Letter of Inquiry * 3M Foundation (National BDPA)

BDPA Education and Technology Foundation (BETF) and National BDPA submitted a joint letter of inquiry to the Community Giving folks at the 3M Foundation. We are asking them to provide us with $3,000 to purchase 75 ASP handbooks for the 2011 Student Information Technology Education & Scholarship (SITES) program.

Hopefully, the folks at 3M will smile favorably on our request!

Dr. Melodie Mayberry-Stewart Will Keynote 2010 BDPA New York Scholarship Awards Dinner

Melodie Mayberry-Stewart is the chief information officer for the state of New York. She was recently named one of the Top 50 African Americans in Technology. I'm looking forward to meeting her on Wednesday, November 10, 2010 in Brooklyn NY. I will be the master of ceremonies at the BDPA New York Chapter Scholarship & Awards Dinner. Ms. Mayberry-Stewart will be the keynote speaker.

The purpose of the dinner is to recognize the outstanding contributions of BDPA New York chapter’s community supporters and corporate sponsors as well as award college scholarships to our students, who are members of the BDPA Student Information Technology Education & Scholarship (SITES) program. The SITES program affords students the opportunity to get hands-on computer and web development training, exposure to various careers in Information Technology and develop professional and interpersonal skills (i.e. business etiquette skills, resume writing and team building). This program is designed to develop the next generation of IT Professionals, and encourage African American youth to explore careers in such traditionally underrepresented fields as Computer Science and Information Technology.

Another highlight of the evening will be the announcement of the winners of the Roger Dunn Memorial Scholarship and the Renee McClure Scholarship Awards. These awards go to BDPA SITES students who have demonstrated strong excellent leaderships skills. BETF helped to fund both of these awards in the past.

I hope that you will consider supporting this annual event with your presence in person or via an advertisement in the program guide. Those of you that are unable to find a business-related reason to support the chapter can do so with a tax-deductible donation to the BDPA Education and Technology Foundation.

Grant Proposal: Capital One Foundation (Baton Rouge)

BDPA Education and Technology Foundation (BETF) and BDPA Baton Rouge chapter partnered on a $5,000 grant proposal to the Capital One Foundation. We are working our request through the community affairs officer located in Louisiana.

Capital One Bank is at the end of their 2010 granting year, however they invite organizations with programmatic requests that specifically reach a 51% or greater low-to-moderate income population and fit the bank's strategic philanthropic goals.


Our understanding is that they give priority to programs in the following areas:

1. Supporting Community Development, focusing on career exploration and job training programs
2. Increasing Financial Literacy, focusing on money management knowledge and product-centric education
3. Improving Access to Quality Education, focusing on teacher effectiveness, parental engagement and student support services

Our hope is that Capital One Bank will find favor with the Student Information Technology Education & Scholarship (SITES) program powered by our volunteers in the BDPA Baton Rouge chapter. Wish us luck!

This Week in BDPA (Nov 7-13)

BDPA has 45 chapters around the nation. You can always find programs, services or networking activity here or here. BDPA supports your efforts for career advancement in the IT industry. Our hope is that you will continue to support Our Cause!

Are you taking advantage of these programs? Here is a weekly preview of upcoming events gathered from the centralized BDPA calendar :

• Nov 8: National BDPA - Webinar, 'Career Coaching'
• Nov 9: Greater Columbia - Program Meeting, 'Ways to Protect Your Confidential and Financial Information'
• Nov 9: Washington DC - Fundraiser, 'Annual Scholarship Gala and HSCC Awards'
• Nov 10: New York - Fundraiser, 'Annual Scholarship and Awards Dinner'
• Nov 12: New Jersey - Fundraiser, 'Annual Awards and Scholarship Banquet'
• Nov 13: Northern Delaware - Fundraiser, 'Annual Scholarship Banquet and IT Showcase'
• Nov 13: National BDPA - Meeting, 'Quarterly Board of Directors Meeting
  

We encourage all BDPA leaders to take advantage of the centralized BDPA Groupsite Calendar to post your upcoming events! Please let us know of other BDPA events that we may have missed. Most importantly, let us know if you plan to attend any BDPA events this week.

