John Carroll University Supports BDPA Cleveland Chapter

John Carroll University is a private, coeducational, Jesuit Catholic university providing programs of study in the liberal arts, sciences, and business at the undergraduate level and in selected areas at the master’s level. The school is also proud to host the BDPA Cleveland chapter program meetings on the 3rd Tuesday of each month. The chapter has managed to grow its program meeting attendance throughout the entire year ... and they are looking forward to expanding the programs offered in 2015.

We are very grateful to John Carroll University for their efforts!

BDPA Cleveland Shares Its Wisdom re: Cisco Networking Academies

The Cisco Networking Academy, established in 1997, teaches students networking and other information technology-related skills, preparing students for entry level jobs as well as higher education in engineering, computer science and related fields. The Cisco Networking Academy is preparing its students for jobs of the future with initiatives such as the 'Internet of Everything' that create meaningful job opportunities for Cisco Certified Networking Associates.

BDPA Cleveland chapter program meeting in May 2014 focused on the topic: ‘Cisco Networking Academies’. There were 16 people in attendance for this chapter event.

The guest speaker, Len Tabaj, was a teacher in the Cleveland Heights High Cisco Networking Academy for the past six years. He began teaching in the Networking Academy in 2000 for the Cleveland Municipal School District. Len helped to open eight Cisco Networking Academies in the Cleveland Municipal School District as a teacher trainer. He received a bachelor’s degree in English from Cleveland State University and a Master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction. Len also holds a Career Technical Network Systems Professional License.

Chapter president Demo Solaru provided his review of the meeting,

“This meeting was a blast. We got a lot of information from the presenter and got quite a crop of new faces. If ever there was a presentation that we need to get out there, this is the one. You can’t just ask for job opportunities, they are there for the taking by the ‘certified’ and Cisco provides an excellent means to start out making $40k-$50k for those who will put their backs into it. I gather the Department of Labor will PAY for Cisco certification if the individual is currently unemployed. Certification in as few as 16 weeks ain’t bad.

I will be gathering the information on this and I really believe we need to do something Ohio–Wide and preferably Nationwide to rally young and old folks (that’s us) to this opportunity. Even those in the retirement throes should think about certification so they can teach at an academy – the pay looks pretty good for part time (something like $38k, fairly relaxed and only a few hours a day).”

Please reach out to Demo if you would like more information.

Related articles

• Where Are They Now? BDPA Cleveland Chapter Presidents
• From Cisco Network Academy student to Cisco Champion
• Cisco Networking Academy Competitions Help IT Students Stand Out

Where Are They Now? BDPA Cleveland Chapter Presidents

BDPA Cleveland chapter was founded in November 1980.  The idea of BDPA was brought to Cleveland by Norman Mays.   Norman served as president of the BDPA Washington DC chapter when he moved to Cleveland in 1980.   He found like-minded people in Cleveland who wanted an organization that would help advance the careers of African Americans in the information technology industry.

Gerry McClamy, Norman Mays, Vivian Wilson

I would love to hear from someone that could tell me the names of the other folks who joined Norman Mays as the initial charter members of the BDPA Cleveland chapter.   Do you know any of those names?

Their decision to create a chapter was a good one as evidenced by the fact that BDPA Cleveland was named 'Chapter of the Year' in 1986 and 1987.  BDPA Cleveland always believed in the concept of 'One BDPA'.   One of my earliest memories of the cooperation and support by BDPA Cleveland was at a regional conference that they hosted in 1989.  I remember traveling there with others from BDPA Detroit chapter.  We learned a great deal about how to successfully build a local chapter ... lessons that we put into practice immediately on our return to Detroit.

One of my two favorite people in BDPA is from Cleveland -- Vivian Wilson.  I served as National Vice President during Vivian's term as national president.  Did you know that Vivian is the only person in the 35+ years of BDPA history to be elected National President without ever serving as a local chapter president?   She was the BDPA Cleveland chapter vice president when she was elected to serve as our national president in the early 1990s.   Vivian earned a number of national awards over the years: Member of the Year (1986), President's Award (1988) and the BDPA Excellence in Leadership Award (1992),


Other award winners from BDPA Cleveland chapter include: Gerry McClamy (Member of the Year, 1995), Willard Brown (Outstanding Chapter President, 2006) and Monica Bowe (Member of the Year, 2010).

