The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has renewed its partnership with Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc., to increase awareness of and participation in wildlife conservation, wildlife-associated recreation, and educational and career opportunities among its membership. Founded in 1914 at Howard University in Washington, D.C., Phi Beta Sigma is an international fraternal and service organization whose members exemplify the ideals of brotherhood, scholarship, and service. The historic African American fraternity consists of approximately 200,000 members in 700 collegiate and alumni chapters around the world.
Through the partnership, the Service and Phi Beta Sigma will collaborate to identify and promote internship and career opportunities within the Fraternity membership, and identify talented, interested individuals from amongst its membership to feed the pipeline for internships and careers within the Service and the conservation community. In building a diverse workforce, the Service will be better positioned to address the increasingly complex conservation issues that we must address. It will also help the Service better reflect the public that we serve.
The recently renewed memorandum of understanding was initially signed in 2014. Since that time, fraternity members and members of its youth auxiliaries have visited national wildlife refuges to experience first-hand the recreational and educational opportunities available on lands and waters managed by the Service. The Service has collaborated with Phi Beta Sigma at events such as career fairs and national and regional conferences to raise awareness of the Service’s mission and work, as well as share information about internships and career opportunities. Both the Service and Phi Beta Sigma have promoted the importance of outdoor recreation and conservation.
The Service is proud to renew our partnership and we look forward to continue to collaborate with Phi Beta Sigma to grow our relationship and to build a diverse and inclusive conservation community.
