Innovation and Unique Perspectives: Franchisee Diversity Is Lightbridge Academy’s Superpower

Lightbridge Academy®, the fast-growing early childhood education and child care franchise, puts diversity at the forefront of the brand, embracing franchisees with unique perspectives and varied backgrounds. With more than 65% of Lightbridge Academy franchisees coming from diverse backgrounds and their continued efforts to recruit candidates from underrepresented groups, the brand aims to build the same sort of inclusive environment for its franchisees as it does for its clients.

“A diverse representation of franchisees helps to create a much richer experience and an inclusive community,” explained Gigi Schwiekert, Lightbridge Academy CEO. “It is important that all members of the Lightbridge Academy family feel valued and respected. We have found that bringing together individuals with different perspectives, backgrounds and life experiences fosters diversity of thought, which leads to more creative problem-solving and innovative ideas to approaching and overcoming challenges.”

How Franchisee Diversity Drives the Brand towards Success

An inclusive environment makes employees feel more comfortable, but the benefits don’t stop there. In fact, franchisee diversity correlates directly with brand growth and success.

“From a franchise sales perspective, it enables us to attract a wider pool of top talent. It gives us a competitive advantage as a franchise organization because we select from a broader range of highly qualified candidates,” said Schwiekert.

Once Lightbridge Academy has selected an individual, this franchisee, coming from a new background, brings their own community to the franchise and expands the brand’s reach. Selecting individuals from various circles means they each bring their own network and connections. For many of the franchisees, it also means involving their family. 

Schweikert explained that a franchisee who has a positive experience with the brand is likely to involve their family in the business, leading to more and more multi-unit, multi-generational business owners. This is something that Lightbridge Academy has kept in mind in its franchise development strategy. 

Supporting Franchisees from All Backgrounds

Given the benefits of prioritizing diversity and inclusion among franchisees, Lightbridge Academy seeks out diversity in its recruitment process and offers educational opportunities for franchisees and their staff to not only encourage a more inclusive environment among the staff, but also within the community they serve.

“Diversity and inclusion remain an important focus of Lightbridge Academy’s franchise recruitment strategy,” explained Schweikert. “We use marketing and outreach to attract candidates from underrepresented groups and have diversity and inclusion training programs for franchisees to offer to their staff. These types of programs are essential to help create awareness, foster understanding, and promote inclusive behaviors in all of our child care centers.”

The children attending Lightbridge Academy have inclusivity modeled and expected of them, so they learn how to respect and embrace differences from a young age. Children are also engaged in lessons about diversity and cultural traditions to ensure they grow with a healthy appreciation and relationship with various cultures and differences.  

Beyond diversity training, the support provided for all franchisees also focuses on the foundational skills needed to run a child care business, so that franchisees can successfully grow their business regardless of their previous career experience. Training is delivered through in-person and virtual sessions on both an individual and group basis. 

“Every franchisee may come with a different background or set of skills,” explained Schwiekert. “We utilize their strengths to build upon the areas that they may not be as knowledgeable or familiar with.”

Looking to the Future

Lightbridge Academy continues to attract franchisees from a wide range of backgrounds and continues to embrace diversity as the company grows. Comprehensive training on all areas of business operations including diversity and inclusion, helps ensure incoming franchisees will be supported in their franchising journey, regardless of their background. 

The initial investment required to start a Lightbridge Academy ranges from $2,611,900- $5,202,500. To find out more information on costs to buy this franchise, visit: https:/LightbridgeAcademyFranchise.com