It would be great to hear from our past, current and future BDPA Cleveland chapter presidents. Here is the list as best we can tell:

Ken Wilson

• Norman Mays (1980-1982)
• Barbara Whitfield (1983-1984)
• Ken Wilson (1985-1989, 1995, 2008-2009)
• George Williams (1990-1992)
• Crystal Kelson Farmer (1993-1994)
• Judy Williams (1996)
• Bruce Keene (1997-2002)
• Beverly Peterson (2003-2004)
• Willard Brown (2005-2007)
• Henry Wiggins (2010-2011)
• Demo Solaru (2012-2014)

It is worth noting that Norman Mays and George Williams are past BDPA Cleveland chapter presidents who served for a number of years as the national BDPA president.   Monica Bowe is the only other BDPA Cleveland chapter member (to my knowledge) to serve on the national BDPA executive committee.   Monica served as both our acting VP-Finance (2010) and our Outside Director (2010-2011).

The chapter hosted the national BDPA Technology Conference in 1994 ('Unleashing the Power of a Creative People').

The chapter competes regularly in the national high school computer competition (HSCC). BDPA Cleveland chapter has never won the national HSCC championship.  However, they did finish as high as 3rd place in 1990.  That 1990 HSCC team consisted of four remarkable high school students: Ronald Banks, Phillip Chow, James Gombas and Justin Polburn.

We've mentioned alot of names in this blog post.   The question remains:

Where are they now?

Related articles

• History of BDPA Awards (1986-2011)

This Week in BDPA (Feb 16-22, 2014)

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:

• Feb 18:  BDPA Chicago - Career Fair, 'Network Diversity Career Fair'
• Feb 18: BDPA Cleveland - Program Meeting, 'How EMRs Are Changing Healthcare Delivery' 
• Feb 19: BDPA Cincinnati - Program Meeting, 'Is Your Cyber-Zipper Down?'
• Feb 19: BDPA Atlanta - Webinar, 'The Business of Being Professional'
• Feb 20: BDPA Chicago - Program Meeting, 'Upgrade Your IT Skills to Prepare for Your Next Promotion'
• Feb 22: BDPA Indianapolis - Computer Camp, 'Student Information Technology Education & Scholarship (SITES) Program' 
•  Feb 22: BDPA Chicago - Computer Camp, 'Student Information Technology Education & Scholarship (SITES) Program'
• Feb 22: BDPA Dallas - Computer Camp, 'Student Information Technology Education & Scholarship (SITES) Program'
• Feb 22: BDPA Chicago - Fundraiser, 'Annual Awards Banquet'

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.

Related articles

• This Week in BDPA (February 9-15, 2014)
• This Week in BDPA (February 2-8, 2014)

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 (October 13-19, 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 :

• Oct 13: Technology Expresso Cafe' - Podcast, 'A Conversation with BDPA's Dr. Craig Brown'
• Oct 13: BDPA Chicago - Workshop, 'Learn More About Virtualization, Linux, Security and Cisco'
• Oct 15: BDPA Cleveland - Program Meeting, 'Printed Circuit Technology in a Changed World'
• Oct 16: BDPA Cincinnati - Program Meeting, 'IT Certifications vs. Experience vs. Degrees'
• Oct 16: BDPA Atlanta - Program Meeting, 'The Turning Points: 16 Lessons to Propel Your Career to the Next Level'
• Oct 16: BDPA New Jersey - Webinar, 'How to Stop Wasting Your Precious Time and Get More Done ... Now!'
• Oct 17: BDPA New Jersey - Program Meeting, 'Change Your Career Trajectory'
• Oct 17: BDPA Washington DC - Networking, 'Sneak Preview of Surface Pro 2'
• Oct 17: National BDPA - Webinar, 'Resume Rescue: Getting Your Tools Together'
• Oct 17: National BDPA - Conference Call, '2014-2019 Strategy & Planning Session'

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 (August 25-31, 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 :

• Aug 25: BDPA Chicago - Seminar, 'Virtualization, Linux, Security and Cisco'
• Aug 26: National BDPA - Conference Call, 'Membership Management Vice Presidents'
• Aug 26: BDPA Foundation - BDPA iRadio Show, 'Interview: 2013 HSCC Champions'
• Aug 27: BDPA Foundation - BDPA iRadio Show, 'Interview: Ken Wilson (BDPA Cleveland)'
• Aug 28: BDPA Washington DC - Networking, 'BDPA @ Microsoft Store'

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.

