Students met college recruiters from various institutions and participated in workshops to learn more about college access and affordability.

Hundreds of college-bound high school students joined State Senator Kevin Parker and the National College Resources Foundation (NCRF) for the Annual Black College Expo at Medgar Evers College on Saturday.
“Every year, The Black College Expo aims to create a platform for children of color to learn more about the college admissions process, and to network and gain insight on scholarships,” said Diana Love, director of College Access and New Business Development at NCRF.

During the expo, students met college recruiters to explore their pathways to higher education institutions. Families were able to discuss the college admissions process, scholarship opportunities and what attending a historically black college means to their academic success. Students and parents also had the opportunity to participate in a myriad of workshops from test prep tips for the SAT and ACT to resume writing sessions.

In addition to co-sponsoring the event, Senator Parker afforded a $1,000 scholarship to a student headed to college next year.

“It can be difficult for parents and students to navigate the college admissions process, and this event helps by focusing on both accessibility and affordability students of color,” stated Senator Parker. “I am thankful to the National College Resources Foundation for being such a critical resource for students of color here in New York State and across the country.”

Continue onto BK Reader to read the complete article.

Converse College announces that alumna Phyllis Perrin Harris ’82 has taken the helm as chair of the Board of Trustees, marking an historic milestone for the College as she becomes the first African American to hold this leadership position.

Recognized as a transformational leader in the corporate and federal sectors, Harris is Senior Vice President and General Counsel for Legal Operations for Walmart Stores, Inc. In this role, she leads legal operations and focuses on technology advances for the world’s largest company.

“Serving Converse is one of the most meaningful and important roles in my life because I believe so strongly in the educational experience it provides young women,” Harris said. “Converse opened my mind to new ways of thinking about myself and my world, and it helped me become confident and resilient. Much of who I am today stems from that experience.”

Both a trailblazer and a leader, Harris is paving the way for fellow women through the launch of the Walmart Ready conference, which secures work for female and other diverse attorneys and prepares them for the demands of Walmart legal work. Earlier in her career, Harris was the first African American to serve as Regional Counsel and Deputy Assistant Administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency where she advocated for justice, directed the nation’s environmental enforcement programs, and received the Presidential Rank Award for Meritorious Service.

“We know that diverse organizations are stronger, make better decisions, and are more successful because their Boards consider different perspectives and their decisions resonate with the variety of experiences, cultures, talents and contributions that comprise our global society,” said Converse President Krista L. Newkirk. “We believe that ensuring diversity on our Board of Trustees is an important step in building a stronger community both within and beyond Converse College.”

This year, Converse celebrates the 50th anniversary of the enrollment of its first Black students with a year-long series of events, Celebrating Courage & Charting the Future: Commemorating 50 Years of Black Women at Converse. Harris will speak at the Opening Convocation service on Friday, Sept. 21, which is the centerpiece of the anniversary celebration.

Continue onto the Converse Newsroom to read the complete article.

When Mareena Robinson Snowden walked across the commencement stage at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.) on June 8th, she became the first black woman to earn a Ph.D. in nuclear engineering from the storied university.

For her, there was one particular word that the experience brought to mind: grateful.

“Grateful for every part of this experience — highs and lows,” she wrote on Instagram. “Every person who supported me and those who didn’t. Grateful for a praying family, a husband who took on this challenge as his own, sisters who reminded me at every stage how powerful I am, friends who inspired me to fight harder. Grateful for the professors who fought for and against me. Every experience on this journey was necessary, and I’m better for it.”

Snowden’s Ph.D. was the culmination of 11 years of post-secondary study. But the 30-year-old tells CNBC Make It that a career in STEM wasn’t something she dreamed of as a child.

“Engineering definitely was not something I had a passion for at a young age,” she says. “I was quite the opposite. I think my earliest memories of math and science were definitely one of like nervousness and anxiety and just kind of an overall fear of the subject.”

She credits her high school math and physics teachers with helping to expand her interests beyond English and history, subjects she loved.