American Electric Power Foundation

The American Electric Power Foundation complements a tradition of corporate philanthropy exhibited by American Electric Power and its regional utilities in support of AEP's community relations goal: "To support and play an active, positive role in the communities where we live and work."

The American Electric Power Foundation was created in 2005 to continue to support that goal. The Foundation generally will consider requests of not less than $25,000 or those for multi-year commitments from organizations in the communities served by AEP's regional utilities or where AEP has major facilities. The Foundation may also consider -- by invitation only -- initiatives outside of AEP's 11-state service area. AEP and its regional utilities continue to emphasize corporate giving on local initiatives.


AEP Foundation seeks to improve lives through education from early childhood through higher education. BETF feels that this would be an excellent opportunity for funding of our Student Information Technology Education & Scholarship (SITES) program. Do you agree?

The BDPA Insider - November 7, 2010

Former National BDPA president Milt Haynes issued The BDPA Insider for the week beginning November 7, 2010.

In this issue:

1. BDPAtoday  [USA Edition]
2. Black Faces in White Places by Randal Pinkett and Jeffrey Robinson
3. IT Job Seeker Accountability Groups
4. Microsoft Charlotte Campus Kicks Off Citizen Schools Computer Apprenticeship Program
5. Bing does THIS & Google does THAT…
6. Can BDPA IT Showcase Winners Join White House Science Fair Next Year?
7. This Week in BDPA (Oct 31 – Nov 7)
8. Rochester Post-Bulletin, 11/1/2010 (Charlie Perkins)
9. Are your skills ready for the opportunities in networking?
10. Tech Corps Ohio
11. Newman Networks News November 4th, 2010
12. How to Network: 7 Ways to Give, Not Just Receive
13. Become a BDPA Lifetime Member and Be Part of the Founder’s Club
14. Top 50+ Novels for Tech Geeks
15. BDPA Today [Chapter Edition]
16. Unemployed find old jobs now require more skills

 You can locate past issues of The BDPA Insider in the archives housed by Blacks Gone Geek.

Grant Declination: Fluor Foundation (Dallas)

We are sorry to report that our letter of inquiry to Fluor Foundation on behalf of BDPA Dallas chapter has been reviewed and declined. We received the following reply from the company:

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Dear Mr. Hicks,

Thank you for contacting us to request financial support for the BDPA Education and Technology Foundation and your Dallas chapter of Black Data Processing Associates.


We have carefully considered the funding opportunity outlined in your proposal, yet we must regretfully decline the opportunity to provide support at this time. While there are many valuable and worthwhile projects in the communities where we have a presence, because of budget limitations, we are only able to award grants for only a portion of the most competitive proposals.


Thank you for thinking of Fluor Corporation and we wish you continued success in all your endeavors.


Sincerely,
Monica Reyes
Community and Public Affairs Manager

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BETF will continue to seek out support for the youth technology programs powered by the volunteers in our BDPA Dallas chapter.   Do you have any ideas or suggestions about funding sources that might be open to supporting our Dallas chapter?

Grant Proposal: Rockwell Collins Charitable Corporation (Los Angeles)

BDPA Education and Technology Foundation (BETF) and BDPA Los Angeles chapter submitted a joint grant proposal to the Rockwell Collins Charitable Corporation. Rockwell Collins targets its giving in the area of Education, especially Math, Science, Engineering and Technology ... especially projects involving youth.

Our grant proposal focused on the Student Information Technology Education & Scholarship (SITES) program powered by our BDPA volunteers in southern California. We hope to hear back from them shortly.

Lakeesha Alert: Kiarra Robinson (Columbus OH)

BDPAers, we need your help. We know that the Amber Alert system only works for the Ambers of the world. For people of African descent we need to let the drums ring out with our own Lakeesha Alert! This blog is putting the call out for a Lakeesha Alert on a young woman who has been missing for a week in Columbus OH.

