At DirectEmployers 2015 Annual Meeting & Conference (DEAM15) taking place in just a few short weeks, we are proud to have the opportunity to honor some of our Members for their work with a DirectEmployers Member Award. One such organization, City of Hope, not only had the opportunity to share their award-winning initiative with Members during a webinar last month, but will also present at the conference to give additional guidance to fellow Members looking to focus on diversity hiring this year. Let’s take a closer look at their initiative that aimed to engage with a future diverse workforce.

social media chatter from City of Hope Diversity Expo

Social media engagement with attendees.

A cancer research hospital located in the Los Angeles area, City of Hope is always looking to hire the brightest minds in healthcare to add to their growing staff. When their recruiters began to notice a disparity in the candidates, with fewer diverse individuals in the local healthcare talent pool, they decided to take action. Rather than simply hosting a career fair for job seekers currently seeking employment, they wanted to go farther to encourage youth, the future of the industry, to pursue education and careers in healthcare.

Along with a career fair for professionals interested in working within the healthcare field, young students and their parents were invited to attend a five-hour healthcare career expo targeted at Latino, Asian, Black and other minority communities in Southern California. This career expo featured keynote speakers, networking and workshops focusing on topics such as establishing a personal brand and social media, goal setting, resume critiquing and more.

With a goal of creating a widespread movement in the area, City of Hope recruited other local healthcare employers to help make the event as much as a success as possible. In the end, over 30 organizations participated and approximately 1,500 attendees were present. In addition, they had a media team at the event to capture the happenings via video and encouraged social mentions to help spread the word. Check out this video for some of the event highlights:

This year, City of Hope looks to host an even bigger and better event with the participation of more employers and attendees. We wish them luck and look forward to presenting them with their well-deserved award at DEAM15. There’s still time to join us – register online now to reserve your spot for networking, learning and fun in the Circle City!

Kacie Koons
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