The NCAA leadership development department, in conjunction with athLEDA, has developed an e-learning program called ARISE that will help educate student-athletes at historically Black colleges and universities who are interested in pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering and math.
The HBCUs selected for the first cohort are Florida A&M, Claflin and Grambling. Thirty-five student-athletes were selected from the three schools. They include participants who have not identified a specific career path in one of the four STEM areas.
ARISE, which stands for Authentic Resilient Innovative in STEM Excellence, is a 13-week virtual program that features interactive modules to help the athletes gain a better understanding about themselves, while also learning more about potential careers in the STEM industry. The athletes will get the education through eight online modules that will be accessible via a computer or cellphone. In addition to STEM basics, other topics include leadership, personal branding, time management, perseverance and online social platform development. Each athlete is matched with a mentor who is a STEM industry professional. The mentors give the athletes one-on-one insight about what to expect from careers in STEM.
"ARISE is a unique strategy to provide HBCU student-athletes with an opportunity to learn more about STEM through industry mentors," said Felicia Martin, interim senior vice president for NCAA inclusion, education and community engagement. "STEM is an industry that lacks a diverse workforce. Our HBCUs are equipping and graduating scholar-athletes in science, technology, engineering and math. The partnership with athLEDA is an excellent example of niche, solution-based leadership development programming."
AthLEDA, a company that helps athletes transition from college to professional careers, will administer the program with NCAA leadership development. The company will develop and administer the curriculum and will facilitate the engagement between the student-athletes and their career mentors.
"We, at athLEDA, are honored to partner with the NCAA leadership development office in a new and innovative mentoring platform," said Tracey Hathaway, co-founder and chief academics and athletics officer. "By allowing HBCU student-athletes to understand their strengths beyond sports, ARISE will empower them to name their own success."
To kick off the initiative, NCAA leadership development staff and athLEDA representatives traveled to each of the three HBCU campuses to meet the student-athletes and introduce the program and the career mentors. The inaugural ARISE program runs through early May.
