The Financial Times is partnering with the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA), a non-profit organisation with more than 1,700 members across the US and Asia. The FT will sponsor AAJA’s signature programmes Voices, JCamp and the Executive Leadership Programme (ELP) to support journalism students from minority backgrounds.

Voices is a week-long training programme for college students during AAJA’s annual National Convention in the United States. Out of 50 applicants, 15 students get the chance to partner with a professional journalist to learn the latest about media and the future of the industry. Their work will be featured and updated around the clock on the convention website and in Voices, a daily publication distributed to convention attendees.

JCamp has been designed to develop the next generation of journalists. This five-day training camp brings together a multicultural group of high school students from across the United States to sharpen their journalism skills and work together in a unique learning environment. The curriculum consists of interactive workshops, hands-on training and field trips. Since its launch in 2001, more than 400 young people have graduated from JCamp.

The Executive Leadership Programme (ELP) is for any AAJA member who is interested in moving ahead in the workplace and developing the necessary skills to achieve goals small and large. This programme is challenging and practical, and is recommended for anyone with four or more years of experience in a media organisation. The programme explores the responsibilities and challenges of the media workplace and examines how cultural values come into play in newsroom dynamics. Led by professional career coaches and executives, participants explore a variety of topics such as goal-setting, defining success, negotiating promotions and raises, and dealing with pressure and organisational politics.

“AAJA is excited to partner with the Financial Times to ensure a successful growing pipeline of journalists from diverse backgrounds. Our programmes train and develop journalists of all levels to face tomorrow’s challenges. Graduates of our programmes are now leaders in many newsrooms from CNN to the Wall Street Journal to the Associated Press and more,” said Paul Cheung, AAJA National President.

Stacy-Marie Ishmael, Vice President of Communities at the Financial Times, added: “AAJA and the FT share a commitment to supporting and fostering diverse newsrooms. This partnership follows our work with the Journalism and Women Symposium to create a scholarship for women from diverse backgrounds. We are delighted to be sponsoring AAJA’s signature programmes to support and train journalists.”

For more information about these programmes, visit the AAJA website at www.aaja.org or contact Paul Cheung at pcheung@aaja.org.

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The Asian American Journalists Association is a non-profit professional and educational organization with 1,600 members. Founded in 1981, AAJA mission is to encourage and support Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) to enter and thrive in the journalism profession and work for fair and accurate news coverage of AAPIs. AAJA is an alliance partner in UNITY Journalists for Diversity, along with the Native American Journalists Association and National Lesbian & Gay Journalists. For more information, visit www.aaja.org.

The Financial Times, one of the world’s leading business news organisations, is recognised internationally for its authority, integrity and accuracy. Providing essential news, comment, data and analysis for the global business community, the FT has a combined paid print and digital circulation of 677,000 (Deloitte assured, Q2 2014). Mobile is an increasingly important channel for the FT, driving 60 per cent of subscriber consumption, almost 50 per cent of total traffic and 20 per cent of new digital subscriptions. FT education products now serve 38 of the world’s top 50 business schools.