BDPA IT Corps

BDPA Education and Technology Foundation (BETF) seeks to find the funding to support the BDPA IT Corps.  BDPA IT Corps aims to broaden the experience and professional preparation of its student and member participants through technology-based problem solving and cultural exchange between communities in the United States and other developing nations.

This is truly a global initiative for BDPA -- think of it as a 'Peace Corps' opportunity for the information technology (IT) professional.


Here are 10 good reasons for you to get engaged with BDPA IT Corps:

1. Communities in the United States and Africa need what you know!
2. Community service is at the center of IT Corps student activity.
3. Getting to know their peers will enhance our students' understanding of different cultures and those experiences will greatly enrich their personal and professional lives.
4. IT is the common thread for global communication.  BDPA membership contains some of the world's most talented IT professionals.
5. Relationship-building is important to mutual respect, assistance and future entrepreneurial ventures.
6. Similar to the Peace Corps, the IT Corps' participants will uniquely serve as technology ambassadors while interacting with their peer group students in other developing nations.
7. The IT Corps offers international experience for its participating students.
8. The IT Corps serves in direct support of BDPA's stated mission which is to improve communities and develop the skill of our student and professional members.
9. The world of business operates today as a global economy and the IT Corps places BDPA in the global IT area.
10. With a stellar reputation for success for over 35 years in the United States, the presence of BDPA on a global stage is a natural part of its growth and development.

I encourage all BETF-Blog readers to learn more about the BDPA IT Corps.  In fact, we need your help to raise funds for this global initiative.





Isn't it time for you to get involved in an international venture?  Reach out to the IT Corps leadership by email (bdpaitcorps@gmail.com) or phone (216.245-5212).

What are your thoughts about this global initiative?

Letter of Inquiry * Alcoa Foundation

BDPA Education and Technology Foundation (BETF) and National BDPA VP-Member Services Paulette Johnson-Davis joined together to submit a letter of inquiry to Alcoa Foundation. In our letter we asked for permission to submit a comprehensive grant proposal in support of the BDPA IT Corps program.

Wish us luck!

Earl Pace Discusses Evolution of BDPA (Video)

Earl Pace is founder of National BDPA. He is also Chairman of the Board of Directors for the BDPA Education & Technology Foundation (BETF). He shares his thoughts on the evolution of BDPA since his initial vision in 1975.





What are your thoughts about your thoughts on BDPA's evolution?

BDPA Cleveland Chapter Supports IT Corps Program

BDPA Cleveland Chapter Supports IT Corps Program. This 3-part video was taken by Henry Ford at the Community Meeting hosted on 11/17/2009 by BDPA Cleveland chapter. This 3-part video features a comprehensive overview of the BDPA IT Corps by Ademola Solaru and Norman Mays.

Part 1-of-3



Part 2-of-3



Part 3-of-3



I hope that other chapters are discussing the BDPA IT Corps. Our goal is to have BDPA students from around the nation added to the BDPA IT Corps in 2010. Are you interested in learning more?

Grant Declination: Carnegie Corporation of New York

BETF sent a letter of inquiry to Carnegie Corporation of New York earlier this year. Our funding request was in support of the national VP-Member Services who needs funding to fully implement the BDPA IT Corps project.

Our funding request has been declinded. Carnegie Corporation of New York wrote:

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Dear Mr. Hicks,

Thank you very much for your letter, and for acquainting the foundation with your IT Corps project. We carefully reviewed the materials you sent. Unfortunately, the activities suggested for funding do not fit within our present program priorities.

The board of trustees selects only a few areas at any given time in which to concentrate grants; even in those areas, we receive many more good proposals than we can fund.

For current information about the Corporation and its programs, I invite you to visit our website. I also recommend the Foundation Center, which has materials that may be useful as you search for funding.

I regret that I must send such a discouraging reply and wish you success in securing support from other sources.

Sincerely,
Rikard Treiber
Associate Corporate Secretary
and Director of Grants Management

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We will continue to seek out funding for our global BDPA IT Corps project.

Grant Declination: Fluor Foundation

We submitted a letter of inquiry to Fluor Foundation earlier this year on behalf of the National BDPA Member Services department. We sought funding for the BDPA IT Corps project.

Our funding request has been denied. Fluor Foundation wrote:

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Dear Mr. Hicks,

Thank you for your letter requesting support from the Fluor contributions program for BDPA Education and Technology Foundation.

Your request has been reviewed; and unfortunately, we must decline the opportunity to contribute to the BDPA IT Corps project at this time.

Although we are unable to assist, we wish you every success in meeting your goals.

Sincerely,
Suzanne Esber
Executive Director

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BETF will continue to seek funding for BDPA IT Corps. It is a remarkable opportunity to provide our high school students with a global picture of their future in the IT industy.

Letter of Inquiry: Fluor Foundation (BDPA IT Corps)

BETF and the National BDPA Vice President (Member Services) submitted a joint letter of inquiry to Fluor Foundation on behalf of the BDPA IT Corps program.

We expect a response from Fluor Foundation by the end of next month.

Letter of Inquiry: Oprah's Angel Network (BDPA IT Corps)

BETF and National BDPA worked together to submit a letter of inquiry to Oprah's Angel Network. Our request was in support of the BDPA IT Corps.




The Oprah's Angel Network does not accept unsolicited grant proposals for Angel Network funding. Organizations can submit letters of inquiry. This funding source awards grants to organizations within the United States that focus on one of our four program areas — education, leadership, basic rights or communities.

Our letter of inquiry was sent to:

Oprah’s Angel Network
Attn: Funding Request
110 North Carpenter Street
Chicago, IL 60607

Wish us well on our letter of inquiry!

