NASCAR Program for Interns to Contribute to Motorsports Diversity

The issue of diversity and inclusion in the sport industry has been recently put into the limelight, albeit in contrasting manner: first, the leaked racist comments of the owner of one of the national basketball teams, eventually leading to his lifetime ouster from NBA, and then, the drafting of the 1^st openly gay collegiate football player to one of the NFL teams.

Now comes another news from a different area of sports – motorsports, and it is about increasing workforce diversity in the motorsport industry.

National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) is set to open its next class of paid internship that runs for 10 weeks, through its Diversity Internship Program, in which 14 students will contribute to the multi-faceted motorsports workforce by learning from leading NASCAR executives in weekly lunch and learns and networking with professionals across the industry, starting with orientation, the Yahoo Sports reported. 

The report also quotes a statement from Paula Miller: "We're thrilled to have top college students from across the country join us to learn more about our sport," said Paula Miller, NASCAR vice president and chief human resources officer. "NASCAR is deeply committed to diversity and inclusion in our workforce and the NASCAR Diversity Internship Program enables us to identify strong talent early. Through the years we've hired many of the program's participants, and seen many others go on to excel elsewhere in sports and business."

NASCAR also partnered with the United States Olympic Committee, the NFL, NCAA, and The PGA of America in hosting in 2013 second annual Sports Diversity & Inclusion Symposium in Colorado Springs, Colo. The three-day event was designed to recognize, celebrate and encourage diversification in the world of sport. See here

To browse for sports and recreation jobs, go to DiversityWorking, the largest diversity job board online.