Education and employment opportunities collide at #NBMBAA16

The National Black MBA Association held is 38th annual Conference and Exposition in New Orleans Oct. 11-15, 2016.

“Although the job market is improving, some professionals with graduate-level degrees still have difficulty finding quality jobs,” Jesse Tyson, president and CEO, National Black MBA Association said in a statement.

The Career Expo was designed to connect attendees with recruiters from leading companies like Facebook, Nationwide and Microsoft. He continued, “Our professional development programming is designed to help attendees sharpen their leadership skills and increase their preparedness for the workforce or entrepreneurship.”

The Conference theme, “The Q Factor: Quality, a Leadership Paradigm,” highlights the importance of quality leadership and how it is used to inspire, disrupt and transform the business landscape.

The 2016 Conference offered more than 50 executives and innovators from across the country delivering keynote addresses, leading panels and workshops and there were also speakers who including Laila Ali, undefeated boxing world champion who penned Reach!: Finding Strength, Spirit, and Personal Power; Jerome Bettis, NFL Hall of Famer; Walter Bond, retired NBA player and CEO of Walter Bond Worldwide Inc.; Troy Carter, Chairman and CEO, Atom Factory; as well as journalist and actor Terrence “J” Jenkins, and entrepreneur and founder of “The Fashion Bomb Daily,” Claire Sulmers.

Additionally, African Americans make up only 6 percent of all MBA graduates, according to a Bloomberg Business study, generating more awareness around graduate degrees and providing assistance to this underrepresented demographic was a goal of NBMBAA. They created the #IAmBlackMBA campaign to celebrate Black college students who aspire to obtain or have already obtained their graduate degree.

“We are excited to launch the #IAmBlackMBA campaign as a means to show that Black MBA graduates are a thriving community,” says Tyson the president and CEO of the National Black MBA Association. “This campaign embodies empowerment, inspiration, and motivation for our chapter members, MBA graduates, and undergraduates pursuing MBAs to get them excited about their careers. It also showcases positive images of Black professionals in leadership and business.”