BDPA Welcomes PNC Bank as a Proud Bronze Level Corporate Sponsor

PNC Bank joined the growing list of Bronze Level corporate sponsors at the 35th Annual National BDPA Technology Conference and Career Fair titled, “Diverse Opportunities in the Age of Convergence,” August 14-17, 2013, in Washington, D. C.

Committed to responsible consumer, small business, corporate and institutional lending that helps to not only sustain economic growth, but also augment it, PNC Bank originated more than $150 billion in loans and commitments last year, including nearly $4 billion to small businesses. Additionally, more than $43 million in grants have been awarded through the PNC Foundation to nonprofit organizations such as BDPA that focus on improving children’s school readiness in math and science.

Monique Berry

"BDPA is delighted to partner with PNC Bank to bring this technology job fair to Washington DC. Workforce development initiatives are a priority for BDPA, and this collaborative effort with PNC is a wonderful opportunity to help our tech community prosper by connecting great companies with much-needed information technology (IT) talent," said Monique Berry, National BDPA president.

In addition to its commitment for the conference, PNC Bank is investing in its current diverse IT employees with the purchase of BDPA corporate memberships in Cleveland, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. The ability to provide meaningful volunteer and career-development opportunities for PNC employees in these three cities is an important part of the sponsorship value offered by BDPA.

As a global member-focused technology organization with over 45 active chapters in the United States, BDPA continues to stand as a leader in delivering 21st century technological programs, college scholarships, mentoring, support, and services for youth and adult IT professionals. BDPA is honored to partner with a financial giant such as PNC Bank.

For more information on the upcoming BDPA Technology Conference, contact Wayne Hicks, Director, BDPA Corporate Sales Department, corpsales@bdpa.org, (301) 584-3135.

PNC Bank Seeks to 'Make A Difference' as a BDPA Bronze Level Corporate Sponsor

We are very proud to announce that PNC Bank agreed to become a Bronze Level corporate sponsor. The bank wants to hire on-board at least 3 people over the course of the next year via the BDPA Job Board and the 2-day career fair being held on August 16-17 in Washington DC.

They also want to raise the brand awareness of their company by advertising in the BDPA Conference Guide as well as sponsoring one of the workshop tracks at the 2013 BDPA Technology Conference.

Also, PNC Bank wants to help BDPA provide meaningful STEM experiences to young people in Cleveland and Philadelphia ... as such they agreed to purchase five (5) corporate sponsorships in both of those local chapters.

Finally, PNC Bank wants to work with the BDPA Northeast regional vice president, Fred Smith, and the University of Pittsburgh in an aggressive effort to rejuvenate our BDPA Pittsburgh chapter. To do so, they agreed to purchase 10 corporate memberships ... half of which will go to college students at the University of Pittsburgh.

PNC Bank is looking to work with BDPA at local, regional and national level in 2013 ... and we are grateful to them for doing so!

President Profile: Dr. Demo Solaru (BDPA Cleveland)

BDPA Cleveland chapter was chartered in November 1980. Some of the most accomplished BDPA members from Cleveland include past national presidents Norman Mays, Vivian Wilson and George Williams.  The future looks bright for BDPA Cleveland chapter as they welcome on board the newest chapter president in a proud lineage of leaders -- Dr. Demo Solaru.


