On Friday, April 21, 2023, AL DÍA hosted its 20th edition of the AL DÍA Diverse City Career Fair.

What started out as a concerted effort to introduce more Hispanics into different industries within the Philadelphia workforce, has grown into much more.

“The idea was to bring the downtown and Hispanic community that I represent — then isolated in the neighborhoods — to meet with employers of our city downtown. The place where business is conducted,” said AL DÍA founder and CEO. 

Over the 20-plus years that this particular career fair has taken place, the Hispanic community in the city has more than doubled. 

Other diverse communities have increased during that time span, as well, earning Philadelphia the distinction of being among the most diverse cities in the country. 

Sheila Hess, Philadelphia’s City Representative, also highlighted Philadelphia’s distinction as a certified Welcoming Center, “which is a big deal for our city and something that we’re extremely proud of,” she said.

“But it’s hard to find good talent right now,” Hess added. 

Nonetheless, those distinctions hold major value and with it comes a major responsibility — for the leaders of this city to help its integral workforce mirror the diversity of its population. 

Nearly three dozen companies were on hand during the 2023 AL DÍA Diverse City Career Fair, each looking for bright, skilled, diverse individuals who could effectively fill the various open job positions.

During the fair, AL DÍA had the opportunity to speak to some of the recruiters, to get their thoughts on why diversity is so important, both in the overall workforce and within their respective industries. 

Independence Blue Cross has been working on their DE&I efforts for nearly a decade, which led to the birth of nearly a dozen associate resource groups to promote and support the different groups of people that make up its staff. .

“One of the important things about diversity is that if you have a diverse workforce, you have a diverse perspective, nobody gets left out, no thought gets left out,” said Jennifer Hall, senior talent acquisition partner at Independence Blue Cross. 

Those diverse thoughts and perspectives often lead to a more holistic approach to everything.

“If we all think the same, we have blindspots,” she added. “But if you have a diverse workforce, then you’re able to fill in some of those blindspots.”

As a company within the healthcare industry, diversity is important because healthcare impacts everyone. 

Naomi Gonzalez, director of education and community engagement and Anthony Slade, vice president of people operations & COO, were at the Career Fair representing the Mann Center. 

The Mann Center is one of the nation’s largest nonprofit open-air music centers and performing arts organizations located in West Philadelphia. 

For them, diversity is an integral part of their identity because music is relatable to just about everyone, regardless of genre. 

“We have such a diverse range of events that happen throughout the year, we work very closely with our community partners, so diversity is key for us, down to language speakers and people who are not native to Philadelphia,” said Slade.

The IRS is one of the many companies that function at a local, state, national level. 

Gerald Robertson, management program analyst at the IRS, notes that the government agency deals with small businesses and large corporations nationwide and internally. 

Given that dynamic, addressing language barriers is of the utmost importance when it comes to diversity.

“We have all kinds of languages out here, so we hire native people who speak the languages,” said Robertson. 

The IRS as a government agency affects everyone, so being able to connect and communicate, while obtaining information about how to pay taxes and getting questions answered is crucial. 

With gathering the insight and viewpoints of the many recruiters present at the career fair, the mission was clear and could be summed up by the words given by John McNichols, President and CEO of the Pennsylvania Convention Center.

“There are underserved populations in the city of Philadelphia that should have greater access to opportunities not just at the ground level, but also to work up a ladder and to become very successful and independent, and then pay it forward and grow those same populations,” he said. 

That was the goal of the career fair 20 years ago, and it holds true today, as well.