BP, The Mom Project Announce Reboot Of The BP Returnship Program

CHICAGO — After the success of the 2017 pilot program, The Mom Project and BP have announced the return of The BP Returnship Program. The program, which supports the professional development and re-engagement of women and men who stepped out of the workforce for family or personal reasons and are now ready to return to work, will expand both its reach and program offerings.

To provide an even more impactful and supportive experience for participants, BP’s senior leadership conducted an in-depth examination of the inaugural program and incorporated key learnings and programmatic changes into the subsequent cycle of The BP Returnship Program. This includes extending the program from a six-month commitment to nine months and increasing the participants to nine accomplished women and men selected from The Mom Project’s network of professional accomplished talent pool. Employment opportunities within the program, which were previously limited to BP’s corporate offices in Chicago, have expanded to multiple disciplines located across the country, including opportunities in the Whiting refinery, U.S. pipelines and logistics, refining technology and engineering, marketing, sales and finance, with participants based in Chicago, Whiting and Naperville, IL and La Palma, CA.

“We found great success partnering with The Mom Project for our first contingent in The BP Returnship Program. The launch program served as a basis for our company to find new and unique talent, with our goal to increase diverse thought and talent among our workforce,” said Brian Zellner, HR manager. “With the second team, we hope to expand the program further within BP and continue to serve as a leader in diversity and inclusion in the oil/gas industry.”

The BP Returnship Program is an extensive, structured program comprised of a curated track across various work teams that focuses on a series of project-based assignments to provide returning professionals with robust, comprehensive learning experiences. Throughout the program, each professional will also have networking and mentorship opportunity to further enhance their experience.

The program is a compensated, full-time commitment and professionals have potential opportunities for full-time roles at BP at its conclusion.

The program has proven to be beneficial to all parties, supporting BP’s core Values & Behaviors and commitment to diversity and The Mom Project’s goal of bringing viable employment opportunities to women everywhere. The unique program serves as further support that a larger initiative to bringing more professionals back to work is necessary, which is why The Mom Project launched the Women’s Work Initiative™ in Atlanta, a groundbreaking program designed to connect women with leading employers in an effort to promote business, social, and economic growth by maximizing female workforce participation. With its initial success, the company plans to expand the program nationally in 2019.

“The success of programs such as The BP Returnship Program let us know that today’s working professional is in need of effective tools to support the transition back into the workplace,” said Allison Robinson, founder and CEO of The Mom Project. “With the national expansion of the Women’s Work Initiative, our goal is to work with more progressive corporations like BP that see the value in supporting the career development of women to encourage substantial change and growth in corporate America.”

For more information on BP’s diversity and inclusion goals, please visit www.bp.com and to learn more about The Mom Project, visit www.TheMomProject.com.

ABOUT BP:

BP is a global producer of oil and gas with operations in over 70 countries. BP has a larger economic footprint in the U.S. than in any other nation, and it has invested more than $100 billion here since 2005. BP employs about 14,000 people across the U.S. and supports more than 111,000 additional jobs through all its business activities. For more information on BP in America, visit www.bp.com/us.

ABOUT THE MOM PROJECT:

The Mom Project is the leading career destination for moms. With a community of over 100,000 talented professionals and more than 1,000 companies, The Mom Project is committed to building a better workplace for mothers and the businesses they support. For more information, visit www.themomproject.com.