Dr. Demo Solaru, President
BDPA Cleveland Chapter

Address: P.O. Box 181246
Cleveland, OH 44118
(440) 399-7079


Demo shared his BDPA story with us:

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I joined the BDPA Cleveland Chapter in the late 1980’s at the invitation of Ken Wilson – a foundation member of the Chapter and past president, who also happens to be my Brother in law. I have had the privilege to be a part of many Chapter initiatives including the Compass Project, an award winning mentoring initiative to inner city schools as well as support for the preparation of students for regional and national BDPA competitions (HSCC). I was recently voted in as president of the Cleveland Chapter, with the singular focus of making it vibrant and better aligned with the needs of the times as it once was in times past.

I have a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Purdue University, West Lafayette (Boilermakers!), A Master’s Degree in Information Systems form Eastern Michigan University and a Doctorate in Management (Management of Technology) from Case Western Reserve University (2006). I wrote a dissertation on the topic of “flow” also referred to as “optimal use experience” and its relationship to customer loyalty in online systems. To date, I have been in the business of Information systems since 1979, starting out at Ford Motor Company in Detroit as a programmer and later transitioning to Health Care systems, first as a programmer and then a Management Consultant at Ernst and Young and Laventhol & Horwath.

I had a very fortuitous meeting with an African American Entrepreneur who founded a very forward looking firm in 1986, and I was compelled to join it. To date, I am a partner in that firm called Mid-America Consulting Group. I consider myself a solutions architect and have authored online ASP and SAAS (Software-as-a-service) systems that connect Hospitals, Service Providers and Medicaid offices. My part time vocation is as an Adjunct Professor of Global Business Management at Corban College in Salem Oregon, a new experience I greatly enjoy as I live in Cleveland and interact with MBA students from all over the west coast.





My favorite BDPA moment was at the inauguration of the BDPA IT Corps program in 2011, where we recruited some very bright students prepared by our SITES program to develop imaginative and practical software solutions for the members of their community. The IT Corps program will be coming to a chapter near you and very soon!

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Please use the POST COMMENT link below to share some BDPA-Love with the president our BDPA Cleveland chapter!

Grant Declination: Go Daddy Cares (BDPA Cleveland)

BDPA Education and Technology Foundation (BETF) and BDPA Cleveland chapter recently learned that our $7,000 grant proposal to Go Daddy Cares has been declined.

Go Daddy officials wrote:

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Dear Mr. Hicks,

Thank you for contacting GoDaddy.com about a possible donation of funds to support SITES Program. Unfortunately, we will not be availing ourselves of your sponsorship opportunity. Please understand that our decision is by no means a negative reflection upon you or your organization. Rather, it is a matter of resources. We simply cannot grant all of the deserving applications that we receive. Although we are unable to assist with this particular program, we welcome the opportunity to review further proposals.

We appreciate the commitment involved in undertaking such an endeavor, as well as the time and effort expended in soliciting corporate underwriting and we comment your spirit. We thank you for extending us the opportunity to participate and wish you the very best.

Sincerely,
Francisca Sanchez
GoDaddy.com

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BETF will continue to work with BDPA Cleveland chapter president David Ford and the chapter's BETF liaison Sylvia Calhoun on future fundraising efforts. If you are so inclined ... we encourage you to support the BDPA Cleveland HSCC Scholarship Fund.

BDPA Cleveland SITES Overview (Video)

It is encouraging to see more BDPA chapters using YouTube to inform the public about its programs and services. The trend continues in this video with BDPA Cleveland SITES coordinator Sylvia Calhoun.





One way to encourage Sylvia and her chapter is to make a secure online donation to support BDPA college scholarships for Cleveland-area high school students who are going through the SITES training program.

Grant Declination: PepsiCo Foundation (BDPA Cleveland)

BDPA Education and Technology Foundation (BETF) partnered with BDPA Cleveland chapter to send a 'letter of inquiry' (LOI) to the PepsiCo Foundation. We wanted permission to request funding for the youth education programs hosted by the chapter in Northeast Ohio.

We're disappointed to report that our LOI was turned down. PepsiCo Foundation wrote:

"Thank you for your Letter of Interest seeking a grant from the PepsiCo Foundation. Unfortunately, given the Foundation’s current priorities and commitments, we will not be able to support your program. Best wishes for continued progress in the important work you do."

