The National Association of Investment Companies (NAIC) and the Toigo Foundation have joined forces to boost the pipeline of diverse women in alternative investments, particularly women of colour.
They have launched the NAIC Paradigm Changers Undergraduate and Graduate Internship Programme to help support women wanting to pursue careers in alternative investment. The programme includes education, career development programming, mentoring and internships targeting undergraduate and graduate women with the potential to lead in the field of private equity.
The internship and mentorship aspects of the programme will be critical components of NAIC’s Women in Alternative Investments Initiative (WIAI), to support and increase the number of women entering the private equity and hedge fund sectors. Toigo will be an integral partner in collaborating with NAIC in the design of the curriculum for each programme, building on its long-standing leadership development training work in the industry.
ACCELERATING WOMEN’S CAREERS
“NAIC is delighted to have this opportunity to partner with the Toigo Foundation to increase the number of women – and diverse women in particular – in the alternative investment industry,” commented Carmen Ortiz-McGhee, Executive Vice President of the National Association of Investment Companies. “Our collective and complementary strengths are superbly poised to drive measurable progress towards further diversifying the face of this important market segment.”
The training has been carefully “curated to accelerate junior women’s careers in private equity, leveraging the respective organisations’ extensive coaching capabilities, knowledge capital and networks”, according to both organisations.
SUPPORT FOR WOMEN IN INVESTMENT
“Toigo views the partnership with NAIC as an important next step in our agenda and programming to support the advancement of women in alternatives. It’s an excellent way to leverage our established success in student selection and leadership programming to advance the goals of the Paradigm Changers programme,” added Nancy Sims, President and CEO of the Toigo Foundation. “It is our collective responsibility to have some impact on the next generation of leaders for our industry.”
With the support of founding sponsors TPG and IMB Partners, the internship and mentorship programmes will target women across a broad range of nontraditional academic disciplines, including business, law, healthcare, technology and engineering, among others. NAIC will develop and structure a general internship framework for participating NAIC and American Investment Council (AIC) member firms to adopt, to not only enhance and increase the number of women entering the industry, but also ensure that the programme participants have enriching summer internship experiences.
Applications for the Undergraduate and Graduate Internship programmes will be launched in early January 2021, with the inaugural classes expected to start next summer.
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