In today's competitive job market, finding and retaining top talent is more critical than ever. Companies can't rely on traditional methods like job postings and employee referrals anymore.

Employers now must be proactive in recruiting efforts and engage in purposeful talent development. Coupled with the rise and importance of diversity, finding new ways to develop talent and meet the diversity goals will require new approaches to build quality candidate pipelines.

This means to stand out from the competition, focus on employer branding and the ability to speak clearly about the values and diversity of the organization directly to candidates is critical to success.

Two programs at the University of Washington offer employers a unique opportunity to communicate their diversity initiatives directly with students and participate with the University to develop candidate pipelines.

The Young Executives of Color (YEOC), is a program at the University of Washington, Foster School of Business that has been building a foundation towards diversity. YEOC was established in 2006 to increase the number of underrepresented students in the college pipeline.

The Brotherhood initiative is another program that provides opportunities for growth and leadership to underrepresented men of color at the University of Washington.

Joining CEOtoCEO to talk about these programs and the employer opportunities will be Frank Hodge, Dean of the Foster School of Business and Joe Lott II Ph.d, Faculty Director of the Brotherhood Initiative.

Frank Hodge is the 14th dean in the 102-year history of the University of Washington's Foster School of Business. Prior to becoming dean, Frank served as Accounting Department Chairperson and UW Faculty Athletics Representative to the Pac-12 Conference and the National Collegiate Athletic Association. He earned an undergraduate degree and played basketball at Carroll College. His MBA and Ph.D. are from Indiana University's Kelley School of Business.

Known as "Coach" to his students, Frank's teaching has been recognized with more than 30 awards across the undergraduate, graduate and executive levels since arriving at the University of Washington in 2000. Frank has published extensively including one of the leading textbooks in financial accounting. His research focuses on how managers disclose and individuals use accounting information to make investment decisions. Frank has presented his work at the Securities and Exchange Commission as well as more than 40 conferences and universities around the world.

Frank is married, has two daughters, and lives in Seattle. A native of Idaho, Frank enjoys the outdoor lifestyle of the Pacific Northwest, spending his free time enjoying endurance trail running and cycling.

Joe Lott is an Associate Professor in the College of Education at the University of Washington and the Founder and Faculty Director of the Brotherhood Initiative, which focuses on empowering undergraduate men of color in areas of leadership, wellness, innovation, and social entrepreneurship.

He investigates how design-based research methods can be leveraged to address the organizational cultures of large research universities that have created the conditions for disparate graduation rates between undergraduate men of color and their peers.

He also co-leads the Changing the Face of Tech Policy Initiative, with Professor Ryan Calo in the School of Law, that seeks to generate research and best practices to diversify the pipeline to tech companies and create frameworks for organizational change in the tech sector.

Joe is also the founder of Lott & Associates, LLC that works with business and educational institutions to enhance their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) plans.

See how these programs could create a unique pipeline opportunity for your company