Although this is a set-back to the fundraising efforts of BDPA Cleveland chapter ... it is not going to stop us from continuing our work to provide science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) training for high school students ... and we may even keep drinking Pepsi products on occasion!

Grant Proposal: Go Daddy Cares (BDPA Cleveland)

BDPA Education and Technology Foundation (BETF) partnered with BDPA Cleveland chapter to submit an online grant proposal to Go Daddy Cares. Our funding request seeks support for the Student Information Technology Education & Scholarship (SITES) program in Cleveland.

Wish us luck ... or you can be more direct with your support of our BDPA programs in Cleveland!

Take Five: Barbara Allen (BDPA Cleveland)

BDPA is transitioning its governance to include regional representatives.  Barbara Allen became the first-ever BDPA Midwest Regional Vice President when she won the election held last month at the national conference in Chicago.

Barbara moved to Cleveland in January 2007 after spending the previous 27 years in northern California. She served as an officer in the past for both BDPA Bay Area and BDPA Cleveland chapter. We asked Barbara to share her insights as part of our 'Take Five' interview series.

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1. How did you get involved with BDPA? - I worked as a software programmer analyst for Bank of America in California's East Bay when the BDPA Bay Area chapter was formed. I was invited to join.
2. What is your favorite part of working with BDPA? - My favorite part of working with BDPA is the experience of continued learning, and sharing in the students' successes.
3. What future evolution or change would you like to see in BDPA? - I would like to see more female students than we have now, and more support from corporations.
4. Why should someone pay $100 membership dues to join BDPA? - You will have an opportunity to improve or increase your skills not only in IT but in communication and soft skills. Networking with others is also a great bonus, and you can bring what you learn from BDPA back to the job and utilize it. If you are seeking a job in IT, BDPA can help there as well.
5. Any advice for people considering donation to BETF? - I would remind people that even a small donation counts!

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It should be interesting to see how the advent of regional governance in BDPA works out over the coming years. Our best wishes go with Barbara as she takes on this new leadership challenge!

Grant Declination: Lawrence Foundation (BDPA Cleveland)

The process of obtaining grant funding for worthy programs of your nonprofit organization is very frustrating at times. You know that the programs are outstanding ... but, finding the funding for them is more and more difficult in these hard economic times.

BDPA Education and Technology Foundation (BETF) remains committed to finding funding for BDPA programs ... even if we hit roadblocks from time to time. We hit a roadblock with the Lawrence Foundation. They informed us that our $2,500 grant proposal in support of BDPA Cleveland youth education programs has been turned down.

Our point of contact with the Lawrence Foundation was its executive director, Lori Mitchell. Ms. Mitchell's feedback was short and sweet, "Grant application has been rejected by the grantmaker. The grant application is closed."

BETF understands the importance of our Student Information Technology Education & Scholarships (SITES) program in Cleveland and around the nation. We recognize that many students are not prepared for the demands of today's economy or the economy of the future. Roughly 75% of United States 8th graders are not proficient in mathematics when they complete 8th grade. That is why it is important for BDPA to re-double its efforts to teach a love for science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) subjects to our young student members.


BDPA Cleveland missed out on this funding with the Lawrence Foundation, however, the chapter is still hopeful to provide college scholarships to its students.  

Won't you help?

3rd Annual Kentucky Girls STEM Collaborative Conference (June 29, 2011)

I'm convinced that the future success of BDPA is tied to its ability to provide unique information technology (IT) exposure and experiences for our members. Many of those programs are delivered by BDPA volunteers at a local or national level. However, there are also great IT experiences that can be garnered by forming strategic alliances with other groups.

We encourage the leaders from the six BDPA chapters in Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio to support the Third Annual Kentucky Girls STEM Collaborative Conference presented by the Kentucky Girls STEM Collaborative, the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, and the Northern Kentucky STEM Collaborative

The theme for the 1-day conference is “STEM OPPORTUNITIES AND NEEDS IN KENTUCKY: Making the Connection Between Education and Industry”. The Conference works to ensure girls in grades K-12 are aware of potential careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). and encourage them to pursue careers in those fields. BDPA can add value to this event by ensuring that young girls of African descent are also aware of these education and career opportunities.

