Entrepreneur and CEO of the Guess Group, Jené Guess-Cash, has one more achievement to her credit — she is also an executive board member and Program Committee co-chair for the Houston National Black MBA Association. Guess-Cash is charged with identifying and developing ideas for general body meetings and topics for Houston’s own special brand of NBMBAA meetings, which are livelier than anyone might expect of a professional business organization.
The day we visited members and panelists were engaged in a riveting discussion of maximizing the internet, blogs and social media sites. Rolling out spoke with the woman responsible for instigating the dialogue and asked about her plans for the future. –roz edward
What are hot topics for NBMBAA members… Financial literacy, giving back to the community, educating our members on strategies to advance their careers, social media, technology and things of that nature.
The benefits of membership… It’s access to other MBAs in the city of Houston and it’s the connection with the national organization. Locally we empower our community in Houston, and then we also go on to the national level for conferences andf learning what other MBAs are doing all across the country. … It’s important to be active because you are among your peers and you create a network you can go to for employment and advice.
Diversity … We incorporate our activities with other organizations, We recently had a mixer with the national organization of Hispanic Professionals, so it was a collaborative mixer with another minority organization. Also in our Leaders of Tomorrow Program, which is a program for young African American, Hispanic and minority children, where they can learn social skills, how to present themselves and how to be employable … we are an inclusive organization.
Recruitment… The Leaders of Tomorrow program is probably our best tool for attracting members to collegiate and undergraduate chapters of business students that may be focused on going to graduate school, or for those who are already in graduate school, we have a classification for students that are in graduate programs to join a chapter. If you are a professional in the business industry you can join. … As long as you have an interest in financial literacy, doing well in the community or empowering the African American community for economic growth you are welcome to join. … If you are in the financial planning, industry or if you want to build your brand — if you have business acumen or are just interested in business — this would be the organization for you.