Reggie Hillery is a colleague of ours in Columbus OH. He shared the following message on Facebook tonight:

Hey Columbus- Help me find my niece Kiarra Robinson. She has been missing since Sat. Oct 30th. She is 17 yrs old and was last seen possibly on the North side or Hilliard area. She was wearing sweat pants, tank top and a blue hoodie.

My family would appreciate all your help in locating her. Thanks for your help and prayers. Her picture is my profile picture.

That is picture of Kiarra shown above.  Any support you can provide in helping Reggie and his family locate Kiarra would be very much appreciated!  Reggie can be reached via his email address or his Facebook page.

Stuck in the Shallow End: Education, Race and Computing

The number of African Americans receiving undergraduate and advanced degrees in computer science is disproportionately low, according to recent surveys. And relatively few African American high school students receive the kind of institutional encouragement, educational opportunities, and preparation needed for them to choose computer science as a field of study and profession.

In Stuck in the Shallow End, Jane Margolis looks at the daily experiences of students and teachers in three Los Angeles public high schools: an overcrowded urban high school, a math and science magnet school, and a well-funded school in an affluent neighborhood. She finds an insidious "virtual segregation" that maintains inequality.

Two of the three schools studied offer only low-level, how-to (keyboarding, cutting and pasting) introductory computing classes. The third and wealthiest school offers advanced courses, but very few students of color enroll in them. The race gap in computer science, Margolis finds, is one example of the way students of color are denied a wide range of occupational and educational futures. Margolis traces the interplay of school structures (such factors as course offerings and student-to-counselor ratios) and belief systems—including teachers' assumptions about their students and students' assumptions about themselves.

Stuck in the Shallow End is a story of how inequality is reproduced in America -- and how students and teachers, given the necessary tools, can change the system.




The information in this book makes it more imperative than ever that BDPA chapters get serious about their efforts to implement a meaningful Student Information Technology Education and Scholarship (SITES) program in their city. We can no longer afford to sit on the sidelines.

Contact BETF by email or phone (513.284-4968) if you want support in SITES fundraising.

IBM Foundation

IBM Foundation allocates resources to specific projects and programs that fit within their targeted areas of interest. The overwhelming majority of grants are initiated by IBM, do not stem from unsolicited proposals, and involve multi-year commitments. Subsequent grants will grow out of these efforts after the current grants have run their course.

While not encouraged, unsolicited proposals are reviewed on an ongoing basis. If your organization chooses to submit an unsolicited proposal, please note the following guidelines and address the requirements outlined below.

Guidelines

IBM only considers requests submitted by organizations which have a tax-exempt classification under Sections 170(c) or 501(c)(3) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. Priority is assigned to requests involving IBM technology or the volunteer efforts of our employees. In making a grant decision, they also consider what other types of IBM support (Matching Grants, Fund for Community Service, United Way) an organization may already be receiving.

Application Process

Nonprofit organizations or educational institutions wishing to submit unsolicited proposals to IBM should make an initial inquiry in the form of a two-page letter. In the event that the proposal is of interest to IBM, additional information will be requested. Videotapes and other supplemental materials are strongly discouraged at this initial stage. The letter should include the following information:

1. Brief statement fully describing the mission of the organization, the amount of money requested, and the purpose of the contribution;
2. Description of the problem you wish to address, the solution you propose, and how IBM technology, and IBM volunteers, if appropriate, will be incorporated;
3. Proposed project budget with all other anticipated sources of income;
4. Plans to measure and evaluate program results;
5. Name, address and telephone number of the project contact person.

Applications should be directed to the local Corporate Citizenship manager.

