Career Communications Group, Inc. (CCG) has announced a new partnership with WB&B Executive Search (WB&B) in executive placement initiatives.

Tyrone Taborn, CEO and publisher of CCG, and Kenneth Roldan, CEO of WB&B, have long track records as advocates for under-represented communities in various spheres of the workforce.

According to the statement, CCG and WB&B aim to make the recruiting landscape easier for corporations to find the highly sought-after talent they need. The partnership will streamline all efforts of solving the disparity of women and minorities in executive positions on the national stage.

“This strategic alliance with CCG is the first step in what we hope is a long-lasting partnership with such a well-respected leader in STEM diversity,” said Kenneth Roldan, CEO of WB&B Executive Search. A leading minority-owned search firm, WB&B has set an industry-standard through its commitment to presenting its clients an inclusive candidate slate of fully-vetted top performers.

The joint endeavor comes at a time where African Americans represent only 9% of STEM employees, and Hispanics comprise only 7% of all STEM employees. At the executive level, the numbers are even fewer. Competition among corporations for executive-level talent has driven many organizations to be creative in how they navigate the sea of qualified candidates in today’s job market.

“In the mid-1980s, when CCG was founded, black representation among the nation’s 1.6M engineers was only two percent – 32,000 men and women. By the turn of the millennium, many baby boomers were heading towards retirement as younger professionals took their place. America’s advancements come from intrepid engineers and technologists, and from business executives bold enough to take chances,” said Taborn.

CCG and WB&B plan on collaborating and forming innovative strategies to increase diversity among executives within industry, government, and academia in order to ensure long-term equity amongst under-represented communities.

Established in 1973, WB&B’s founding bylaws ensure an inclusive slate of qualified candidates for each client engagement. Career Communications Group, the producer of the annual Black Engineer of the Year Awards (BEYA) Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Conference and the Women of Color in STEM Conference, has built lasting partnerships with top companies and government agencies in America. The strength of these relationships has been developed around the premise that thoughtful, diversity strategies will reap positive returns on that investment in both the short and long term.

By partnering with WB&B, CCG hopes to grow the STEM workforce and enhance talent pipelines for industry, government, and others.