African Americans: Prepared to Lead at the Senior Levels in Information Technology

The Information Technology Senior Management Forum (ITSMF) is proud to announce that 18 IT African American professionals are ready to leap into leadership after completing the ITSMF Executive Protégé Program.

The goal of the Executive Protégé Program is to fill the pipeline with African Americans ready to advance to the senior levels of information technology. Graduates of the program also help fill an ongoing and growing void in the IT industry.

Published survey results indicate the IT industry is facing a talent crunch and many CIOs feel finding skilled professionals is their greatest challenge. "As a result of this data it is not a far leap to conclude that if we do not have the talent at the professional or mid-management levels, we may not have enough people in the pipeline to reach the executive levels," say Zack Lamelle, ITSMF Chairperson.

ITSMF has mobilized its efforts around solving this issue. The ITSMF Executive Protégé Program provides the mentoring and leadership development mid-level African American managers in information technology need, to advance to the senior and C level in IT. It is the only national leadership development program focused on cultivating executive talent among African American IT professionals.

The leadership development and mentoring occur in a structured collaborative environment where seasoned veterans share their success secrets and help protégés strategize for upward mobility. Using one-on-one coaching, enrollees gain insight and a higher sense of awareness of the behavioral and relationship abilities needed to become a leader in the IT profession.

Participants in the program learn from experienced senior leaders from some of the world's top fortune 500 companies like Lockheed Martin, Wachovia Bank, Marriott International and Microsoft. "We offer guidance, advice and counsel based upon real world experience," says Allen Sample, senior vice president for Marriott International.

To qualify for the program, mid-level managers must possess excellent communication skills, have achieved the level of first line manager, commit to completing the 12-month program and obtain a recommendation from an ITSMF member, an ITSMF Corporate Partner, or a protégé channel organization. They must also gain sponsorship and support from a senior level company manager for the duration of the program and be recognized as a high potential employee, promotable to at least two levels above their current position.


This year's graduating protégés are:

1. Gloria Anderson; Hewlett Packard, Technical Program Manager


2. Irvin Bishop; Coca Cola Company, Director Global Interactive Marketing, IT


3. Rhonda Boyd; Allstate, Portfolio Management Advisor, Technology Mgmt. Office


4. Jason Carter, Bank of America, former Vice President and Senior Technology Manager


5. Danielle Desalu; Cisco, Wireless Systems Engineer


6. Christopher Essex; UBS, Director, IT


7. Lucia Eversley; Procter & Gamble, Business Performance Solutions Leader


8. Dwight Forbes; Hewlett Packard, Civilian Agencies Presales Manager


9. Damon Frost; Procter & Gamble, Section Manager, GBS Leader


10. Shirley Johansson; Procter & Gamble, Systems Manager


11. Nikkia Miller-Blakes; Johnson & Johnson (Ethicon), Global Application Development Manager


12. Mike Nation; Coca Cola Company, Program Manager, Global Financial Development


13. Sharon Ransom; IBM, Americas Director of Services, Support and Education, Tivoli Software


14. Kimberly Summers-Sims; Hanesbrands, Director, Project Management


15. Tammara Turner; Microsoft, Social Engineer


16. Bennette Veals; Procter & Gamble, Employee Services Client Manager


17. Olden Warren; Procter & Gamble, Senior Project Manager


18. Ronnie Watson; Johnson & Johnson, IT Franchise Director

I encourage these 18 brothers and sisters to find a way to reach back and support BDPA Education and Technology Foundation (BETF) as they rise up the career ladder.

Zack Lemelle Shares Overview of ITSMF (Video)

Information Technology Senior Management Forum (ITSMF) is a national organization dedicated exclusively to fostering upper-level executive talent among African American IT professionals. Their goal is to prepare African American IT professionals for senior-level responsibility by offering executive career development, mentoring, and networking opportunities for advancing your career.

Zack Lemelle is the ITSMF chair. He takes some time in the following video to share insights about the relationship between BDPA and ITSMF. He also provides some great advice for young people considering a career in the IT industry. Enjoy the video:





BETF hopes to announce a joint fundraiser with ITSMF in the near-term. For now, we would be interested in your thoughts, comments or questions about ITSMF. What say u?

Winston-Salem State University Hosts ITSMF CIO Summit

Concerned by increasing shortages of African Americans within the information technology (IT) industry, a number of the nation's most successful African American information technology executives will join forces with Winston-Salem State University's (WSSU) Computer Science Department for a summit on the campus of WSSU at 9 a.m. on Thursday, March 27 in the Elva Jones Computer Science Building.

