Vista Equity Partners: Creating Opportunities in Asset Management for KIPP Alumni
Vista Equity Partners (Vista), a leading global asset manager, believes the transformative power of technology is the key to an even better future – a healthier planet, a smarter economy, diverse and inclusive communities, and a broader path to prosperity.
The firm’s Founder, Chairman and CEO Robert F. Smith participated in a life-changing internship and is committed to providing young people from all backgrounds with similar transformative experiences.
While Vista supports internships for rising college juniors and seniors, this year Vista is partnering with KIPP Public Schools and the Posse Foundation to expand its internship program and provide college sophomores access to internships. By expanding and diversifying their pipeline to careers in asset management, Vista will strengthen their next generation of investment leadership. Vista identified KIPP and Posse as leaders in supporting students in achieving their highest aspirations and is providing a donation to each organization.
“Early college internship experiences can increase social capital which reduces inequalities inherent in the current internship paradigm. We look forward to extending onramps to opportunity and pathways to success for underrepresented candidates through our partnerships with KIPP and Posse.”
Robert F. Smith, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Vista Equity Partners.
Vista’s Culture of Promoting Internships
At Vista Equity Partners, Robert F. Smith has made internship opportunities central to the firm’s culture. Smith has a noted focus on philanthropic causes around improving diversity in STEM fields, including among students pursuing careers in tech. A passion for providing life and career-changing programs to young people was instilled in Smith at a young age through his own transformative internship experience.
“I think about internships not just in the form and fashion of what job gets done, but how we can open people’s minds and spark their imaginations. The next generation of talent has to be cultivated,” says Smith. “So from our perspective at Vista, we want to ensure that we have the broadest and most diverse group of individuals in our internship programs to help propel our next generation of investors.”
Vista’s six-week, paid internships include a capstone project, lunches with Vista leadership, hands-on training, professional development, and networking opportunities to build connections that can lead to career opportunities in asset management.
Vista is a leader in increasing access to career-shaping internship opportunities for underrepresented groups, helping remove barriers to careers in the asset management field for students of color and students facing economic hardship. These latest offerings build upon existing partnerships with Girls Who Invest and Vista’s own Frontier Fellows program.
Vista currently invests in over 80 enterprise software, data and technology-enabled businesses – many of whom are solving challenges such as creating more equitable financial systems, developing processes that lead to more diverse hiring practices, and leading initiatives to increase equity in higher education.
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