Alina van den Berg ’21 has been going to Career Center events since her freshman year — everything from fashion to publishing — to find an industry that interested her. While this programming gave her a glimpse of the professional world, she always sensed that something was missing.

“I went to all these events and seminars, but I noticed that the students who succeeded often had unpaid internships or connections in industries that I just never had,” she said. “I started to get discouraged. I felt like there was a gap between me and the careers I was looking into.”

Ashley Garcia ’22, who has been planning events for the Career Center since her freshman year, echoes that feeling. “We weren’t always catering to the Hamilton College demographic,” Garcia said. “A lot of times, the coverage was so focused on trying to get students to attend, but we never asked ‘who are we actually serving?’”

This semester, the Career Center is aiming to close that gap with a renewed focus on diversity, identity, and inclusivity.

Through the Connect Teams, student interns plan industry-specific programs, workshops, events, and panels to showcase alumni in various industries. While the teams have previously focused on eight industry areas, they recently expanded to include the Affinity and Identity team, providing a platform for identities that may not be well represented in the workforce.

Garcia, the group lead for the Affinity and Identity team, hopes that the team will shed light on alumni that may not otherwise have a platform with the College and encourage students from marginalized backgrounds to “feel like they’re a part of the conversation.”

Shauna Hirschfield, Associate Director of Career Development, sees this personal connection as a crucial part of the initiative. “Students need to be able to see themselves in alumni mentors, whether through shared identities, shared interests, or shared backgrounds.”

In addition to the inclusion of the Affinity and Identity team, all industry teams will be planning an identity-focused event. “We’re trying to address identity head-on and ensure that it’s a common focal point across our wide range of programming,” Hirschfield said.

For students from underrepresented backgrounds, concepts like industries, professionalism, and networking can feel out of reach. Josten Perez ’22, another member of the Affinity and Identity team, adds that professional spaces might feel uncomfortable or exclusionary. “These identity-based events can provide the notion of ‘there are people out there like me and they’re doing well professionally,” he said.

“Thinking specifically about the BIPOC community, students can feel like we’re ignored and nobody cares for us,” Garcia said. “When we create events that are specifically tailored for these individuals, it’s like being seen. We’re acknowledging that they are also important, even if they’re not the vast majority of the school’s population.”

While these changes have been in the works for several months — before the Black Lives Matter movement hit the national news — Hirschfield says that conversations around race, sexuality, and gender are “more critical now than ever.”

Above all, she hopes that the new initiatives can help cement the idea that “we’re here, relevant, and helpful for everyone.”