Deloitte Renews BDPA Sponsorship for 12th Straight Year

Deloitte renewed its Bronze level corporate sponsorship with BDPA … making it over a decade of sponsorship. The company agreed to sponsor the BDPA Founders reception and a career fair booth at the 2015 National BDPA Technology Conference as well as giving specific support to our BDPA chapters in Nashville and Philadelphia.

With more than $34.2 billion in revenues for fiscal year 2014, Deloitte provides industry-leading audit, consulting, tax, and advisory services to many of the world’s most admired brands, including 70% of the Fortune 500. Deloitte has over 210,000 professionals at member firms delivering services in audit, tax, consulting, financial advisory, risk management and related services in more than 150 countries and territories.

Kendall Norris

"I am delighted with the partnerships that we have with companies such as Deloitte. Without support from Deloitte and other partners, BDPA could not provide the programs, development and networking opportunities we do for our members and students,” stated Kendall Norris, BDPA Middle Tennessee chapter president.

Founded in 1975, BDPA is the premier organization for African American professionals in the technology industry. And, with 46 chapters across the United States, BDPA is the largest African American Information Technology association in the country. The organization continues to bridge the digital divide by providing professional growth and technical development for people of color in technology industry.

"BDPA is elated to continue our partnership with Deloitte in 2015. We have established a solid relationship and are grateful that as we approach the celebration of our 40th year in existence, Deloitte continues to support the BDPA mission and vision," said National BDPA president Pamela Mathews.

BDPA remains committed to excellence and providing a wide spectrum of resources to its members, corporate sponsors, businesses, educational institutions and the African American community.  To become a BDPA partner or sponsor like Deloitte or to learn more sponsorship opportunities, please contact BDPA Corporate Sales Team by email at corpsales@bdpa.org or call us on (301) 584-3135 x108.

Deloitte Renews BDPA Bronze Level Sponsorship

Deloitte renewed its Bronze level sponsorship commitment to BDPA for at least the eighth year in a row. The investment includes participation at the 36th annual National BDPA Technology Conference on August 5-9, 2014 in Indianapolis.

"On behalf of the National BDPA leadership team and its stakeholders, it is my honor and privilege to welcome Deloitte as a Bronze Level Sponsor. We thank Deloitte for their commitment, continued support and contributions. It is with the support of sponsors like Deloitte that BDPA continues forward with our mission to impact our members lives through science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM)," said Dr. Craig Brown, National BDPA president.

BDPA is the premier organization for African American professionals and students in the information technology industry. For almost 40 years, BDPA has fulfilled its mission by bridging the digital divide and providing career growth opportunities for its members. Today, BDPA is the largest African American information technology association in the U.S. and the largest national non-profit organization continually involved in training students underrepresented in STEM education across the country.

Deloitte is the brand under which dedicated professionals in independent firms throughout the world collaborate to provide audit, consulting, financial advisory, risk management, and tax services to selected clients. For more than 100 years, clients have relied on Deloitte and its predecessor organizations for solutions to their ever-changing needs. Fortune and BusinessWeek consistently rank Deloitte among the best places to work, which is good news for their talent and clients alike. When the best people tackle the most compelling challenges, everyone wins.

Kendall Norris

Kendall Norris, Deloitte PMO leader stated, "Deloitte is proud to be a long term sponsor of BDPA and supports its mission of developing professionals and students interested in the Computer Science and Information Technology fields."

To learn more about BDPA sponsorship opportunities, please contact BDPA Corporate Sales Team by email (corpsales@bdpa.org) or phone (301) 584-3135 x108.

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BDPA iRadio Show - August 13, 2013 (Chris Jackson, Dr. Mack Joyner, Pamela Sexton)

BDPA Education and Technology Foundation (BETF) is very proud to be the creator of the BDPA iRadio Show. You can listen to the archive version of the show using the widget shown in the right-hand sidebar of this blog. FREE download from the iTunes Store is also available for our listeners!

Find Additional Technology Podcasts with BDPA on BlogTalkRadio

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The guests on the August 13th show:

Dr. Mackale Joyner - software engineer, Texas Instruments - Mack Joyner is a software engineer for Texas Instruments. 17 years ago he was a high school senior trained by BDPA Kansas City chapter to compete in the National BDPA High School Computer Competition (HSCC) championship. He credits that BDPA experience with affirming his desire to pursue a career in software engineering. BDPA made a vital impact on his education endeavors as his participation in the national HSCC competition enhanced his college application to Rice University.

