Rising Leaders: How UK is Empowering a New Generation of Diverse Leaders

By Ann Blackford

By Ann Blackford

HOW UK IS EMPOWERING A NEW GENERATION OF DIVERSE LEADERS

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n fall 2017, six juniors from the University of Kentucky were selected for the first time to participate in the Management Leadership for Tomorrow (MLT) Career Prep program headquartered in Washington. A nonprofit organization transforming the lives of high-achieving, underrepresented students across the nation, MLT helps bridge the vital collegeto-career transition gap.

Upon learning about MLT, UK alumnus Mike Malone, a 1976 graduate of the College of Arts and Sciences, immediately saw how the program could benefit students at his alma mater, and he made the partnership between UK and MLT happen. Here’s how the story unfolds.

Launched in 2002, MLT was founded by current director and CEO John Rice. His thesis as a Harvard MBA student

envisioned a nonprofit organization that would provide training, coaching and networking opportunities that have traditionally been unavailable to underrepresented students.

After a successful career at Disney and the National Basketball Association, Rice’s vision became a reality, and MLT now has a community of more than 8,000 alumni nationwide, known as Rising Leaders.

The mission of MLT is to empower a new generation of diverse leaders into the workforce and equip talented African American, Latinx and Native American students with the knowledge and tools to thrive in their careers. The program offers a life-changing, 18-month experience for students beginning in their junior year of college and provides a professional playbook and career-long leadership network.

In addition, the MLT Career Prep program provides summer internship and full-time job opportunities within its network of over 100 leading corporate partners, including Fortune 500 companies.

The University of Kentucky is in its fourth year partnering with MLT and is proud to have two alumni groups of MLT Rising Leaders: the inaugural 2017 cohort of six who graduated in 2019, followed by the eight 2020 graduates. Currently the university has five juniors and five seniors participating in the program.

UK’s partnership with MLT and the transformative experiences for these UK students would not be possible without the generous support of Mike Malone.

It is through his vision and unwavering commitment to students that UK’s MLT Fellows are flourishing.

“Now more than ever, I am convinced that putting our young people on the path to economic mobility is one of the most direct steps we can take to meaningfully move the needle on solving the structural socioeconomic inequalities that are underlying today’s problems,” Malone says.

A native of Paris, Kentucky, Malone built a successful career in investment banking and private equity for nearly 30 years and currently resides in Charlotte, North Carolina. Education has always been important to him, and he is the son of firstgeneration college graduates.

“I feel very fortunate to have gone to UK,” Malone says. “It gave me the experiences, skills, and confidence to go on to a successful and rewarding career.

Malone became friends with MLT founder John Rice while they both served on a corporate board of directors. Malone was impressed with Rice and the tremendous good the program was doing for underserved people. The two shared common interests including a love of basketball.

Knowing Rice was a three-year starter on Yale’s basketball team and was previously an executive with the NBA, Malone invited Rice to UK’s campus the weekend of a Kentucky – Kansas game to meet with UK President Eli Capilouto and students to discuss the possibilities of MLT at UK. “When I first learned of Management Leadership for Tomorrow, I was filled with hope for the future, especially for our historically underrepresented students,” Capilouto says. “The work of MLT is critically important in ensuring that our workforce is representative of the communities we serve. I remain inspired by its leaders as they work to build a more diverse, equitable workforce for generations to come.”

Rice says that Capilouto sees the need to augment students’ curriculum so that they are building on a roadmap from an academic and a leadership standpoint.

“This is important for every student. This is not a minority thing. He sees the value of what we bring to the table, and he sees the importance of maximizing not just the student experience while at UK, but also the long-term relationships and trying to maximize that,” Rice says.

Capilouto’s support and Malone’s enthusiasm greatly inspired Rice’s desire to bring MLT to Kentucky.

RYAN PAGE

Executive Team Lead Intern at Target, Summer 2020 Internship Senior, College of Communication and Information Major: Business and Organizational Communication

“I saw the program as an opportunity to grow and develop for my future career in the business world. The program has gone above and beyond my expectations in doing so. Thank you for making my dreams come true. Thank you for allowing myself and my fellow peers at UK to have the immersive, valuable experience. This experience is one of the best I’ve had.”

KHALIL APPLETON '19

NAJIKA (HALSEMA) YOO '19

“The experience helped me to understand and really see for myself that the knowledge that we learn during college is extremely important, but that work ethic and knowing how to learn quickly and effectively are far more valuable skills to have."

“Because of MLT, I am able to live in an area of the country I want to.

I got my dream job right out of school working with some of the most brilliant people I’ve ever met. They value my opinions and work and treat me with the respect I deserve."

