JLL Launches Ambitions Fellow Program with the National HBCU Business Deans Roundtable

JLL Launches Ambitions Fellow Program with the National HBCU Business Deans Roundtable 

Collaboration Opens Commercial Real Estate Doors for HBCU Business Students

The National HBCU Business Deans Roundtable and JLL are collaborating on a new customized program that targets diverse students and provides broader, stronger access into the commercial real estate services industry. 

The newly developed JLL Ambitions Fellowship Program is aimed at going a step beyond evaluating candidates solely based on GPA or class rank and connecting with students who are personally recommended by their deans. Once recommended into the program by their dean, students, who are from any major, experience a five-day workshop that introduces them to commercial real estate and career opportunities at JLL while also providing broader professional development. More than 40 students from 13 HBCUs participated in the first fellowship program.

“We created a targeted program that creates stronger access for high potential diverse candidates, where the only requirement is that they are nominated by their dean or dean’s representative, such as a professor,” said Giselle Battley, JLL’s Director of Strategic D&I Partnerships & University Relations. “Our goal is to eliminate some of the bias in the recruiting process. We want to connect with the person, not arbitrary measurements, such as strictly looking at GPA, and assess the student’s full potential, including remarks from their very own dean or professors who know them best.”

Joe Ricks, chair of the Division of Business at the Xavier University of Louisiana where Battley graduated in 2008, said HBCU deans see students’ qualities and circumstances that standard measures overlook. For example, some student business majors switch from pre-med with grades that dragged down their GPA, while others bloom later, academically. There are also students who are busy with sports and part-time jobs.

“They can really bring value to the workforce,” Ricks said. “You really can expand the amount of talent available for companies to recruit.” 

“The biggest benefit is for the companies because most companies don’t have any way or spend enough time to sort through to find great talent,” agrees Van Sapp, the dean of the School of Business at St. Augustine’s University who also teaches management and technology. “The kids I recommend are kids I actually teach. A lot of these kids are accomplished in their own right but have to spend time doing things a lot of other students don’t have to do. Having the dean’s recommendation gets past a lot of this because you get a chance to work with some of the students and you know their potential above and beyond the GPA.”

As part of the program, students are taught the importance of personal branding, storytelling, networking via social media and other tools that help them apply for jobs. The final day involves mock interviews with business professionals and recruiters and offers real-time feedback to the students. Participants are extended opportunities for ongoing mentorships and considered for current and future opportunities within JLL.

“We’re meeting the students where their needs are,” said JLL recruiter Crystal Brockington.

“This program helped me to obtain skills and strengthen the ones I already had. It taught me how to build my personal brand, handle interviews, and what JLL is truly about,” said one participant from Grambling State University. “From the mock interview, it taught that being my authentic self is the best way."

The JLL Ambitions Fellowship Program will be offered bi-annually in partnership with the HBCU Business Dean Roundtable organization.