Graduate and Undergraduate Students from Across the Country Join the NASCAR Industry’s Longest Running Diversity Program
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (June 24, 2021) – Earlier this month, the NASCAR industry welcomed 22 graduate and undergraduate students from across the country to begin the 10-week NASCAR Diversity Internship Program (NDIP) – the sport’s longest running diversity initiative.
The industry-wide program offers students of color hands-on experience as well as the opportunity to network with and learn from executive leaders across one of the largest professional sports industries. This year’s class has been placed in paid internship roles across various NASCAR departments, 23XI Racing, Rev Racing and CSM Production.
“For more than 20 years, the NASCAR Diversity Internship Program has provided a critical foundation for NASCAR’s evolving and expanding diversity, equity and inclusion platform,” said Brandon Thompson, NASCAR Vice President, Diversity and Inclusion, who in June 2020 became the first NDIP alum appointed to an officer role at the sanctioning body.
“These internships create opportunities for young, diverse talent to be exposed to NASCAR and learn about the sport, but they’re also filling a pipeline as we continue to diversify the broader industry workforce.”
This year’s NDIP class is the first since 2019 after the program was cancelled last year due to the impact of COVID-19. Roles will allow interns to apply concepts learned in school while expanding their knowledge working closely with talented professionals from the motorsports community.
The program will culminate in August as the interns return to school or pursue fulltime roles within NASCAR or across other industries. Of the more than 400 interns that have participated since 2000, many were offered fulltime employment following their internships and to this day NDIP alums continue to make significant contributions to the sport.
The sanctioning body employs several former interns including Kathryn Lee, Director, Marketing Activation; Marvin Aylor, Director, Partnership Marketing; Jusan Hamilton, Director, Racing Operations & Event Management; Erica Wilkerson, Manager, Youth & Multicultural Marketing, Jasmine Neely, Manager, Industry Communications and Victoria Garcia Associate Producer.
Throughout the summer, NDIP interns will collaborate on group projects and have access to mentors, former interns and lunch-and-learn sessions hosted by NASCAR executives.
The following students have been selected to the 2021 NASCAR Diversity Internship Program class:
| Intern Name | Department Name | School | |||
| Adrienne E. Washington | NASCAR Legal | University of Florida Levin College of Law | |||
| Amanda Arnold | NASCAR Editorial Content | Arkansas State University | |||
| Austin Pruitt | NASCAR Licensing | University of North Carolina at Greensboro | |||
| Diamond K. Evans | NASCAR National Sales | Bowie State University | |||
| Gerald Taylor | NASCAR Diversity & Inclusion | Virginia State University | |||
| Giovanni Pieve | NASCAR Sourcing & Procurement | Arizona State University | |||
| Harold Velasquez | CSM Production | High Point University | |||
| Iris Wright | NASCAR Youth & Multicultural Marketing | North Carolina State University | |||
| Isha Shafqat | NASCAR Data Strategy | University of North Carolina at Charlotte | |||
| Jazz Warren | NASCAR Communications | University of North Carolina at Charlotte | |||
| Jeff Jin | NASCAR International Business | New York University | |||
| Joshua Pena | NASCAR Track Marketing | Western Michigan University | |||
| Joshua Sky | NASCAR Weekly Racing Operations | Syracuse University | |||
| Kamron Philpart | NASCAR Co7ntingency Sales | University of Central Florida | |||
| Kelly Leang | NASCAR Foundation | Elon University | |||
| Kelvin Jones | NASCAR Legal | Howard University School of Law | |||
| Korn Supatrabutra | NASCAR Research & Insights | Michigan State University | |||
| Lukas Rubio | NASCAR Brand & Driver Marketing | SUNY Cortland | |||
| Noah Cornelius | Rev Racing | Appalachian State University | |||
| Oscar Cabanas | NASCAR Public Affairs | Nova Southeastern University School of Law | |||
| Savannah Hillmeyer | NASCAR International Business | University of South Carolina | |||
| Yuki Chiang | 23XI Racing | University of Massachusetts Amherst |
About NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) is the sanctioning body for the No. 1 form of motorsports in the United States and owner of 16 of the nation’s major motorsports entertainment facilities. NASCAR consists of three national series (NASCAR Cup Series™, NASCAR Xfinity Series™, and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series™), four regional series (ARCA Menards Series, ARCA Menards Series East & West and the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour), one local grassroots series (NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series) and three international series (NASCAR Pinty’s Series, NASCAR Peak Mexico Series, NASCAR Whelen Euro Series). The International Motor Sports Association™ (IMSA®) governs the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship™, the premier U.S. sports car series. NASCAR also owns Motor Racing Network, Racing Electronics, and ONE DAYTONA. Based in Daytona Beach, Florida, with offices in eight cities across North America, NASCAR sanctions more than 1,200 races in more than 30 U.S. states, Canada, Mexico and Europe. For more information visit www.NASCAR.com and www.IMSA.com, and follow NASCAR on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat (‘NASCAR’).