“I had this idea that I wasn’t good at math and they kind of helped to peel away that mindset,” she explains. “They showed me that it’s more of a growth situation, that you can develop an aptitude for this and you can develop a skill. It’s just like a muscle, and you have to work for it.”

When Snowden, who grew up in Miami, was in the 12th grade and studying physics, she and her dad were introduced to a friend of a friend who worked in the physics department at Florida A&M University. At the time, she says, she was considering colleges and decided to make a visit to the campus.

“We drove up there and it was amazing,” says Snowden. “They treated me like a football player who was getting recruited. They took me to the scholarship office, and they didn’t know anything about me at the time. All they knew was that I was a student who was open to the possibility of majoring in physics.”

Continue onto CNBC News to read the complete article.

Jawaun Williams always felt a void growing up on the South Side, going to schools with a predominantly black student population.

When he graduated from high school, he was one of the top 15 students in his class and in the honors society.

Still, something was missing.

“I’ve never had the opportunity to be taught by someone who looked like me. I never had any male black teachers,” Williams pointed out.

“I’ve only had one black teacher in my life. It was something I was used to, but as I’ve grown older, I realized that it is pretty weird that black men weren’t in my field.”

Though he wasn’t taught by many black men, Williams saw how influential educators could be in a young person’s life.

“Teachers taught me how to navigate, not only high school, but life. That was one of the reasons why I wanted to become a teacher.” the 19-year-old said.

Williams, a college sophomore, is one of six participants at the University of Illinois at Chicago’s “Call Me MISTER” program that aims to introduce more black and Latino male teachers into the Chicago Public School system.

This is the first year UIC is participating in the program, which stands for Mentors Instructing Students Toward Effective Role Models.”

“Call Me MISTER” started at Clemson University in 2000 and is operating in 31 schools. UIC is the first large urban school participating.

At CPS, 84 percent of the student body population are black or Latino, but 42.7 percent of the system’s teachers are black or Latino.

“As soon as I graduate I want to go back to the South Side of Chicago, and teach in the same neighborhood I came out of,” Williams said.

Williams and others in the “Call Me MISTER” program were recruited at schools with a majority black or Latino student population. They will receive full tuition and room and board.

Continue onto The Chicago Sun-Times to read the complete article.

Wells Fargo Announces $100,000 scholarship fund for diverse business owners to attend Tuck School of Business Minority Business Programs.

Wells Fargo’s Scholarship recipients attended Tuck’s Growing the Minority Business to Scale 2017 cohort

Wells Fargo today announced it is extending its investment in diverse business development amounting to over $200,000 impacting 48 diverse businesses in the past two years. The Wells Fargo Scholarship Fund for Diverse Businesses in collaboration with the Tuck School of Business. Funds 24 scholarships per year for the Tuck School of Business Minority Business Programs, certified minority, women, veteran, LGBT and disabled owned business entrepreneurs will be able to attend Tuck.

“We’re proud to continue our work with the Tuck School of Business Minority Business Program,” said Regina O. Heyward, senior vice president and head of Wells Fargo Supplier Diversity. “Diverse-owned businesses create jobs and support families and communities in every small town and big city in the U.S. At Wells Fargo, we’re focused on growing diverse businesses by offering executive training, providing access to capital, and working with external organizations to broaden opportunities that will benefit diverse-owned businesses, which are so vital to our country’s economy.”

Diverse businesses are starting and scaling at an increasing high rate in the U.S. In 2017, Wells Fargo spent $1.27 billion with certified diverse suppliers. Wells Fargo has focused on two strategic areas: growing spend with certified diverse suppliers and working with business development organizations and the community to help build a strong network of diverse suppliers.

Tuck’s Minority Business Program started in 1980 and is the oldest program designed to develop diverse business owners at an academic graduate business school. Since its inception, more than 7,000 business owners have participated in the programs. “Tuck MBE Programs is very excited about this expanded relationship with Wells Fargo that allows us to bring our curriculum, faculty and 37 years of experience developing diverse businesses to even more entrepreneurs from diverse communities from across the county,” said Len Greenhalgh Faculty Director and Professor of Management, Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.

Continue onto LinkedIn to read more about this collaboration.