The keynote speaker for the event will be Nancy Holliday, General Manager at Microsoft. There will also be many representatives from local industry at this conference to talk with local educators, parents, and students about their job and career path.

We encourage anyone who is an Educator, STEM professional, Student or Parent to attend! The registration cost is only $25. You can learn more about this conference here.

HSCC Testimonial: Alex Tolbert (Cleveland, 2007-2009)

Alex Tolbert

BDPA Cleveland chapter has a rich history. In the past few years the chapter has made a concerted effort to teach programming and web development skills to high school students. One of the star pupils has been Alex Tolbert. Alex represented the chapter in the national High School Student Competition (HSCC) championships held in Washington DC (2007), Atlanta (2008) and Raleigh (2009). His team finished as high as 6th place.


Alex shared his thoughts about BDPA with us:

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My experiences with BDPA Cleveland chapter have been nothing short of amazing. I had the opportunity to learn multiple coding languages and website design over the course of my three years participating in the chapter’s Student Information Technology Education & Scholarship (SITES) program. I met valuable new acquaintances and friends every year I participated. Each year of the program presented new and interesting challenges that I was more than happy to confront.

On top of the knowledge and contacts I gained as part of BDPA I was also able to earn college credits for my work. Each year I participated in the program I was fortunate enough to earn a place on the team from Cleveland that competed in the National BDPA High School Computer Competition (HSCC) championship. I filled a variety of roles as a member of the HSCC team and had positive and educational experiences at every conference.

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BDPA Cleveland is still working with young people ... in fact, they are looking for help in raising enough money to give young 'uns like Alex a college scholarship. Can you help the chapter?

Grant Recipient: BDPA Cleveland ($539)

BDPA Cleveland Computer Camp

BDPA Education and Technology Foundation (BETF) approved a $539 funding request from BDPA Cleveland chapter earlier this month. The funds are needed by the chapter in order to support its Student Information Technology Education & Scholarship (SITES) program. The chapter is engaged in active STEM-based training of high school students in web-based programming and general computer skills. The chapter plans to bring a number of these students to the Midwest Regional HSCC and IT Showcase held on June 11, 2011 in Cincinnati as well as the 2011 National BDPA HSCC championship held later this year in Chicago.

BETF was able to review and approve this funding request within 24 hours because the chapter followed the simple 7-step funding process laid out on our website. Our hope is that all 45 local BDPA chapters will aggressively pursue funding sources and opportunities in concert with BETF over the coming weeks and months.

This particular funding request was spearheaded by BDPA Cleveland chapter president Henry Wiggins, chapter past president Ken Wilson and chapter SITES coordinator Sylvia Calhoun.

BDPA Cleveland chapter hopes to be in a position to provide college scholarships to some of the students in their SITES program. Perhaps you can help these young people continue to pursue their interest in technology?

Grant Award: BP Fabric of America Fund ($300)

BDPA Education and Technology Foundation (BETF) is proud recipient of a $300 grant award from the BP Fabric of America Fund. The check came with the following message:

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Dear Wayne Hicks,

Karen Motley, a BP employee, has recommended your organization as one that makes a positive contribution. To express our gratitude, BP would like to present a gift from the BP Fabric of America Fund. Please accept the enclosed check for $300 with our sincere thanks for the important work that you do.

BP is investing in both traditional energy and renewable energy as it works to develop US energy sources that contribute to the country's energy security and diversity. But, that is only part of BP's role. We also support the groups that make up the fabric of America: organizations across the US that work to improve people's lives. The Fabric of America Fund considers contributions to organizations recommended by BP employees. We are pleased you have been chosen for a grant through this program.

Again, thank you for working to make a difference in people's lives. We hope our support will help you to continue the work that has made an impression on those around you.

Sincerely,
The Fabric of America Fund

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We are very grateful to Karen for taking the time to submit BETF's name into consideration for this grant award. Karen is a member of our BDPA Cleveland chapter. We will ensure that these funds are restricted for use by BDPA programs in the Cleveland area.

In the meantime, I hope that other BP employees will see this post and nominate us for additional grant funding from the BP Fabric of America Fund!