About BACE
BACE Values & Commitment to Talent Pathways
Credibility
Trusted Voices and Spaces
Action
Get to Work
Transparency
Standard of Excellence
Innovation
Industry Transformation
Scale
Supplier Procurement
Social Impact
Committed to Community
Mission: Get to Work!
The Business Alliance of Colleges and Employers (BACE), originally ideated in 2008, addresses the unique needs and challenges of institutions and employers serving talent.
BACE V-Suite focuses on career and entrepreneurship for military, veterans and spouses and was originally launched through a fiscal sponsorship with the YWCA Metropolitan Chicago Breedlove Accelerator.
BACE Research
Inter-disciplinary forum through data transparency and reporting with a focus on policies, procedures and accountability.
This pillar provides:
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Credible research and publishing alliances
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Best practice and setting the standard of excellence in the practice and operation of inclusion and belonging in academia, corporate, non-profit and government
• Research Fellowships
BACE Campus and Careers
In partnership with Onyx Rising,
BACE Campus and Careers provides:
● Consortium for advanced level of industry and institutional alliance
● Advancing leadership advocacy and development along with organizational transformation in support of workplace talent and social impact.
● BACE Research in collaboration with our campus alliance partners focusing on procedures, policies and organizational transformation
● Campus Scholars, Internships and Service Learning in alliance with corporate and
non-profit alliance partners
BACE Impact
Learn more about what we do
Campus Research and Career/Entrepreneurship Pilots
BACE has been engaging with colleges and universities, strategic partnerships supporting corporations, associations and entrepreneurs.
Upcoming and previous planning (JOIN US):
*BACE career pathways and pipeline initiatives along with BACE V-Suite supplier and entrepreneurship development
*BACE Research collaborates with AICPA+CIMA on a talent retention study for firms supporting employees who are caregivers including military veterans
*BACE moderated panels with hospitality, banking and non-profit executives to connect with faculty, alumni and students about career recruitment and retention strategies
*BACE "Valuing Talent, Building Wealth: A Case Study in Strategic Alliances That Open Doors to Economic Mobility" at UNCF UNITE 2026. Sponsored by BACE with support from the Appraisal Institute Education and Relief Fund
*BACE "Enriching Institutional Capital Through Alliance" at UNCF UNITE 2025
*BACE V-Suite provides career and business support for military, veterans & military spouses including alliance
*BACE Community Service Days with the Mayor's Office & Choose Chicago (Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives with industry leaders and organizations)
*BACE joins leadership team to launch practitioner-led initiative supporting Chicagoland talent executives
*BACE "In The Boardroom" Series (Finance, Real Estate, Appraisal, Brokerage, Construction)
*BACE V-Suite, career and business support for military, veterans & military spouses including alliance with SBA Reboots to Business
*BACE presented the closing panel: "HBCU Organizational Sustainability Through Alliance" at the 2023 National HBCU Business Deans Roundtable Summit hosted at the KPMG Lakehouse Orlando. BACE Bronze Level Panel Sponsor: Uber
In addition, BACE has supported youth engagement in North Lawndale, Chicago pre-K through 8th grade institution. This engagement has included Board support, career and entrepreneurship programming and service learning opportunities for campus partners.
BACE Impact
Learn more about what we do
BACE V-Suite for Veterans and Military Families
2024 Launch and BACE V-Suite Expansion
The BACE V-Suite expands to include is excited to launch a career and entrepreneurship accelerator for military and veteran families:
*1-on-1 Interviews and Focus Groups
*Career and Entrepreneurship cohorts
*Career and workforce cohorts
*Incubator and Accelerator cohorts
*ERG Quarterly Roundtables
*Career and entrepreneurship support at regional VBOCs including Reboot to Business
2020-22 ACTIVITIES
Military Entrepreneurship Summit
BACE collaborated with Syracuse University Institute for Veterans and Military Families on their September 2022 Military Entrepreneurship Summit. BACE focused on the corporate Chicago panel with The Obama Foundation, Uber, World Business Chicago, and American Water. BACE also secured the opening remarks from Choose Chicago representing the Mayor's Office Tourism and Events.
Women Veterans Wellness Initiative expansion into career and entrepreneurship
The Black Alliance of Colleges and Employers (BACE) supported the Women Veterans Wellness Initiative as it expanded into career and entrepreneurship. This initiative included the strategic framework collaboratively with Onyx2Rise. In addition, BACE designed the Women's History Month programming for the March 2022 Women Veterans Convening that gathered higher education, industry, and community leaders to explore research, career and entrepreneurship best practice and gaps.
Opening Remarks:
Scholars Across the Discipline:
Willie Reddic, PhD, Associate Professor, Syracuse University Whitman School of Management and The PhD Project
Rosalinda Vasquez Maury, Director of Applied Research and Analytics, Syracuse University Institute for Veterans and Military Families
Master Sergeant Tamesha Armstead, EdD, Dissertation, Baylor University: “When You Finally See Us: A Narrative Inquiry of The Rare Sighting of Black Females in Officer Ranks and Positions in the United States Air Force”
Corporate Panelists:
Karen Freeman-Wilson
President & CEO, Chicago Urban League
Former Mayor, Gary, Indiana
Philip T. Anderson, Ph.D., CDP
Director, Leadership Institute, Argonne National Laboratory
Training and Organizational Effectiveness Advisor for the Army Readiness Group at Fort Sheridan, Illinois (Retired)
Stacey Dixon, Ed.D.
Former Director, Student Veteran Service Support, National Louis University
U.S. Marine Corps, CWO3 (Retired)
Moderated by:
Kelli Lester (McMiller)
Chief Strategy Officer, Engaging Solutions
Kelli Lester is the new Chief Strategist at Engaging Solutions, a management consulting firm headquartered in Indianapolis. She has spent nearly a decade as a consultant for The Kaleidoscope Group, and years working in corporate America creating the foundation for organizational success. Kelli has a proven record in defining vision, developing strategy and executing action plans that produce sustainable results.
Closing Remarks:
Shannon Stone-Winding
President & CEO, Black Alliance of Colleges and Employers (BACE)