U. S. Steel Sponsors Annual INROADS Recognition Dinner at Senator John Heinz Pittsburgh Regional History Center

INROADS, Inc., a global not-for-profit leadership training organization that acts as a conduit between distinguished minority undergraduates and America's leading businesses, held its annual Pittsburgh/Erie market recognition dinner today at the Senator John Heinz Pittsburgh Regional History Center. At the event INROADS recognized the efforts of its dedicated corporate partners and its talented Interns. This summer 43 INROADS Interns worked in Pittsburgh area organizations. Eight of the Interns were graduating seniors, who were recognized at the event. United States Steel Corporation, which sponsored the dinner and hosted two Interns this summer, has been involved with INROADS since it moved into the Pittsburgh market 29 years ago.

The Master and Mistress of Ceremonies were Ricardo Torres, an Intern at U. S. Steel, and Laila Bey, an Intern with PNC Financial Services Group.

In his keynote address, U. S. Steel General Manager-Corporate Diversity, David Coleman, spoke about the importance of advancing company-wide diversity and inclusion strategies in order to win the battle for human talent. "For any company to be the best it must start with an inclusive culture that values the diversity of its people and their talents," Coleman said. "The result will be employees who contribute in creative ways to secure the company's future as a world competitive organization."

Pittsburgh area corporate sponsors include: Allegheny Energy, Bayer Corporation, Deloitte & Touche, LLP, Ernst & Young, LLP, HDR Inc., Highmark, KPMG, LLP, Mellon Financial Corporation, Pfizer, Inc., PNC Financial Services Group, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Target, United States Steel Corporation, and Verizon Wireless.

Recruiting experts believe today's high-performing minority college students are tomorrow's top managerial candidates, and more of them will work for the companies that aggressively recruit them before they graduate.

Each year, INROADS recruiters scout hundreds of universities and colleges to identify serious-minded students of color seeking multi-year corporate Internships. Selected students are primed for careers with INROADS sponsor companies through the INROADS Internship Process. This process provides leadership training and development, professional coaching, academic support, and a renewable, salaried Internship with an INROADS sponsor. Sponsor companies pay INROADS an annual administrative fee for each Intern placed -- a small investment that yields high returns when considering that, on average, 87 percent of graduating INROADS Interns accept full-time offers from INROADS corporate sponsors.

For more than 30 years, INROADS has earned the trust of many of the leading Fortune 500 by providing strategic workforce solutions and placing nearly 14,000 proven candidates.

The INROADS development and training curriculum focuses on seven leadership competencies that connect the dots between the corporate sponsor's business vision and goals, and the Intern's productivity and performance. A sample INROADS leadership development and training program could include study in problem-solving, team-building, and leading using Six-Sigma. INROADS also provides on-going academic support; best matches each Intern with a corporate mentor; and designs a customized professional development plan that almost surely guarantees that INROADS Interns are better equipped for leadership careers with their corporate sponsors than any other new hires in the market.

Partnering with INROADS yields additional bottom-line benefits, which include:

   * Early recruitment of the most talented minority undergraduates
     representing America's future executive workforce.
   * Opportunity to develop future executives from as early as their
     freshmen year.
   * Opportunity to convert Intern to "experienced" new hire, who is
     immediately productive and in-sync with the company's vision, mission
     and goals.
   * Higher retention rates due to the INROADS right-fit selection process.
   * Increased talent pool for succession planning.

Founded in 1970, INROADS, Inc. is the nation's largest non-profit source of salaried corporate Internships for excelling Black, Asian, Hispanic/Latino and Native American Indian college students. INROADS has graduated more than 38,000 leaders in industry, academia and government, providing them with the professional skills and competencies necessary to be successful in advanced careers. With more than 50 offices throughout the U.S., Mexico, and Canada, INROADS trains and places nearly 5,500 young men and women each year in salaried corporate Internships. Since 1993, The Princeton Review has consistently named INROADS one of "America's Top 10 Internships." To learn more, visit http://www.inroads.org/.

SOURCE: INROADS, Inc.

CONTACT: Donna Cotton, +1-216-623-1010, ext. 114, or
donnacotton@INROADS.org, or Jacquelyne Bailey, +1-216-623-1010, ext. 116, or
jbailey@INROADS.org, both of INROADS, Inc.

Web site: http://www.inroads.org/