The door that the BDPA helped open at Rice subsequently led to other doors being opened, which enabled Mack to complete his PhD in Computer Science at Rice University. Dr. Joyner's research interests include developing compilation strategies for object-oriented languages in high-performance scientific computing. Dr. Joyner was simply a high schooler in Kansas City when BDPA met him. Now he is one of the top high performance computing experts in the world. Dr. Joyner is one of the reasons that BDPA exists! I hope that all BDPA members enjoy his story as much as we do. You can follow BDPA on Twitter -- @BDPA

Chris Jackson - chief of staff, Deloitte - Chris is the Chief of Staff for Deloitte Growth Enterprise Services. Chris is a frequently requested lecturer on global competitiveness, emerging technology and technology strategy. He has direct responsibility for driving the development and delivery of Deloitte's Growth Enterprise Services strategy, operating approach and identification of solution offerings for mid-market, high growth and privately held clients. As a leader in Deloitte Technology Strategy and Architecture practice, he is involved with of its Emerging Solution Cloud ERP efforts within Deloitte Innovation. His consulting expertise spans IT Strategy, Business Alignment and pre/post IT merger integration.

Chris was a presenter at the 2013 BDPA Technology Conference on the topic, 'ERP in the Cloud - What You Need To Know'. Participants in this workshop learned what company CIOs and CFOs need to consider when evaluating cloud-based ERP.

Chris' Twitter handle is @chris_jackson1

Pamela Sexton - conference director, National BDPA - Pamela agreed to be a recurring guest on the BDPA iRadio episode that airs on the 1st Tuesday of each month. She is pulling together the largest gathering of African American IT professionals in the nation on August 14-17, 2013 in Washington DC. There will be thousands of participants, hundreds of corporations, dozens of workshops, seminars, plenary sessions, a wonderful golf tournament, a 2-day career fair and so much more.

You can follow the BDPA Conference efforts on Twitter: @BDPA_Conference

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We hope you enjoy the insights and commentary on the show from each of these guests. Please take a moment to post a comment to let us know that you care!

Related articles

• VIDEO: Review of 2013 BDPA Technology Conference
• BDPA iRadio Show - January 14, 2014
• BDPA iRadio Show - March 25, 2014

Deloitte Invests in BDPA Silver Level Corporate Sponsorship

Built on the principles of leadership through excellence, Deloitte recently joined the growing list of Silver Level Corporate Sponsors for the 35th Annual National BDPA Technology Conference and Career Fair titled, “Diverse Opportunities In The Age of Convergence” on August 14-17, 2013 in Washington, DC.

Pamela Sexton

Pamela Sexton, National BDPA Conference Director stated,

“I'm very excited that Deloitte has renewed their partnership with BDPA. They have been a long time partner that has contributed to the success of our National BDPA Conference and our strategic goals. We look forward to 2013 and beyond. Thank you Deloitte for your renewed partnership."

Recognized for global expertise in audit, consulting, financial advisory, tax services, and risk management, Deloitte’s income in 2012 reached $13.07 billion. Since 1998, Deloitte continues to be recognized as one of the “100 Best Companies to Work For” according to FORTUNE magazine. This year, Deloitte won four top prizes at the Association of Management Consulting Firms awards ceremony in Growth Strategies, Supply Chain Performance Improvement, Human Capital, and Humanitarian categories.

"BDPA Philadelphia is appreciative of the strong corporate support we have received from Deloitte,” said Eileen Gadsden, BDPA Philadelphia chapter president. “We are thankful to our corporate champions Larry Quinlan, Deloitte chief information officer, and Hayward West, BDPA Philadelphia chapter past president, for ensuring we have not only financial support, but the time and talent of their world-class staff,” she added.

As a global member-focused technology organization with 46 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 Information Technology (IT) professionals. BDPA is honored to partner with a world class organization such as Deloitte.

For more information on the benefits of BDPA corporate sponsorship, contact Wayne Hicks, Director, Corporate Sales Department, corpsales@bdpa.org, (301) 584-3135.

