A new Milwaukee social impact startup is working to close diversity gaps within communications and creative industries.

Colorful Connections, founded last year by Morgan Phelps, specializes in matching companies with diverse talent, such as women, and black, brown and other minority candidates.

Phelps, who long worked in journalism and public relations, said she saw a need for a service like Colorful Connections after navigating the industry herself as a black woman.

“As one of few people of color on the creative side of agencies, working on projects, I had that perspective,” she said.

When putting together Colorful Connections’ approach to diversifying workplaces, Phelps interviewed large companies, like Ketchum and Leo Burnett, as well as human resources professionals, to find out what the challenges were in finding and hiring a diverse team.

Morgan Phelps, founder and CEO of Colorful Connections (Photo via Colorful Connections)

Colorful Connections, one of Wisconsin Inno’s 20 Startups to Watch in 2020, places candidates in roles, while also assisting workers in navigating and advancing their careers. The startup focuses on job fulfillment, team development and talent development, Phelps said.

“The more that you focus on a healthy team, the easier it will be to recruit talent,” she said. Read the full story here.