Message from Philadelphia Chapter President

I would like to wish everyone a happy, healthy, and prosperous 2010. I am extremely honored and excited to serve the founding BDPA chapter during our 35th year. The Philadelphia chapter has a rich history of strong leadership and community service. With the assistance of our executive board, corporate advisory council, and you those attributes will continue to grow. We are looking to build on a successful 2009. Some of our 2009 highlights include:

• Philadelphia Chapter won chapter of year at the 2009 BDPA National Conference. This is the third consecutive year that Philadelphia has been the recipient of this award.


• Monique Berry, our immediate past president, was voted President of the Year by the National Board of Directors and National President for 2012- 2013


• Philadelphia Chapter successfully hosted our inaugural BDPA Golf fundraising event at Seaview Golf Resort


• Philadelphia Chapter developed a partnership with DeVry University to host our Student Information Technology Education Scholarships/High School Computer Competition technology center at their downtown campus

We have assembled a talented team of leaders for the executive board. Our mission is to increase value for all of stakeholders and to improve our community. I want to hear from all you. Tell me what means the most to you.

BDPA Philadelphia Chapter 2010 Leadership Team

• President - Hayward West (Deloitte)
• President-Elect - Eileen Gadsden (CDW)
• VP, Finance - Cedric Edwards (CIGNA)
• Immediate Past President - Monique Berry (Vanguard)
• VP, Education - Sally McNamara (Rosen Group)
• VP, Marketing - Angela Haskell (Philadelphia Tribune)
• VP, Professional Development - Byron Mayes (Temple University)
• VP, Strategy and Planning - Norman Williams (Children's Hospital of Philadelphia)
• VP, Corporate Sponsorship - Willie Williams (AT&T)
• VP, Membership Management - Christina Smith (CIGNA)
• HSCC Coordinator - Celeste Robinson (EPS)
• SITES Trainer - Brian Stempin (Temple University)
• Recording Secretary - Banita Wilson (Judge Technical Services)

I am extremely excited to continue the legacy of the Philadelphia chapter. We have a lot of great events planned. Our team is working hard to take membership to the next level. Upcoming events include:

1. SITES/HSCC Open House - January 16 at DeVry University and January 23 at Temple University.


2. SITES/HSCC program Kickoff - January 30 at DeVry University


3. January Program meeting - January 20 State of Chapter - Click here to Register


4. 1st quarter National Board of Directors meeting - February 5-6 Downtown Marriott


5. February Program Meeting - February 16 - Black Family Technology Awareness Week


6. National BDPA conference - July 28 -31 - Downtown Marriott

There will be plenty more information coming soon. We aim to show the rest of the world how we do things in Philadelphia. I will need all hands on deck, so be ready. At over 135 members we are one of the 3 largest chapters in the U.S. and we're growing. That's an impressive amount of experience, technical knowledge and networking for you to draw upon. I'm consistently impressed with how willing our members are to talk about and share their work and ideas. And the work we do continue to increase in importance to our companies and organizations.

We are planning to increase community outreach and investment on college campuses to promote our profession, as well as expand of our member networking and social events. This is your opportunity to become more involved in supporting BDPA's mission as we work hard to strengthen the communities, academic institutions and IT professionals as we navigate from the classroom to the boardroom.

Finally, our core program meetings and events are already well under way with a number of them posted on our web site "Events" section.

I urge you to get involved, share your knowledge and expertise, or a volunteer making our events and organization successful.

Happy 2010!!!

Hayward West, President
BDPA Philadelphia Chapter