Earlier this month, the NASCAR industry welcomed 22 graduate and undergraduate students from across the country to begin the 10-week NASCAR Diversity Internship Program (NDIP) — the sport‘s longest running diversity initiative.
The industry-wide program offers students of color hands-on experience as well as the opportunity to network with and learn from executive leaders across one of the largest professional sports industries. This year‘s class has been placed in paid internship roles across various NASCAR departments, 23XI Racing, Rev Racing and CSM Production.
“For more than 20 years, the NASCAR Diversity Internship Program has provided a critical foundation for NASCAR‘s evolving and expanding diversity, equity and inclusion platform,” said Brandon Thompson, NASCAR Vice President, Diversity and Inclusion, who in June 2020 became the first NDIP alum appointed to an officer role at the sanctioning body.
“These internships create opportunities for young, diverse talent to be exposed to NASCAR and learn about the sport, but they‘re also filling a pipeline as we continue to diversify the broader industry workforce.”
This year‘s NDIP class is the first since 2019 after the program was cancelled last year due to the impact of COVID-19. Roles will allow interns to apply concepts learned in school while expanding their knowledge working closely with talented professionals from the motorsports community.
The program will culminate in August as the interns return to school or pursue fulltime roles within NASCAR or across other industries. Of the more than 400 interns that have participated since 2000, many were offered fulltime employment following their internships and to this day NDIP alums continue to make significant contributions to the sport.
The sanctioning body employs several former interns including Kathryn Lee, Director, Marketing Activation; Marvin Aylor, Director, Partnership Marketing; Jusan Hamilton, Director, Racing Operations & Event Management; Erica Wilkerson, Manager, Youth & Multicultural Marketing, Jasmine Neely, Manager, Industry Communications and Victoria Garcia Associate Producer.
Throughout the summer, NDIP interns will collaborate on group projects and have access to mentors, former interns and lunch-and-learn sessions hosted by NASCAR executives.
The following students have been selected to the 2021 NASCAR Diversity Internship Program class:
Intern NameDepartment NameSchoolAdrienne E. WashingtonNASCAR LegalUniversity of Florida Levin College of LawAmanda ArnoldNASCAR Editorial ContentArkansas State UniversityAustin PruittNASCAR LicensingUniversity of North Carolina at GreensboroDiamond K. EvansNASCAR National SalesBowie State UniversityGerald TaylorNASCAR Diversity & InclusionVirginia State UniversityGiovanni PieveNASCAR Sourcing & ProcurementArizona State UniversityHarold VelasquezCSM ProductionHigh Point UniversityIris WrightNASCAR Youth & Multicultural MarketingNorth Carolina State UniversityIsha ShafqatNASCAR Data StrategyUniversity of North Carolina at CharlotteJazz WarrenNASCAR CommunicationsUniversity of North Carolina at CharlotteJeff JinNASCAR International BusinessNew York UniversityJoshua PenaNASCAR Track MarketingWestern Michigan UniversityJoshua SkyNASCAR Weekly Racing OperationsSyracuse UniversityKamron PhilpartNASCAR Co7ntingency SalesUniversity of Central FloridaKelly LeangNASCAR FoundationElon UniversityKelvin JonesNASCAR LegalHoward University School of LawKorn SupatrabutraNASCAR Research & InsightsMichigan State UniversityLukas RubioNASCAR Brand & Driver MarketingSUNY CortlandNoah CorneliusRev RacingAppalachian State UniversityOscar CabanasNASCAR Public AffairsNova Southeastern University School of LawSavannah HillmeyerNASCAR International BusinessUniversity of South CarolinaYuki Chiang23XI RacingUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst
— NASCAR —
