Deja Lindsey Uses Her Eli Lilly Scholarship at Georgetown University

BDPA Education and Technology Foundation (BETF) is proud to announce that Eli Lilly awarded a $2,500 college scholarship to three (3) students. One of those students is senior Deja Lindsey from Chicago, IL, who will use the scholarship to support her study of computer science and sociology at Georgetown University. She has been involved with BDPA since her freshman year of college, and by attending chapter events and national conferences, she has secured a summer internship and made lifelong connections.

On campus, she is a member of the Georgetown Cheerleading Team and works as a technology specialist. She is also a recent inductee of the Alpha Kappa Delta International Sociology Honor Society and the current president of Georgetown’s chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers.

Deja Lindsey * Eli Lilly Scholar

Besides technology, she is extremely passionate about giving back to her community and spends most of her free time volunteering with elementary school students in the DC Public School system and working with Girls Got IT!, a program she founded that works to introduce young, underprivileged girls to technology. She aspires to work as a technologist that creates or improves applications to better the lives of humans around the world.

We asked Deja to share her thoughts on BDPA:

"Being a member of Black Data Processing Associates has had a great impact on my personal and career development. From membership in the BDPA I was able to network and make connections with employees from Johnson and Johnson, JPMorgan Chase, and Eli Lilly and Company, all of which I have spent summers interning. Last year’s national conference in Atlanta actually showed me a new potential career path that I plan to pursue in my post-grad endeavors."

Deja Lindsey * IT Showcase Winner

"This year’s national conference specifically has meant the most to me. Not only did I participate as a Youth Technology Camp workshop presenter, I also competed in the IT Showcase and won first place! While this conference was much busier for me than any of my past conferences, it challenged me in a variety of ways and helped me make many new professional connections. Being a member of BDPA has exposed me to more Black IT professionals, empowering me to continue my path into the information technology career field. My most memorable moment in BDPA is winning the IT Showcase because I worked very hard throughout the school year and summer and it was very rewarding to see my hard work pay off."

BDPA is blessed to have such a young and talented student as a winner of the Eli Lilly Scholarship for BDPA Students. We look forward to supporting Deja's career as she seeks to advance her career in the technology industry!

Déja Lindsey Uses her JnJ Scholarship to Attend Georgetown University

Déja Lindsey * Georgetown University

BDPA Education and Technology Foundation (BETF) is proud to announce that Johnson & Johnson awarded a $2,500 college scholarship to ten (10) students. One of those students is Déja Lindsey of Georgetown University.

Déja is a junior at Georgetown University with a double major in Computer Science and Sociology. On campus, she is a member of the Georgetown Cheerleading Team and works as a technology support specialist. She spent her first two summers of college interning with top-40 Fortune 500 companies. She worked as an IT Intern for Johnson & Johnson during the summer of 2015 in Raritan, NJ, and as a Software Developer for JPMorgan Chase during the summer of 2016 in Houston, TX.  Besides technology, she is extremely passionate about giving back to her community and spends most of her free time volunteering and working with Girls Got IT!, a program she founded, that works to introduce young, underprivileged girls to technology. She aspires to work as a technologist that creates or improves applications to better the lives of humans around the world.

Déja is a member of our BDPA Chicago chapter. When asked to share her thoughts on being a Johnson & Johnson scholar, Déja wrote,

"Being a BDPA member has had a great impact on my career development. From membership in the BDPA I was able to network and make connections with employees from Johnson & Johnson and JPMorgan Chase, both of which I have spent summers interning. I found out about the program, Launching Leaders, in which I interviewed for my internship with JPMorgan Chase from contacts that I made through BDPA. I was also invited to participate in the Eli Lilly IT Career Planning Conference after meeting other BDPA members. I attended a local event in Washington, DC where I was also able to meet with working professionals in the Washington, DC area.

By attending the National BDPA Technology conferences in 2015 and 2016, I got the opportunity to attend seminars such as the Women in Technology Panel, Big Data session, Millennials in the Workforce, and How to Be Successful in Corporate America, which were all great learning experiences. Along with the networking aspect, BDPA has exposed me to more Black IT professionals, empowering me to continue my path into the information technology career field. My most memorable moment in BDPA was attending the PINKTech luncheon, because I was able to meet many African American women who have been in the tech industry for decades, which was very inspirational."

BDPA is blessed to have such a young and talented student on board as winner of the Johnson & Johnson Scholarship. We look forward to supporting Déja's career as she seeks to advance in the technology industry!