WSSU and the Information Technology Senior Management Forum (ITSMF) are joining forces to host the first such panel of its kind. The Summit will feature discussions between the senior information technology management community and students from the WSSU computer science department and high school students selected from the Bill Gates Academy. Summit attendees will have the opportunity to learn how to develop and advance a career in IT.

"The focus will be to discuss ways to address shortages and begin filling a pipeline for tomorrow's African American Information Technology executives," said Dr. Elva Jones, chair of WSSU's Computer Science Department and professor of computer science. "African American Chief Information Officers and Chief Executive Officers from Fortune 500 companies will participate in an informative panel discussion and conduct interactive breakout sessions, in conjunction with the annual WSSU Computer Science Day."

Ultimately, officials will tackle the issue in several ways: Providing an IT career road map for junior- and senior-level college students in the computer science and business schools at Winston-Salem State University; Offering select high school students from the Bill Gates Academy, exposure to career options within information technology; Raising funds and awareness for the WSSU's Computer Science Endowment Fund, according to Jones.

"The members of ITSMF recognize the need for initiatives that foster growth and nurture the next wave of talent among non-C-Suite African-American IT professionals and students seeking to enter the field," says Zackarie Lemelle, vice president and chief information officer, Johnson & Johnson Information Technology Corporate Systems and ITSMF chair.

ITSMF/WSSU CIO Summit Panelists will include CIOs from companies such as Hanesbrands, Wachovia, State of Ohio and Johnson & Johnson.

African Americans represent a small percentage of those in the IT industry's C-Suite and the talent pool is becoming increasingly smaller. The percentage of employed African Americans in IT managerial and staff professional positions declined nearly 26 percent over the past 6 years, while the proportion of whites inched ahead by 2.3 percent. Employment within IT among Asians soared by more than 17 percent.

"Winston-Salem State University's computer science department continues to graduate great candidates for employment, and with experience, will be more than ready for the IT C-Suite," says Jones.

ITSMF is the only national organization dedicated exclusively to fostering upper-level executive talent among African American IT professionals. The organization's goal is to prepare African American IT professionals for senior-level responsibility by offering executive career development, mentoring, and networking opportunities for advancing their career.

Zack Lemelle * ITSMF Chairperson (2008-2009)

BDPA Education & Technology Foundation (BETF) is very hopeful that we can develop a stronger relationship with the individual members of the Information Technology Senior Management Forum (ITSMF) in the coming year. Quite frankly, we want to work with each of these powerful sisters and brothers to figure out how we can leverage their position on top of the glass ceiling in Corporate America in support of our funding goals.

I would love to find tangible ways to grow our Jesse Bemley Scholarship Fund as well as increased human and financial resources to fully fund our chapter Student Information Technology Education & Scholarship (SITES) programs in each of the 49 chapters around the country.

My belief is that BETF provides a non-profit charitable outlet that should be utilized to a greater extent by ITSMF on corporate and individual levels. I'm hopeful that these powerful executives will lead by example.

I was a member of ITSMF in 2004-2005 when I served as national BDPA president. I know the power of these brothers and sisters. We just have to figure out how to broaden our relationship in the coming weeks and months.

Truthfully, my spirits rose with the results of the recent ITSMF elections. Zack Lemille is the new ITSMF Chairperson ... the head nubian-in-charge for 2008-2009.

Check out this brother's creds:

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Zackarie Lemelle, Vice President, Information Technology Corporate Systems, is responsible for J&J Legal, Global Communications, Worldwide Operations, Corporate Office of Science and Technology, J&J Development Corporation, Global Marketing and next generation procurement technology.

Prior to this, Zack was Worldwide Vice President and Chief Information Officer, Information Technology & Business Process Management for Ethicon, Incorporated, a J&J company. In this position, Zack was responsible for leading all information technology and process reengineering efforts directed at strengthening and growing this global business. Zack has thirty years of experience in the field of Information Technology and Process Management. Prior to accepting his current assignment, he served as Vice President/CIO for Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical. He also served as Director, Business Reengineering at Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical.

Zack is a founding member and former Co-Chair of the J&J African American Leadership Council. His community activities include Co-Chair, Helping Our Neighbor’s With Our Resources, a Deacon at his church and a little league baseball umpire and football referee.

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Do we have any ITSMF members or supporters that are also BETF-Blog Readers? If so, would you care to share your thoughts or vision for the future relationship between ITSMF and BETF?