It appears that we have co-located BDPA chapters in: Atlanta, Austin, Baton Rouge, Bay Area, Boston, Central Illinois, Charlotte, Chattanooga, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dallas, Dayton, Detroit, Gr. Birmingham, Gr. Columbia, Gr. Tampa Bay, Hampton Roads, Hartford, Houston, Indianapolis, Lexington, Los Angeles, Memphis, Middle Tennessee, Milwaukee, New Jersey, New York, No. Delaware, No. Virginia, Orlando, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Rhode Island, Richmond, Seattle, So. Florida, St. Louis, Triangle and Washington DC.

All other proposals should be sent to:


Vice President
Corporate Citizenship & Corporate Affairs
IBM Corporation
New Orchard Road
Armonk, New York 10504


Does your chapter have any IBM employees in it? If so, this might be a funding source worth exploring. What say u?

Microsoft Charlotte Campus Kicks Off Citizen Schools Computer Apprenticeship Program

Soulclap to Stephanie Lampkin for sharing with us a 'great news' message about the work of BDPA Charlotte chapter member Kevin Robinson and his colleagues at Microsoft. She wrote:

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Microsoft Charlotte Campus launched our successful Citizen Schools apprenticeship What is a Computer Really? The first sessions were led by Ed Lau, Pierre Debnam and Ricky Mohamed of Premier National Services and Kevin Robinson of BCS Operations.

The students were extremely enthusiastic and highly engaged. We are partnering with Citizen Schools at Eastway Middle School to give students 21st century skills. Ed taught students about the hardware components of a computer assisted by Ricky, Pierre and Kevin, who led hands-on activities and ice breakers.

More volunteers are lined up to expose students to the diverse talents and backgrounds of our Microsoft IT Professionals. Thank You! to our Microsoft employees for your commitment and for sharing your career path and stories to help inspire youth. For details regarding the program and our Microsoft engagement contact Kevin Robinson, Project Lead, Microsoft Citizen Schools Apprenticeship Program.

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It is exciting to see BDPA members and BDPA sponsors engaged in any and all efforts to increase the passion (and knowledge) of K-12 students in science, technology and math. Kudos to Kevin and his Microsoft colleagues for 'walking the walk'! I look forward to seeing some of the students from Eastway Middle School participating in the BDPA Student IT Education and Scholarship (SITES) program in the next few years!

Can BDPA IT Showcase Winners Join White House Science Fair Next Year?

Last month, President Obama hosted the first ever White House Science Fair, bringing together middle school and high school students from around the country and their award winning science, engineering and technology projects. The White House Science Fair was a part of the President’s Educate to Innovate initiative to move American students from the middle to the top of the pack in science and math achievement over the next decade.

Check out this behind the scenes video from the White House Science Fair, including Bill Nye the Science Guy and hosts of the show Mythbusters Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage.





How cool would it be for the winners of the high school division of the BDPA IT Showcase to be able to participate in the 2011 White House Science Fair? Anyone know how we can 'make it so'?

Thomas J. Long Foundation

The Thomas J. Long Foundation has a proud tradition of supporting charitable organizations in the East Bay Area and Hawaiian Islands since 1972.

The Foundation operates on a responsive grant making basis and awards grants in five selected fields of interest. One of the selected fields is 'education', which is a match for our SITES program.

Grant proposals are considered semi-annually in the spring and fall using a competitive application process. The application form is only available from the Foundation office. Non-profit organizations that meet all of the qualifications described in the Grant Guidelines are invited to submit a request for a grant application. Requests for an application are accepted between May 15 – July 15 for consideration during the Fall grant cycle.

Grants are made primarily in Northern California and Hawaii. Preference is given to organizations domiciled or providing service in the following East Bay counties: Alameda, Contra Costa, Napa, Solano, and Sonoma.

It appears that this funding source is only available for our BDPA Bay Area chapter ... especially if they operate in one of the five East Bay counties listed above.

This Week in BDPA (Oct 31 - Nov 7)

BDPA has 45 chapters around the nation. You can always find programs, services or networking activity here or here. BDPA supports your efforts for career advancement in the IT industry. Our hope is that you will continue to support Our Cause!

