Twenty-five years after the first INROADS interns came to Tampa Electric, they’re still helping drive the company’s success.
INROADS – which began in 1970 after a Chicago corporate executive named Frank Carr found inspiration in the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. – is the nation’s largest non-profit source of paid internships for undergraduate, diverse youth. Tampa Electric has welcomed high-talent, industry-focused INROADS interns since 1988, longer than any other company in the Tampa Bay area.
INROADS intern Fadwa Hilili, a member of Tampa Electric’s Purchasing & Contract Services department, is among the latest. Hilili, an accounting major at the University of South Florida and president of the Tampa Bay INROADS Student Association, said the program and the support from her company have been invaluable.
“I’ll graduate this year with two years of career-related work experience under my belt, thanks to TECO and INROADS,” Hilili said. “Being of minority ethnicity and a first-generation-in-college student, INROADS has made a world of difference for my career.”
Hilili found her way to her current position after she met Alejandra Marin, an INROADS student at the time and now an accountant with Tampa Electric’s Financial Reporting team. Marin introduced Hilili to Luis de la Torre, supervisor of Inventory Management and a longtime champion of INROADS.
“I hope the program is around when my kids grow up,” de la Torre said. “That’s the best thing I can say about INROADS and the incredible things it’s brought to this company and the outstanding students it accepts.”
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