This Week in BDPA (December 15-21, 2013)

BDPA offers strong programs in 46 cities around the nation. Are you taking advantage of these programs? Here is a weekly preview of upcoming events gathered from the centralized BDPA calendar :

• Dec 17: BDPA Cleveland - Program Meeting, 'Cyber Security: Threats, Solutions and Opportunities'
• Dec 18: BDPA Cincinnati - Program Meeting, 'What Really is Cloud Computing?'
• Dec 18: BDPA New Jersey - Webinar, 'Build Automated Solutions Without Writing Code!' 
• Dec 19: BDPA St. Louis - Networking, 'Holiday Happy Hour' 
• Dec 19: National BDPA - Webinar, 'Career Triage'
• Dec 19: BDPA Washington DC - Networking, 'Annual Holiday Mixer & Member Appreciation'
• Dec 20: BDPA Washington DC - Fundraiser, 'Annual Student Alumni Pancake Dinner'
  
• Dec 21: BDPA Chicago - Workshops, 'Student Empowerment Retreat'

Please let us know of other BDPA events 

that we may have missed! 

You can always find BDPA programs, services or networking activity online at places such as:

• BDPA Facebook Group
• BDPA Foundation Facebook Page
• BDPA Foundation Twitter Account
• BDPA LinkedIn Network Group

BDPA supports your efforts for career advancement in the IT industry. Our hope is that you find reasons to provide tax-deductible support to our Causes, our HSCC Scholarship Funds or Your Causes! We encourage all BDPA leaders to take advantage of the centralized BDPA Groupsite Calendar to post your upcoming events.

This Week in BDPA (July 7-13, 2013)

BDPA offers strong programs in 46 cities around the nation. Are you taking advantage of these programs? Here is a weekly preview of upcoming events gathered from the centralized BDPA calendar :

• Jul 9: BDPA Foundation - Webinar, 'BDPA iRadio Show' 
• Jul 9: National BDPA - Conference Call, 'VP-Member Services Business Area Meeting'

Please let us know of other BDPA events 

that we may have missed! 

You can always find BDPA programs, services or networking activity online at places such as:

• BDPA Facebook Group
• BDPA Foundation Facebook Page
• BDPA Foundation Twitter Account
• BDPA LinkedIn Network Group

BDPA supports your efforts for career advancement in the IT industry. Our hope is that you find reasons to provide tax-deductible support to our Causes, our HSCC Scholarship Funds or Your Causes! We encourage all BDPA leaders to take advantage of the centralized BDPA Groupsite Calendar to post your upcoming events.

Overview: BDPA College Scholarships

The BDPA strategy is to bring college students into the professional chapters on the local level as opposed to creating ‘college chapters’. Part of that strategy includes an aggressive delivery of college scholarships to deserving BDPA high school students.

There are a number of college scholarship programs in place:

1. Bank of America Scholarship for BDPA Students - These scholarships are administered by BETF.  There have been six Bank of America scholars over the years.
2. Dr. Jesse Bemley Scholarship – These scholarships are administered by BETF. They are awarded to high-performing students in the annual BDPA High School Computer Competition (HSCC) championships. Bemley scholars can be found in scores of colleges around the nation.
3. Eli Lilly Scholarships for BDPA Students – These scholarships are administered by BETF. They are awarded to students around the nation who show a desire to make a difference in the IT industry over the course of their college and professional careers. Eli Lilly & Company began funding these scholarships in 2008.
4. Johnson & Johnson Scholarships for BDPA Students - These scholarships are administered by BDPA. They are provided to winners of the annual BDPA IT Showcase as well as all-around excellent HSCC students.
5. Monsanto Scholarships for BDPA Students - This scholarship initiated in 2013 and given to four students (2 nationally and 2 from St. Louis) with an interest in information technology, who make significant contributions to society. Applicants must excel academically, show exceptional leadership potential, and make an impact on their communities through service to others.
6. Oracle Scholarships for BDPA Students – These scholarships are administered by BDPA. They are awarded to deserving students selected by local chapters. Over $150,000 has been awarded to Oracle scholars over the past three years.

We are grateful to Creating IT Futures Foundation for its support of the Bemley Scholarships. The funding for that college scholarship comes primarily from BDPA members and supporters. You can make a secure online donation in a number of ways that include:

• Crowdrise
• Facebook Causes
• Your Debit or Credit Card

Finally, we would love to talk with other corporations or nonprofit organizations about creating STEM-related college scholarships that can be administered by the BDPA Education and Technology Foundation. Just reach out to us via email, scholarships@betf.org.

Overview - BDPA Washington DC (2012)

BDPA Washington DC chapter president Perry Carter is understandably proud of the community outreach initiatives put in place this year. He shared a 20-page deck that I thought would be of interest to many of our blog-readers.

Overview - BDPA Washington DC (2012) from Wayne Hicks

This is the type of publication we would love to see created to document successes and progress for BDPA all around the nation. What did you think about this BDPA Washington DC community outreach overview?

BDPA Member Insights About ITDiversityCareers.com

A brand new BDPA Job Board - www.ITDiversityCareers.com - is now open and ready for business! We would love to hear what job seekers and recruiters have to say about this new job board.

One of the first to share her review of this new member service is Portia Westbrooks. Portia is a BDPA Chicago chapter member and a recruiting and diversity consultant. You can follow Portia on Twitter: @IT-Head_Hunter1. She wrote:

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Portia Westbrooks

National BDPA’s ITDiversityCareers is an excellent job resource connecting IT professionals with employers. Job seekers can search nationwide for technology careers in many sectors. BDPA is recognized as the premier organization for African American information technology professionals. Corporate Sponsors ranging from entrepreneurial start-ups to 'Fortune 100' corporations post job opportunities regularly and have access to a resume database of diverse technical talent. The number of job postings and resumes are continuing to grow.

The site is user friendly and registration is quick & easy. Even the most passive job seeker can have jobs meeting their search criteria created by My Job Search Agents, e-mailed to them or sent via RSS feed. The same person can post their resume “anonymously” and Recruiters can easily find them while sourcing resumes.

More active job seekers may want to utilize tools available to stay organized by tracking saved jobs and their job application history. The candidate dashboard is simple to navigate. There is even a function to add a photo to your profile if you wish!

Employers and IT professionals are successfully connecting using ITDiversityCareers. It is a benefit of BDPA membership that is shared with ALL technology professionals. Login or Create new Account today.

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Have you had a chance to visit the new BDPA Job Board yet? If so, would you like to share your insights or review with us?

BDPA Job Board - www.ITDiversityCareers.com

Have you visited the BDPA Job Board yet?

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Over the past few years, we’ve heard from a lot of business and hiring managers that they find it hard to find qualified IT professionals and IT-minded businesspeople to fill vacant jobs in their organizations. We’ve also heard from IT pros who say that, in a world where anyone can claim to be able to “do IT,” it’s hard to stand out from throngs of job seekers on high-volume sites such as Monster.com and Indeed.com.

BDPA is pleased to announce that we’ve launched a new jobs board to connect diverse IT talent with progressive employers in Corporate America. We believe that BDPA’s strong reputation in and focus on the IT community, coupled with the very high traffic volume our site receives, will mean our jobs board will be valuable to job seekers and employers alike.

Visit the BDPA Job Board Today
www.ITDiversityCareers.com