Are you taking advantage of these programs? Here is a weekly preview of upcoming events gathered from the centralized BDPA calendar :

• Nov 3: Indianapolis - Program Meeting, 'What Big Businesses Need from Small Businesses'
• Nov 6: St. Louis - Fundraiser, 'Book Fair'

We encourage all BDPA leaders to take advantage of the centralized BDPA Groupsite Calendar to post your upcoming events! Please let us know of other BDPA events that we may have missed. Most importantly, let us know if you plan to attend any BDPA events this week.

Tech Corps Ohio

I learned about Tech Corps Ohio during a recent conversation with a member of the BDPA Columbus chapter leadership team. It was suggested that I get in touch with the Tech Corps Ohio state director -- Lisa Chambers. I used social networking to reach out to Ms. Chambers and we're scheduled to sit down with one another on November 18 to see if there are ways that BDPA Education and Technology Foundation (BETF) can support Tech Corps Ohio. I think that she is interested in expanding the concept to the greater Cincinnati area.

Anyhow, I thought I would share this orientation video with our BETF-Blog readers. It gives you some insight into what Tech Corps Ohio is all about.








Is there a Tech Corps operation in your state? Can you envision a strategic alliance between Tech Corps and your local BDPA chapter? What say u?

Career Coaching Webinar Offered by National BDPA on November 8, 2010

BETF-Blog readers are invited to join National BDPA for an exciting webinar on Monday, November 8th at 8:00pm EST.

Dr. Fay Cobb Payton, Director of the ITSMF Executive Protege' Program (EPP), will discuss the EPP program and mentoring opportunities. Dr. Payton was recently featured in Diversity Careers in Engineering and Information Technology for her mentoring work with minority doctoral students.

All BDPA members are invited to register for the webinar. Details can be found on the Global Database under events, and additional information available in the following flyer.

Flyer: Career Coaching Webinar (Nov 2010)

View more documents from Wayne Hicks.

Top 50 Amazing Tech Tastemakers

Soulclap to Angela Benton and the other leaders of Black Web 2.0 for creating a forum to identify and celebrate the Top 50 Most Notable African American Technology Tastemakers.

Black Web 2.0 tells us that tastemakers are the developers, the thinkers, and the risk takers. They're the entrepreneurs that sink their last dollar into their dream, the writers who report on it, and the evangelists that spread the word. Tastemakers are not influenced, they create influence and they do it through amazingly bold and innovative action. They are redefining the world of tech and ensuring the digital revolution will be televised, tweeted, blogged, and crowd-sourced.

Black Web 2.0 is seeking insights and feedback from you to determine the majority of the spots on this year's Top 50 Amazing Tech Tastemakers. If there's a person that should be included on the list, vote for them in "Submit Your Own Tastemaker". The tastemaker with the most votes will move to the top of the list.

I would love to see BDPA members represented on this list. After all, BDPA has been working to advance African Americans in the IT industry from the 'classroom to the boardroom' for over 35 years.  The BDPA Education and Technology Foundation (BETF) has given out $318,000 in scholarship funding to over 150 students since 1999.  Much of this work has been done under the radar.  Here is an opportunity to share some love for the efforts of BDPA over the years.   I noticed that @BDPA is currently one of the options for you to vote on. Anyhow, I encourage you to check out who made the list and submit your own!

Grant Recipient: BDPA Baton Rouge ($765)

BDPA Education and Technology Foundation (BETF) is proud to announce that a $765 grant disbursement was recently approved for the BDPA Baton Rouge chapter. The funds will be used in support of the 2011 Student Information Technology Education & Scholarship (SITES) program in Louisiana.

BETF will continue to work closely with chapter president Randy Powe and chapter VP-Finance Glenda Chappell to obtain additional funds for the youth technology education programs hosted by BDPA Baton Rouge chapter.

We encourage the other 44 local BDPA chapters to aggressively seek funding in partnership with BETF!

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!