Johnson-Johnson Renews Its Platinum Level Sponsorship of BDPA

National BDPA (NBDPA), the premier organization for African Americans in the Information Technology industry recently announced that Johnson & Johnson will once again be a sponsor of its 2012 BDPA Technology Conference & Career Fair.

A fully diverse event, the BDPA Technology Conference and Career Fair will bring together experts and innovators in technology from around North America for a unique conference experience. The four-day technology conference will be held at Baltimore’s Hilton from August 1-4, 2012. With nationally renowned speakers and the involvement of top-notch corporations, the conference will highlight what’s working best and what’s coming next at the intersection of technology, business leadership, professional development, youth education and community involvement.

The Career Fair takes place on August 3-4 and is open to the public.

"We are enthusiastic about our partnership with Johnson & Johnson," said Monique Berry, NBDPA’s President. "With over 38 chapters and 21,000 professionals online, NBDPA has been an advocate for fostering Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) education, and Johnson & Johnson will be invaluable to our success as we bring technology executives, professionals and college students to one of the most anticipated STEM events in the technology industry."

LaVerne Council

BDPA has seen remarkable positive actions from Johnson & Johnson over the past five years or so. Last year the Johnson & Johnson chief information officer Laverne Council was a remarkable keynote speaker at the national awards gala. A number of chapters, especially BDPA New Jersey chapter, have been supported in a very aggressive manner by Johnson & Johnson. Even the BDPA Education and Technology Foundation (BETF) fondly recalls the matching grant challenge of $25,000 that J&J issued at the opening ceremony of a recent national conference. BETF leveraged that challenge to bring in almost $42,000 in donations to support our college scholarship fundraising.

I hope that other corporations in America step up to join Johnson & Johnson as a BDPA sponsor in 2012!

BDPA Names Five IT Heavyweights as Honorary Conference Chairs

LaVerne Council

There are some heavy-hitters in the information technology industry who plan to serve in a leadership capacity for the upcoming BDPA Technology Conference.  BDPA announced the following executives as Honorary Conference Chairs:

1. LaVerne Council, Corporate Vice President and CIO, Johnson & Johnson
2. Marc Di Francisco, President and CEO, Premier Event Management
3. Brian Hedberg, Chief Information Officer, Health Care Service Corporation
4.  Trudy McKnight, Executive Director, Small Business Partnership Programs, U.S. Public Sector, HP
5. David Weick, Senior Vice President and Global Chief Information Officer, McDonald's 

The Honorary Chair takes a leadership role in promoting the conference and provides resources to assist with the execution of a successful conference.

"BDPA is excited to recognize this year's honorary chairs for the 2011 National Conference”, said National BDPA President, Yvette Graham.

The conference theme, 'Ignite, Inspire and Empower: The GPS of Future Technologists', is both timely and appropriate given the state of our economy and the number of individuals who are still seeking employment. BDPA remains committed to excellence as it continues to serve as a catalyst for professional growth and technical development.

The 2011 National BDPA Technology Conference to be held in Chicago, IL on August 3-6, at the Hilton Chicago Hotel, provides a total information technology experience for high school and college students, information technology professionals, entrepreneurs, IT senior managers, corporations, academia, government agencies and the research community.

The Honorary Chairs accepted their roles, in part, because of the value-packed slate of offerings given by field experts. These seminars, plenary sessions and workshops exemplify BDPA's commitment to provide state of the art training, professional growth and technical development, entrepreneurial opportunity, technical resource offerings, and access to leading edge technology to its members, corporate supporters, and the community.

This blog plans to be in Chicago for the entire conference. How about you?

Grant Award: Johnson-Johnson ($20,610)

National BDPA asked me to introduce the participants in the High School Computer Competition, IT Showcase and Youth Technology Camp during the Opening Ceremonies of the 30th annual BDPA Technology Conference held in Atlanta GA earlier this year.

I challenged the audience to make an immediate pledge to the Bemley Scholarship Fund. Scores of people took me up on the offer.

It came as a shock to me when Johnson & Johnson chief executive officer LaVerne Council upped the ante by saying that her company would match any pledges received that night.

We received over $20,000 in pledges from individuals during the next ten minutes. It was a very rewarding moment for me as executive director of the BDPA Foundation.

Earlier this week we received a $20,610 check from Johnson & Johnson. Ms. Council walked the walk with her matching funds. As a result, we now have over $41,000 set aside for scholarships that encourage young people to continue their education after high school.

Please join us in expressing appreciation to all of the BDPA donors, LaVerne Council and the Johnson & Johnson information technology organization!