CONNECT . MOTIVATE . INSPIRE .
Tamara Terry , Director of Academic Research Engagement, University Collaboration Office at RTI International
carry out RTI’s Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging (EDIB) pillars. “I’m passionate about empowering students and creating opportunities for them. As an alumna of Alabama A&M University, I talk to other HBCU graduates, and we quickly connect over our shared experiences. [Going to an HBCU] gave me the technical skills and confidence to navigate the workplace and the world successfully. I want to be able to help other students and open up doors for them.” Terry’s HBCU experience also allows her to feel extremely connected to RTI’s commitment to EDIB, especially since there are deep ties with her alma mater. “I always say North Carolina Central University is where I grew up, and where I became the woman I am today,” she said. “They helped me understand the sciences and gave me the
core foundation needed to be a successful professional. Every day, I show up at RTI as a Black woman scientist and Black woman director from an HBCU. I want people to know there is so much great talent and amazingness that can come from an HBCU.” RTI fills a huge gap in the STEM workforce and is a premier nonprofit research organization for contracts with the federal government and other clients. Their work ultimately affects policy change, industry funding, and everyday people. “We are doing everything we can to be intentional about the continuous diversification of our workforce,” said Terry. “It warms my heart and it makes me feel so good to know that RTI is evolving, and Freda and I are part of that change.” This year’s summer interns include students from Bennett, Florida A&M University, Morehouse, North Carolina A &
T, NCCU, Shaw, Winston-Salem, Tuskegee, Meharry and Howard, and Green said she plans to recruit from even more HBCUs. “As opportunities arise, we want to hire students as interns and convert them to full-time employees in alignment with RTI processes,” she said. “We also have a proposal research component with our HBCU engagement program. We are naming them as partners on multi-million-dollar proposals.” Since the launch of the HBCU MOVES program in 2022, RTI has named more HBCUs in proposals. It recently won a $110 million proposal for work that includes four HBCUs, supporting faculty to work on impactful projects and diversifying the perspective and experience of researchers. Green said RTI also selected 12 HBCUs to become Institutional Champions for the National Institutes of Health’s All of Us Research Academy, an effort to provide capacity building, training and peer-
to-peer learning for health researchers. In a press release, RTI stated $450,000 would be dispersed to support researchers and increase capacity around the project. “We are helping our future researchers and ensuring that they represent diverse backgrounds,” said Green. “ Our HBCU engagement program is unique because we incorporate a research component that allows us to engage directly with the faculty and staff as well as traditional internship and career opportunities for students and recent graduates.” Terry added: “When you’re in a position of power, you have to use your position for good. We don’t get to sit on our hands and act like we’ve made it without regard to others. We are accountable to be positively impactful and have an effect in the world.”
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