BDPA Lands Bronze Level Sponsorship from Procter & Gamble

BDPA lands a Bronze level sponsorship from Procter & Gamble (P&G) during BDPA’s 39th Annual National Technology Conference and Career Fair to be held July 26-29, 2017 at the Duke Energy Convention Center in Cincinnati, Ohio. Procter & Gamble is a leading multinational manufacturer of product ranges including family, personal and household care products.

Shawnda Peterson, BDPA Cincinnati chapter President said, "P&G has been a great champion of BDPA for a number of years, contributing to the chapter financially was well as through the gift of people resources. We look forward to an ongoing relationship in which, through this partnership, we continue to develop and retain IT talent for the greater Cincinnati area."

Shawnda Peterson

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 Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). BDPA was founded in 1975 by Earl Pace and David Wimberly to close the digital divide for underrepresented minorities in STEM fields.

National BDPA President Mike Williams proudly exclaimed, "We thank Procter & Gamble for their support and continued focus on diversity. We look forward to working with them in the coming months."

For more information about the Annual National BDPA Technology Conference & Career Fair or the corporate sponsorship program, contact the corporate sales support team at (301) 584-3135 ext.108 or corpsales@bdpa.org. Additionally, please visit www.bdpa.org.

Top 10 BDPA Chapters (Membership, March 2017)

The lifeblood of any nonprofit association is its membership. We have a new chapter who leads the nation in BDPA members.... BDPA Cincinnati.   The chapter ... led by its president, Shawnda Peterson ... continues to amaze others by its consistent growth.  The chapter grew by 40 members in the past month as they continue moving towards the next milestone of having 200 members this year.

We continue to operate under the leadership of National BDPA VP-Membership Management Mildred Allen.   Her team now includes Chad White (Dallas) and Judaea Lane (Memphis).  Her efforts have allowed BDPA to continue to grow.   She realizes that we need to work hard to keep membership growth and retention higher.

Shawnda Peterson

BDPA believes in the management maxim -- you get what you measure.  Let us assess the numbers in order to honor those local BDPA chapters who are demonstrating success in their efforts to recruit and retain members.  Let's take a look at the ten largest chapters in BDPA-Nation:

1. Cincinnati - president, Shawnda Peterson
2. Detroit - president, Loraine Stewart-David
3. Atlanta - president, Vincent Montgomery
   
4. Chicago - president, Reggie Rush 
5. Indianapolis - president, Delano Robinson
   
6. Philadelphia - president, Cedric Edwards
7. Milwaukee - president, Allen Baylor
8.  Washington DC - president, Perry Carter
   
9. Triangle - president, Carl Hill 
10. New York - president, Tyrone McKinney

The number of chapters now belonging to the 'BDPA Century Club' currently stands at three.  The benefit of having powerful leadership is obvious when we see that Detroit, Cincinnati and Atlanta each have over 100 members. One of the common denominators for each of these chapters is that they place a high premium on the delivery of quality programs and services to their members. These chapters work hard to ensure that there is a strong return on the $100 investment that each member makes thru annual dues.

National president Mike Williams recently touted the value that organizational re-branding has made on BDPA.  What are your thoughts about the value of BDPA membership? What can your local chapter do to improve the value-proposition for you on a personal or professional level?

Message from BDPA Cincinnati Chapter President

Shawnda Peterson

Good morning all!

We had a good state of the union session last night. We were able to sign up three new individuals and hopefully have three move willing to join the organization. We discussed the national conference taking place in Cincinnati, Ohio during the week of July 26 - July 29. This is the first time in the 39 years the national conference has been taking place that it has been held in Cincinnati. This is a great accomplishment not only for our city but for our local chapter.

We have several interests with the media to do stories on several of the initiatives taking place inside of our organization. I hope everyone on the board will be willing if need to help speak and discuss some of the great things were are doing in the organization and how we are preparing for the conference. I hope everyone would be able to attend this year. The cost is $350/members and $450/non-members. and it is a strong possibility that your company will pay for your conference fees. I put in the request in this morning for me and I hope you do the same. Dr. Dalric Webb will be the local representative for the conference. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to him.

Debbie Sanders on January 11, 2017 stepped up to fill the board position as the VP of Finance. I would like everyone to please congratulate her on her new position when you have a chance. Thank you so much Debbie for stepping up in 2017 and we truly appreciate all your work.

We had an open forum with the group and here are some topics the members would like to see this year. If you know anyone who could possible speak on any of the topics please reach out to Aissatou Guisse.

Potential Topics included:

BDPA Cincinnati Program Meeting

• Alexa app development 
• AWS (Amazon Web Services)
• Artificial Intelligence
• Cybersecurity
• Datalake
• DevOps - Mike Lively has volunteer to speak to the group again
• Entrepreneurship
• Internet of Things (including security)
• Linux
• Mobile application development and deployment
• Network Security
• Protecting websites from web scrapers
• Recruitment Panel - This will be our February monthly meeting
• Security

I would like a take a moment to thank all board members and members who make an effort to join the monthly meetings. I truly appreciate it. I look forward to a good 2017 and hope that we can continue some good work.

Sincerely,
Shawnda Peterson, president
BDPA Cincinnati Chapter
(513) 549-6991
Twitter: @BDPACincinnati

BDPA Cincinnati Chapter Selects Its Future President - Na'Shawnda Peterson

Na'Shawnda Peterson

BDPA Cincinnati chapter, a nonprofit organization made up of racially diverse information technology professionals, announced a new member of its executive team. Na’Shawnda Peterson was named President-Elect and will become the chapter’s president in 2016-2017. Na’Shawnda is a business solutions manager at GE Aviation. She is responsible for maintaining IT infrastructure for a world-leading provider of jet and turboprop engines. Na’Shawnda attended both the College of Wooster and the University of Cincinnati.

"I am very excited to be a part of this wonderful organization and use my expertise to support its mission. I look forward to a great year and making a difference in our community," says Na’Shawnda Peterson.

In her new role, Na’Shawnda coordinates the activities of the chapter vice presidents with an emphasis on chapter operations, corporate sales and marketing. Also, she serves as the assistant vice-president of the finance business area.

“We are very excited to have Na'Shawnda join the BDPA Cincinnati Chapter Board of Directors”, said BDPA chapter president Dalric Webb. “Na'Shawnda brings over 15 years of technical experience and professionalism to the team. Her engagement is a key pillar in our long-term strategy to advance the careers of technology professionals from the classroom to the boardroom.”

BDPA Cincinnati chapter is the second-largest chapter in the nation. The chapter meets on the 3rd Wednesday of each month. In fact, the chapter meets next on Wednesday, March 18th to discuss ‘Innovation and Minority Entrepreneurs’ at Brown Mackie College (1011 Glendale Milford Road; Cincinnati OH 45215).