"My favorite part of the program was making connections with other high-achieving minority students from across the country. This experience was great in that seeing and interacting with other highpotential minorities painted a truly hopeful picture of the future for me.”

“I am still heavily involved with MLT, mentoring current Fellows and meeting with potential investors. I owe all my success to this program.

I went from a self-doubting, confused student to an employee who has full confidence in her abilities and is proud of how far she has come.”

Business Technology Analyst at Deloitte Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering, Minor in Mathematics

“Mike saw his own journey in the stories of our students and that story, I realize the program has not only changed their lives but their made him that much more passionate about bringing MLT to the families, too,” Malone says. “Hearing how grateful their parents university,” Rice says. “Mike was the catalyst for MLT at UK and are and how they never dreamed of something so transformational was responsible for enabling students to participate and benefit really sticks with me. from the program. We’ve started a model at UK that had not been “The example these kids set and the things they can do back in done on a university campus before this time.” their communities for their families is incredible. If you go back The MLT program consists of a combination of on-campus to any of these companies from when I was in school, they didn’t mentoring and off-campus seminars and conferences at various even know where UK was on a map. Now, they’re hiring these kids. places throughout the country. Students do an internship with Nothing would make me prouder than to see one of our students partner companies like Google, Adobe, Goldman Sachs, and JP as CEO of one of these partner companies, and I think that is a true Morgan Chase after possibility.” their junior year. All Students apply for the the students from UK MLT Career Prep program were subsequently during their sophomore The work of MLT is critically important in ensuring hired by these top year. In addition to a that our workforce is representative of the tier companies after program application that communities we serve. I remain inspired by its graduation and are still captures their career and leaders as they work to build a more diverse, being tracked today for industry interests, students equitable workforce for generations to come. continued support. are required to submit “When I listen to letters of recommendation, these kids tell their an academic transcript and − UK President Dr. Eli Capilouto

Frontend Web Developer at Adobe Bachelor of Science in Computer Science, Minor in Mathematics

a resume/CV. A select number of applicants are invited to record a video response and advance to the second stage of the application process. Students accepted to the MLT Career Prep program are required to submit a non-refundable program fee, which is covered by gifts made by Malone and others.

George Wright, senior advisor to UK president and interim vice president for institutional diversity, says UK has developed a close partnership with MLT since joining UK’s curriculum in 2017.

“More than two dozen UK students have participated in MLT. Recent UK graduate Kymberley Johnson benefited from participation in MLT’s Career Prep program and was successful at securing a summer internship with Google after her junior year. She subsequently was offered a full-time position with the company as an advertising specialist,” Wright says.

Johnson says that the MLT program has greatly impacted her life in a positive way.

“I can confidently say that if it were not for MLT I would not be in the place I am today,” Johnson says. “The coaches and my fellow CP Class of 2020 participants were able to breathe new energy and outlooks that changed how I went about the rest of my college career. No other organization I was in at UK was able to help me

develop at such a vast and rapid rate. It made me realize what my purpose was in my community and learn how to use my strengths, knowledge and experience to the absolute fullest. I was able to work harder on various projects for my classes because I saw strong examples of what excellence was, and that is how I wanted to be regarded.”

After seeing the difference MLT has made in the lives of these UK students since 2017, Rice and Malone want to make that happen for even more students.

“What we accomplished over the past three years is just the beginning, and we view this as a multi-year pilot,” Rice says. “The next step would be that MLT would partner with UK on a much broader scale. We hope to develop the model for universities around the country with respect to how we augment our career services with specific interventions to intervene on behalf of low- and moderateincome students.

“Getting into college is critical, but there is a lot more work to do for students. We think it’s important, especially for philanthropists, to understand the importance of this program. Seeing the outcomes of MLT students, it’s clear there is a difference in outcomes, and that should be reinforced.” ■

KYMBERLEY JOHNSON '20

IMMANUAL ALEMAN '20

“Not only did the program encourage me to genuinely reach for the stars, but it gave me resources to do so. Everyone was always sharing information and coaching one another, and that was not something that I had experienced before.”

“The program encourages Fellows to be diligent and to push strong for what we want to pursue. This meant practicing for interviews during the seminars, networking with partner firms and other Fellows, and receiving feedback from our coaches. By having greater exposure to a very valuable network, I felt very encouraged to push harder in my academic studies when classes became more difficult. Overall, MLT had a very huge positive impact on me.”

Ad Specialist at Google Bachelor of Science in Merchandising, Apparel and Textiles

FRRA Corporate Control Analyst at JP Morgan Chase & Co. Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance