Lakeisha Poole

Lakeisha Poole is a partner at Black Virtual Career Fair (#BVCF), an organization dedicated to connecting Black professionals with diversity-minded employers through virtual career fairs.12 Here's what we know about her:

Professional Background

Lakeisha Poole is a seasoned employment attorney with 15 years of experience.1 Her expertise in employment law has informed her approach to inclusive hiring practices and diversity recruitment.

Role at Black Virtual Career Fair

As a partner at BVCF, Poole plays a key role in the organization's mission to increase economic mobility for Black talent by redesigning recruitment and selection practices.1 She helped establish BVCF in 2019 as a joint venture between two Black professional organizations: Onyx Community Connection (which she founded) and the African American Employee Network (AAEN).1

Achievements and Initiatives

Under Poole's leadership, BVCF has:

• Committed to providing career advancement and leadership opportunities for Black professionals through virtual career fairs for five years.1
• Grown significantly, leveraging virtual events and targeted sourcing to help companies increase their diversity pipeline.1
• Reinvented career fairs to be more convenient, efficient, and effective for both candidates and employers.1
• Planned specialized fairs and a new subscription model service called Black Talent Database for 2024.1

Philosophy and Approach

Poole recognizes that inclusive hiring goes beyond simply recruiting candidates from underrepresented backgrounds to comply with anti-discrimination laws or appear diverse on a surface level.1 She advocates for a more intentional approach to diversity sourcing, emphasizing the need to branch out from normal pipelines.1

Lakeisha Poole's work with BVCF demonstrates her commitment to championing diversity and inclusion in the workforce while providing career advancement opportunities for talented Black professionals.1