Annual NBMBAA Conference

Other featured guests include Randal Pinkett, PhD, MBA, fourth season winner of Donald Trump’s “The Apprentice� and official spokesman for the NBMBAA Gold Key Access program.

(A scene from the last Annual Awards event).

The National Black MBA Association, the nation’s premier trade organization for black professionals, will hold its 28th Annual Conference September 26–October 1 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta.

This year’s theme, “Winning with Intention! Winning with Innovation! Winning with Integrity!,� will provide the framework for discussions on creating real wealth opportunities for black professionals and entrepreneurs; increasing participation by blacks in global markets; enhancing career development; and providing access to the executive suite.

Conference sponsors include Bank of America, The Coca-Cola Company, The Home Depot, Target Corporation and Wachovia. The conference also will feature one of the nation’s largest career fair, with representatives from 372 organizations as well as career-enhancing programs such as the NBMBAA’s Career Success Network Center®, Candidates for SuccessSM, a re-launch of the association’s NtentialSM career development system, and the Leadership Institute. 

The CSNC is co-sponsored by ExxonMobil and Wells Fargo; Hewlett-Packard will provide technology for the center.  Sponsors of Leadership Institute activities include PepsiCo and Pitney Bowes. During the conference, sessions and events are set to tackle controversial issues impacting black professionals.

Tuesday, September 26: Global Partnership Roundtable – The World is Flat, Now What? Global Presence in a Shrinking World.  Designed to foster a deeper understanding of how globalization is creating new ways of doing business, demanding new skill sets and reshaping the importance of being culturally competent. Invited speakers include Zanele Mbeki, First Lady, South Africa; Andrew Young, former United Nations Ambassador; Marilyn Johnson, Vice President, Market Development, IBM; Bill Imada, Chairman and CEO, IW Group; and Osvaldo Luis Do Nascimento, Cluster Unit Executive, IBM, Brasil. Sponsored by IBM.

Thursday, September 28: Diversity: Diversion? Delusion? Delivered? NBMBAA and Black Enterprise combine strength to help corporate leaders unravel the diversity conundrum. Panelists will challenge and shatter paradigms and provide practical ways to align diversity to achieve strategic objectives, compete in a global market and win the war for talent in the advertising industry. 

Invited speakers include Ed Gordon, journalist; Earl Graves, Jr, President and CEO, Black Enterprise; Rev. Al Sharpton, National Action Network; Jason Chambers PhD, Assistant Professor, Advertising, University of Illinois; Kent Matlock, Matlock Advertising & PR; and Maurice Cox, Vice President, Corporate Development and Diversity, Pepsi-Cola Company. 

Global Business Trends – Future Shock: What’s Coming. Futurist Nat Irvin, PhD, founder of FutureFocus 2020, says that the world grew flatter, smaller and more ready for business “while many of us were sleeping.� In this session, Dr. Irvin will outline the flatteners that are driving change and prosperity in the new global economy.  Invited panelists and speakers include Gloria Johnson-Goins, VP, Diversity and Inclusion, The Home Depot; Ben Jenkins, President of the General Bank, Wachovia; Marvin Ellison, President, Northern Division of The Home Depot; Bill Taggart, COO, Corporate & Investment Banking, Wachovia; Ike Harris, VP of Supply Chain, Personal System Group, Notebook Computing Global Business Unit, Hewlett-Packard; and Stanley E. Porter, Principal, Energy Practice, Deloitte Consulting.

Friday, September 29: Atlanta and Maynard Jackson: A Winning Equation.  Since the late 1970s, Atlanta has been know as a Mecca for Black Entrepreneurship, yet few have understood the genius strategy behind the development conceived and led by the late Maynard Jackson.  Invited panelists include Valerie Richardson-Jackson, widow of Mayor Maynard Jackson; Herman Russell, Chairman & CEO, H.J. Russell & Company; Brenda Ross-Dulan, SVP and Regional President, Los Angeles Cross Roads Division, Wells Fargo; Bill Clement, Chairman & CEO, DOBBS RAM & Company; and Sonia Booker, Co-Founder, Intown Condos and Lofts, Inc.

Other featured guests include Randal Pinkett, PhD, MBA, fourth season winner of Donald Trump’s “The Apprentice� and official spokesman for the NBMBAA Gold Key Access program. Pinkett will be the keynote speaker at this invitation-only event created to introduce top-tier black professionals (earning $150,000-plus a year) to executive recruiters and talent scouts.

Onsite conference registration, sponsored by Deloitte, will begin on Tuesday, September 26 at 4 p.m. at the Georgia World Congress Center. Visit www.nbmbaa.org for detailed information about sessions, events and the career fair.
The National Black MBA Association, established in 1970, has more than 6,000 members and represents more than 100,000 black MBA graduates. The organization exists to create partnerships that result in increased intellectual wealth and economic vitality in the black community.

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