It’s fairly well documented that early childhood education has a lasting, positive impact on a child’s success in life.

And you’ve probably seen the statistics that say 70 percent or more of family businesses fail or are sold before the second generation gets a chance to take over, due in large part to poor succession planning.

And then there’s just good ol’ colloquialisms such as “if you fail to plan you plan to fail.” What do all of these things have in common? They all point to the fundamental fact that advance preparation and strategic, proactive effort are what make a positive difference to long-term success.

At Borshoff, we believe in the power of planning and the value of foresight – not just in our client work but in our talent recruitment and development efforts. That’s why we’re investing time and resources into a program that won’t pay off tomorrow, but one we hope will bring a return on our investment years from now.

Borshoff will host our third annual Diversity Internship Boot Camp on March 5. The minority students who attend will not be among our 2016 full-time new hires. Or our 2017 new hires, for that matter. In fact, they probably won’t even be on our radar for intern positions until 2018 or beyond.

Many of these students will be only one or two years into their college experience, and they won’t be ready for full-time employment for a while.

So why are we investing time and resources into a half-day intensive session with them now? Because it makes a difference in the long-term quality of the workforce.

The public relations and advertising industry exists to help companies, organizations and causes tell their story to people of all walks of life. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, of the 582,000 Americans employed in advertising and communications in 2014, less than half are women, 6.6 percent are black or African American, 5.7 percent are Asian and 10.5 percent are Hispanic.

How can we truly be effective if we don’t represent the population? How can we help our clients relate to diverse audiences if we ourselves are not diverse?

Rather than waiting for diverse new hires to come to us, we’re doing our part to help equip the next generation so that they can truly be successful. We’ve heard over and over again that many minority students do not know about or picture themselves working in our industry. We hope programs like our Diversity Boot Camp change that perception and inspire the next generation of communications professionals.

Watch for a post-Boot Camp report on our efforts. And consider how you can be the change you want to see in your own industry or profession.