Adobe expands HBCU and HSI Investments to boost digital literacy, creative skills & career prep

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Adobe has always been committed to making a difference both inside and outside the company through our people, platform, creativity, and innovation. Today, we’re excited to announce that we’re furthering our strategic partnerships with minority-serving institutions and their students, as part of our goal to support underinvested communities and advance our Adobe for All vision. The Adobe Foundation is granting an additional $1 million each to Bowie State University, San José State University, and Winston-Salem State University as designated Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs).

With this renewed funding — bringing Adobe and the Adobe Foundation’s multi-year grants across the three institutions to $9 million — Bowie State University, San José State University, and Winston-Salem State University can increase investments in student services, campus facilities and infrastructure, social justice efforts, professional development programs, faculty research collaborations, and more. By furthering our support for these universities, we are delivering on our commitment to provide long-term support and impact to fuel more diverse representation in tech and creative industries.

Powering diverse, next-generation talent

We are committed to accelerating diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, celebrating different perspectives, and empowering creators of all ages and backgrounds to access the tools, skills and platforms they need to express themselves. To continue fostering success through education, job pathways and social capital programs for underinvested communities, we are providing enhanced resources for Black, Hispanic and LatinX students — including training in digital tools, career readiness programs, and financial assistance.

• Through the Adobe Foundation’s continued collaboration with the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) — which supports students at HBCUs and Predominantly Black Institutions — we are offering HBCU Ignite scholarships for the 2023-2024 academic school year to alleviate the financial burden of tuition. The Adobe Foundation is awarding up to $15,000 each to support 53 eligible students representing 21 HBCUs.
• HBCU Ignite scholarship recipients will also be matched with an Adobe employee mentor. This new 10-month mentorship program will provide students with personalized guidance and support to advance their academic, professional, and personal development. Together with TMCF, we are providing Black students at 20 percent of HBCUs in the U.S. with scholarship and mentorship support.
• With a new $100,000 grant from the Adobe Foundation, Braven — a national nonprofit organization working with employers to build career education into the undergraduate experience for low-income and first-generation college students — will initially collaborate with Adobe and San José State University to create a student cohort to cultivate the necessary skills, experiences, and confidence to secure a job upon graduation.

Democratizing digital literacy and creative skills

Our collaboration with these universities goes beyond philanthropic funding. Adobe recently hosted 1,200 summer interns globally, and in the U.S., one out of eight interns attended a HBCU or HSI. We also launched several homegrown internship programs to support students from diverse backgrounds with specialized needs:

• Our cybersecurity internship program — co-created with Bowie State University as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education — helps Black students develop their cybersecurity skills to drive more diverse representation in this job area. McKinsey reported that Black talent only comprises about 15 percent of the cybersecurity workforce. Eleven students worked with Adobe’s cybersecurity team on technical projects to address problems, receive skill and career development advice, and provide recommendations.
• Our Student Athlete Micro Internship (SAMI) program enables student athletes from HBCUs and HSIs to gain valuable career skills by working on strategic projects at Adobe. The SAMI program — which had a 30-person cohort across Bowie State University, San José State University, and Winston-Salem State University — accommodates student athletes’ demanding training schedules and allows them to showcase transferrable skills from the sports field in a corporate environment.

Moving forward, our goal is to expand support for other minority-serving institutions, deepen our engagement with university communities through social impact programs, integrate involvement from nonprofit organizations, and offer increased technology and creative career skilling to enhance student outcomes. Together with our academia partners, we will continue addressing educational inequities, democratizing digital and creative literacy as essential 21st century skills, and advancing diversity in the technology and creative talent pipeline.