Black Business Student Association schedules events to help peers achieve goals

The Black Business Student Association (BBSA), established in Poole College in fall 2013, has organized a number of events that are open to all minority students in the college and others interested in conversations on diversity-related topics.

BBSA’s website summarizes its purpose, which is to serve as a resource and helping hand to future and current business students in the college. “We seek to encourage academic, personal and professional development in our members … to motivate and learn from each other … towards a successful future,” BBSA organizers state on their website.

Their intent is to partner with other organizations at NC State and beyond to provide programs and resources for students. “Because we are still fairly new, being able to collaborate with other organizations is very important for us,” said Ryan Robinson, BBSA’s co-director of marketing.

For February, their schedule includes events related both to Black History Month and Poole College’s Spring Career and Internship Fair. Several Poole College alumni are among the presenters. View the full schedule of Black History Month events at NC State.

INROADS: A PATH TO PAID INTERNSHIPS

BBSA has partnered with INROADS, a national organization with similar goals. Its mission is “to develop and place talented underserved youth in business and industry, and prepare them for corporate and community leadership.” It does this through its unique internship and leadership development program which, over the past four decades, has helped to connect business and industry with over 25,000 qualified interns in North America and around the world. Among those are two Poole College alumni, Otis Ricks and Christina Moss, who presented the college’s student commencement address when she graduated in 2009. 

BBSA is hosting two sessions at Poole College led by INROADS professionals on Wednesday, February 5, and Thursday, February 6.

• INROADS information session: February 5 at 4:30 p.m., Nelson 3210, followed by a candidate preparation session from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. That session will include discussions of resumes, professional attire, interviews and more.
• MOCK INTERVIEWS: February 6. INROADS staff will conduct mock interviews, the final step in preparing candidates whose resumes will be sent to companies for consideration for internship positions. Details are available on the registration page for this event. Participants must register by end of day Tuesday, February 4, to participate in the INROADS events.

The INROADS sessions will provide students additional preparation for Poole College’s Spring Career and Internship Fair and follow-up interviews. The career fair will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at NC State’s McKimmon Center on Friday, February 7.

UNWRITTEN RULES

On Feb. 19, BBSA is hosting “Unwritten Rules: Being Black in Corporate America,” presented in partnership with Poole College’s chapter of the National Association of Black Accountants and the Kappa Omicron Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated. This event is a program that will seek to inform current NC State students who may be job searching, accepting internships, making critical life decisions, or just contemplating what life is like in the corporate world. The event will be held at the Witherspoon Student Center, room 126 (the Washington Sankofa Room) from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Students will be encouraged to tweet their questions using the hashtag "UnwrittenRules."

• Nadia Shirin Moffett, founder and executive director, The Queen’s Foundation, Inc., and Miss North Carolina USA, 2010
• Carlo Laurore, associate director of gift planning at NC State University
• Christina Moss (Class of 2009), university program specialist, Cisco Systems
• Denesha Haigler, Sarbanes Oxley  auditor, electrical sector, FLDP, Eaton Corporation
• Otis Ricks (Class of 2007), advisory services senior at EY

ABOUT BBSA

Pommy Aynu, one of BBSA's officers, said she proposed the idea of starting the organization Roshaunda Breeden, advisor and coordinator of diversity and student involvement in the college's Office of Undergraduate Programs, in April 2013 after hearing of concerns from a group of minority students. She said she "felt we could easily tackle (these issues) if we created an organization." She researched online and discovered BBSA chapters were established in other business schools, including at Columbia, Stanford, and the University of Michigan.

"It was a spontaneous suggestion and I had no idea how it would actually evolve, but with a strong Executive Board and a supportive adviser, it has blossomed beautifully," she said. 

Photo

BBSA officers are, left to right: Anthony "AJ" Woodard, Antoinette James, Ryan Robinson, Pommy Aynu, Delton Green, Jennifer Brown, Sewlyn Gooding.