Take Five: Julia Josefina Berg (BDPA Boston)

Our blog tries to share insights on BDPA from a variety of perspectives. BDPA Education and Technology Foundation (BETF) exists to raise money to support BDPA programs, scholarships and services. Sometimes it helps to hear from those who benefit from BDPA.

For example, Julia Josefina Berg is a young woman who participated as a member of the 2004 national high school computer competition (HSCC) team trained by BDPA Boston chapter. She went off to college to major in Interactive Media and Game Development. Now she is working for Deloitte.

BETF is very happy that Julia agreed to participate in its 'Take Five' interview series.

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1. How did you get involved with BDPA? - My freshman year in high school I enrolled in a 4-year Computer Programming course part of the Rindge School of Technical Arts program at Cambridge Rindge and Latin. My high school was predominately minority students with low numbers in technology courses. While this was frustrating at times, it also allowed me to have a lot of 1 vs. 1 attention with my good friend, mentor, and teacher Ms. Williams, whom encouraged me to challenge myself to starting my own web design company and finding other minorities interested in pursuing computer science careers. It was she who sent me information about my local BDPA chapter and helped me to enroll in the Saturday training courses.
2. Did BDPA have any influence on your college or career choices? - Definitely, BDPA gave me exposure to different careers and companies that were interested in minority women in the computer science field. It helped me realized that my skills were in high demand and that with continued dedication in my education, I could have a successful career. I also found that my mentors in my Saturday courses provided me with real-world examples of how they used the technical skills they taught me, which made me explore the different career paths computer science could lead to.
3. What do you like most about being a technology consultant with Deloitte? - My favorite part about being a technology consultant with Deloitte is the fact that I am constantly challenged; I have worked in 6 states the last year, each time with a completely different team, client, and technical problem to solve. Part of what I loved most about the HSCC was being thrown a challenge and having to work as a team under pressure to solve a problem, my career choice compliments this aspect completely.
4. What future evolution or change would you like to see in BDPA's STEM-based training? - I would like to see some remote training available for those in areas without current chapter teams, perhaps an online mentorship program that would allow mentors like myself who are unable to commit to one location, to help students with AP computer science prep, technical skill building, HSCC training, etc.
5. Any advice for people considering a donation to BDPA Education and Technology Foundation? - BDPA taught me that where you are from and the culture you are raised in has a lasting impact in establishing your identity, but should not limit your success. I credit my college scholarship and current career in technology consulting, to Ms. Williams, and all of my BDPA minority mentors in technology that both paved the way for me, as well as taught me the important of continuing the tradition.

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BDPA has trained thousands of young people like Julia over the years. We could use your support if we hope to train thousands more in the coming weeks, months and years.

Members of Deloitte Team Make Payroll Pledges to BDPA via Truist

BDPA Education and Technology Foundation (BETF) is very appreciative of Deloitte employees who are making payroll deductions in support of BDPA programs via Truist. Currently these monthly payroll deductions are targeted to support BDPA Middle Tennessee, BDPA Philadelphia and the BETF Endowment Fund.

We send our thanks to Jonica Cowan, Larry Quinlan and Hayward West for their generosity.

We hope that other members of the Deloitte team will follow their lead and use payroll deductions to support BDPA programs, services and scholarships.

Become a BDPA Lifetime Member and Be Part of the Founder's Club

One of my favorite moments at the 2010 BDPA Technology Conference in Philadelphia was the introduction of the Founder's Club. BDPA created the Founder's Club to honor 'lifetime members'.

The Information Technology Senior Management Forum (ITSMF) and Deloitte sponsored a private reception to congratulate the lifetime members. All members of the Founder’s Club were presented a certificate of participation and a unique memento designed by founder Earl Pace. Admiral Gary Roughhead, Chief of Naval Operations, was also there to congratulate each member.

There is still a window of opportunity for you to become a charter member of the Founder's Club. The Charter Member designation concludes on December 31st. I encourage all BETF-Blog readers to join this remarkable group right away!

Contact Mildred Allen, VP-Membership Management by email (vpmm@bdpa.org) or phone (800.727-2372) if you are interested in learning more about lifetime membership or the Founder's Club. Tell her that BETF sent you!