The Afro German Academic Network (ADAN) and Zalando have recently agreed on a long-term partnership, promoting more young diverse talents in Germany and offering them the opportunity to start their career at Europe’s leading online platform for fashion and lifestyle.
Within this three month scholarship, selected candidates will participate in an internship and get to know the work at the online platform. Additionally, each intern undergoes a mentorship program, in which the young talents are accompanied by experienced Zalando employees.
Zalando will also be part of ADAN’s Career Day this year. Companies interested in the topics of diversity or the African continent as a market in general get the opportunity to introduce themselves as employers to potential applicants. While students, professionals and job seekers can establish valuable contacts and find out about vacancies at the participating companies.
Allie Bangura, founder and board member of the Afro German Academic Network: “To move up, you have to get in. Our strategic partnership with Zalando is a unique opportunity to concretely realise the goals of the association together with the leading European online platform in the fashion sector. This opens up great opportunities for Black and People of Color (BPoC) and we make an important contribution to promoting diversity in one of the most successful German companies. A look at the members at ADAN shows us that there are many talented and well-trained BPoC. Thus, we want to help aspiring talents get started with practical assistance at the beginning of their careers. However, many BPoC graduates often face various hurdles in their first professional steps. In addition to our work in the network, we also want to break down these hurdles in the long term with partnerships such as the one with Zalando.”
Vikki Leach, Director of Diversity and Inclusion at Zalando, is also excited about the future collaboration: “Diverse and inclusive teams are a crucial success factor for Zalando to become the Starting Point for Fashion for our diverse customers and partners. That is why we are building strong partnerships with underrepresented communities. We are excited to work with ADAN and gain access to a great and diverse talent pool of BPoC students and young graduates. Together with ADAN, we want to support young BPoC talents and give them the opportunity to start their career at Zalando.”
Zalando already actively supports an inclusive corporate culture with employees from 130 countries and pursues gender balance in the top management levels, the active promotion of women in management positions, and the promotion of numerous diversity, equality and inclusion projects. With the publication of the do.BETTER Diversity and Inclusion Report last year, Zalando creates transparency and commitment to implement targeted changes. For diversifying the assortment further, Zalando has set itself the goal of connecting 70 more black-owned fashion brands to the platform by 2022.
ADAN has reached an important milestone in its association work with this cooperation, which focuses on the professional and personal development of its predominantly Black and People of Color members. Focal points include the topics of career perspectives of BPoC in Germany as well as mentoring before high school graduation or during studies.