NASCAR Cup Series team 23XI Racing have created SPEED Institute in line with the team’s diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts in motorsports.
The educational and professional development initiative SPEED (Scholarship, Professional Education, Executive Development) will focus on four areas:
As per the official website of the team, the four areas will constitute the following:
Scholarships: 23XI Racing and its partners will offer scholarship programs to students with an interest in areas such as marketing, communications, human resources, finance, engineering and trade disciplines in the automotive industry.
Internships: 23XI Racing will offer paid internships to students to increase participation from underrepresented groups in the disciplines of technology and engineering, and in the business of motorsports, including trade disciplines. The program is designed to give undergraduate and graduate students opportunities to learn the motorsports industry in various fields both virtually and in person at the 23XI Racing shop.
Fellowships: The 23XI Fellowship Program is an opportunity for students pursuing an undergraduate, graduate or doctoral degree in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines to receive a scholarship and be employed upon degree completion at 23XI Racing.
Diversity Recruitment and Executive Development: 23XI Racing is committed to creating a diverse workforce. These recruitment and development programs will provide opportunities for underrepresented individuals who are out of school and who have an interest in working in motorsports.
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The organization also announced that Institute’s first program will be revealed in the coming days.
“It’s an exciting time for us at 23XI Racing to announce our SPEED Institute and continue to build on our diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in motorsports,” 23XI Racing co-owner Denny Hamlin said.
“When we created 23XI, this was an important focus for our company and our vision for the future. We want to create an avenue for students to feel welcome in motorsports and help open doors for them, either through working with us directly or by working with our partners to find opportunities to learn and grow.
“We are fortunate to have a great group of partners who not only support our on-track efforts, but support us off the track with our DEI efforts, and the SPEED Institute is the next step in that growth.”
23XI Racing, co-owned by Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin, is in the middle of their first Cup Series season with Bubba Wallace as their driver.