Penda Aiken: Brooklyn’s Black-Owned Staffing Agency Empowers Diverse Talent

Fern Gillespie
In this post pandemic era, the American workplace has radically changed. The 9 to 5 working days in an office have been replaced by more flexible remote and hybrid positions. According to Statista Research, during 2024 approximately 53 percent of U.S. workers reported working in a hybrid manner. For many of these at home workers, it’s the opportunity to holistically balance the challenges of careers and a personal life.

“The pandemic changed the workforce model. We were all forced to work from home–except for those emergency related jobs,” Penda Aiken, president and CEO of Brooklyn-based Penda Aiken Inc., a leading M/WBE workforce staffing agency, told Our Time Press. “As we came out of the pandemic, it was more of a workers’ market. Meaning that there was a shortage of workers and companies had to adjust to the to maintain the model of remote and hybrid.”

Now, some corporations are demanding a return to the office. “I know Amazon put out a notice requesting that the professional workers return to the office as of January,” said Aiken. “Major corporations are the ones that are driving that initiative. The question now is to what extent will that model prevail.”

Whether it’s remote, hybrid or in office positions, for over 30 years Aiken has headed a leading staffing agency that empowers and places diverse professionals in positions. Her company’s corporate clients include healthcare, construction, IT, administration, legal, accounting and finance, customer service and government.

“I’m a Black woman with a minority-owned business. So, the goal has always been to make sure that people from different ethnic groups have an opportunity,” she said.
“We make sure that there’s a diverse group that’s presented to our client for consideration in hiring. A lot of the companies that we work with have some sense of social responsibility. With staffing, the client makes the final decision.”

Penda Aiken Inc. specializes in client-focused workforce solutions. Through her leadership, the agency has completed over 25,000 engagements in placing candidates in New York and national positions. A source of those corporate-client relationships has been because the agency is a certified M/WBE.

“We got introduced to the certification process initially through the federal government,” she said. “That led us into government contracting in order to get relationships, manage the contracts directly and having a consistent flow of staffing positions to fill.”

The conservative movement has placed the DEI corporate supplier diversity programs under attack. “The W/WMBE programs became instrumental and getting contract opportunities because those were mandates in order to enable the smaller businesses minority owned, women owned, to compete for the contracts that may have been issued–strictly because of pre-existing relationships or the old boys network,” she explained. “M/WBE programs helped a lot in making sure that businesses like mine had the opportunity.”

“There are a number of direct attacks on M/WBEs and DEI,” she said. “It started in education with the universities and affirmative action. Now it’s trickled down to investments — you can’t invest in Black-owned businesses. Whether it’s contract based or workforce-based, it’s something that we should all be concerned about.”

An advocate of mental health initiatives in the office, she believes that a work-life balance is important. “Because of COVID, the work model has changed. There is a greater consideration of the employee and work-life balance,” she said. “There are regulations around sick leave. For companies to have a healthy and safe work environment for the employees.”

At Penda Aiken Inc., candidates are advised on creative methods of career promotion and resume development. It’s recommended to leverage social media in their job search and create a personal brand through LinkedIn, TikTok, Instagram and Twitter. In addition, to utilize a storytelling format on the resume. “It’s better to tell your story on ‘why I am the best candidate.’ That’s the importance of having a résumé. It should be formatted to gets right to the point of what the strengths are and work history.”

The storytelling resume should also include personal information like hobbies and travel. “You’re presenting yourself beyond just your skills and experience and career goals. But who you are as a person,” she said. “You’re looking at the whole individual. That’s where the storytelling is important.”

For Aiken, her passion is creative writing. Several years ago, she earned an impressive Masters in Fine Arts degree in fiction writing from Columbia University. “There’s a creative side that’s not just about work. For me I’m fully in as a business owner,” she said. “When you talk about work-life balance, for me its writing.” Currently, she is writing a novel.