Letter of Inquiry * Carnegie Corporation of New York (BDPA IT Corps)

BETF submitted a letter of inquiry to Carnegie Corporation of New York on behalf of the BDPA IT Corps project. We are grateful to National BDPA vice president Kimberly Davis and her business area for support in this funding effort.

Carnegie Corporation of New York was created by Andrew Carnegie in 1911 to promote "the advancement and diffusion of knowledge and understanding." Under Carnegie's will, grants must benefit the people of the United States, although the Foundation has a growing emphasis on Commonwealth Africa. The BDPA IT Corps project opens with an exchange of students and programs in Africa. We hope that we have a good fit with Carnegie's goals.

Carnegie accepts requests for funding at all times of the year and welcomes inquiries from potential grantees whose work fits their strategic guidelines. There are no application deadlines.

If Carnegie is pleased with our letter of inquiry, we will be contacted and asked to submit a full-fledged proposal. We will keep you informed of our progress. In the meantime, we hope that you will consider stepping up to make an a secure online donation. God likes the child who has her own!

Grant Declination: Ford Foundation

BDPA Education & Technology Foundation partnered with National BDPA Member Service business area to request $15,000 funding from Ford Foundation for the BDPA IT Corps project. Unfortunately, our request was turned down:

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Dear Mr. Hicks:

Thank you for your inquiry about the possibility of Ford Foundation assistance.

We have reviewed your request and regret that we are unable to give you an encouraging reply. Because of budgetary constraints we confine our work to a limited number of fields, and we do not have an active program to which we could apply your request.

If you have not already done so, you may wish to contact the Foundation Center, an information resource for grantseekers.

I regret that the Foundation cannot be of assistance and hope you will be successful in securing the funds needed to advance your plans.

Sincerely,
Elaine Kranich
Director

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We will continue to seek funding for the BDPA IT Corps project. Let us know if you have any suggestions or ideas for funding!

Letter of Inquiry * Ford Foundation

BDPA Foundation partnered with the national BDPA member services area to submit a letter of inquiry to Ford Foundation. We asked them to fund $15,000 for the BDPA IT Corps project.

The Ford Foundation is a resource for innovative people and institutions around the world. Edsel Ford chartered this foundation in 1936. They only fund 2,000 grants per year (out of 40,000 grant proposals sent to them annually).

We have been told that a response to our letter of inquiry should come to us in mid-February. We will keep you informed on our progres.

BDPA IT Corps: Can We Go Global?

Norman Mays is a man with a vision. His vision led him to become the founder of BDPA chapters in Cleveland and Washington DC. His vision led him to become our national BDPA president from 1981 thru 1984.

Norman Mays currently has a vision about taking BDPA to Africa.

He partnered with Ademola Solaru to propose that our Student IT Education & Scholarship (SITES) program be expanded to include students from different countries in Africa. Norman and Ademola traveled to Tanzania earlier this year to meet with African officials at the Leon Sullivan Summit to talk about creation of a BDPA IT Corps ... loosely based on the Peace Corps concept.

We are now entering into the second year of the pilot program. The BDPA IT Corps is a program that is characterized by connectivity on an international level - through computer technology as well as by establishing direct social ties. It is designed to work hand in hand with the SITES and the BDPA IT Showcase. Its mission is to broaden the experiences and professional preparation of its participants through exchanges of technology and cultural knowledge that address community issues in the United States and in developing countries.

The mission will be fulfilled by visits to African countries by teams of BDPA high school computer competition (HSCC) alumni students. While in Africa, the students and chaperones will participate in visits to educational institutions in order to meet, socialize and work with local peer group students. They will engage in discussions on a variety of technology topics and creation of African-based computer competitions.

At this stage we need to raise money to fund this program. You can help by making a pledge to the BDPA IT Corps program. Or you can direct us to a funding source in America or Africa that you think might be interested in working with the BDPA IT Corps program.

Please share your thoughts via the COMMENTS option below. We need to generate some enthusiasm and support for this program. What say u?

BDPA IT Corps Unveiled at Leon Sullivan Summit in Tanzania

The BDPA Education & Technology Foundation (BETF) provided grant funding to empower BDPA's efforts to establish itself on the on the global landscape. BDPA will unveil its Information Technology (IT) Corps at the Leon H. Sullivan Economic Summit, an annual economic development conference being held in Arusha, Tanzania.

“This is our response to a rapidly globalizing world, and we are taking our place in it”, remarked Norman Mays as he prepared for the trip this week. Mays, an entrepreneur and past national president of BDPA serves as the first Executive Director of the IT Corps initiative. Similar to the Peace Corps, BDPA's IT Corps will send teams of young adults on technology-based community service missions in the United States and to targeted locations abroad, particularly Africa. Mays added that “….this is an exciting new journey and we hope to engage many of the (30) African countries that have already showed interest and will be represented at the conference.”

In the near future, IT Corps members will assist students in African countries to review existing civic priorities and jointly devise technology based solutions that are locally effective and globally relevant. Dr. Demo Solaru, the IT Corps's Director of International Relations from BDPA Cleveland chapter, will participate on this trip also. An African immigrant, he maintains that “……Africa is ripe for this initiative - capacity building, knowledge sharing and transfer - our youth have the most fertile minds. In the United States, they have already showed us what's possible. In an interconnected world, this is the logical next level.”

The premise of the Leon H. Sullivan Summit is socio-economic development in Africa through foreign direct investment. A specific area of interest to BDPA is the summit's stated objective to advance information technology through regional economic community discussions. BDPA's IT Corps student teams will be doing just that - sharing the many skills learned in BDPA's mentoring, competition and technology education initiatives in the United States with colleagues in Africa and around the world, and applying these skills to real world problems.

The first student teams should deploy as early as summer 2009. What are your thought of the BDPA IT Corps concept?