CLEVELAND — The National Association of Athletic Development Directors (NAADD) announced today the creation of its latest diversity initiative, the Earl Edwards Minority Student-Athlete Development Program. Named after NAADD Past President and current UC San Diego Director of Athletics Earl Edwards, the purpose of the program is to identify talented and driven minority collegiate student-athletes on campuses across the country and expose them to the field of fundraising. By actively mentoring these individuals while they are still in school, the objective is to increase the pipeline of minority candidates in athletics development.
 
"I am honored to be able to play a role in introducing the Earl Edwards Minority Student-Athlete Development Program to the NAADD community," said Ben Broussard, NAADD President and Executive Director of the Wolfpack Club and Senior Associate Athletics Director at North Carolina State University. "This initiative is our way to identify minority talent and give them an opportunity into a career path that has been so good to so many of us. I look forward to our inaugural class of the program and to see how I can help student-athletes at NC State find a career path in our business." 
 
The goal of the program is to identify 4-6 student-athletes on each participating campus. In its inaugural year for 2021, the participating campuses will be those of the NAADD Executive Committee members and select Past Presidents, with the vision of expanding to more institutions in subsequent years.
 
Candidates will be selected with the help of the institution's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), coaches and professors. Ideal candidates will be minority student-athletes that have been identified as an exceptional teammate and have an interest in learning more about athletics development and potentially gaining employment within the industry.
 
"I am deeply honored and humbled by this recognition bestowed upon me by NAADD with the creation of this program," said Edwards. "This initiative is a testament to NAADD's commitment to making the fundraising profession more inclusive which I greatly appreciate. This recognition is also special to me because of my longtime relationship with NAADD and my personal commitment to addressing racism in our society and this program is one great way to do that."
 
Meetings for the initial class of the Earl Edwards Minority Student-Athlete Development Program will run through the spring 2021 semester, culminating in select participants attending the virtual Fundamentals of Athletics Development (FOAD) programming this summer.
 
About Earl Edwards: Edwards served as NAADD President in 2002-03. He has been at the helm of the UC San Diego athletics department since March 2000. During his tenure, UC San Diego has consistently been recognized nationally for its academic and athletics achievements and, in just two decades, has risen from NCAA Division III to Division II and, in the summer of 2020, Division I. Edwards has served the collegiate athletics community at-large throughout his career, including the Minority Opportunities Athletic Association (MOAA) Board of Directors and NACDA Executive Committee. He has also been a member of the Division II Management Council, the Division II Championships, Minority Opportunities and Interest Committee, the Walter Byers Scholarship Committee as well as the Committee for Women's Athletics. Edwards was recognized as an Under Armour Athletics Director of the Year at the 2017 NACDA & Affiliates Convention in Orlando, Fla.
 
About NAADD: NAADD is the first organization of its kind to provide educational and networking opportunities, enhancement of acceptable operating standards and ethics, and establishment of the overall prestige and understanding of the profession of athletics development and fund raising. For more information about NAADD, please visit www.naadd.com. NAADD is administered by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA), which is in its 56^th year. For more information on NACDA and the 17 professional associations that fall under its umbrella, please visit www.nacda.com.