenges others might avoid. It means marketing yourself. You have drive and are able to succeed. You know where you want to go."

A manager at Stop & Shop counters that it isn't always clear where you want to go. And, as a manager from EMC Corporation notes, it can be hard to pinpoint the next step. "I'm my own department," she says. "What's my next level? My department is not a revenue-generator."

A senior systems analyst from John Hancock questions the entire premise: "Do I want to go to the next level? Do I care to go? What's wrong with staying a middle manager?"

Brittenum expertly corrals the remarks into overarching themes that mindful professionals must contend with as they look to their futures.

Boston Associate Samuel Lowe, a patient access services supervisor with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, has seen his career boosted by superiors who took him on as a protégé (his current boss nominated him for the program) and stymied by others. Lowe has every confidence that The Partnership will give him an edge. "Knowing other people are right there with me—having tiers of black professionals I can relate to - is huge for me," he says.