Career Expo registration offers attendees access to the Conference’s premier employment recruiting expo where approximately 300 corporations will have representatives available
to recruit top talent for employment and internship opportunities.

Location: Pennsylvania Convention Center, Halls BC

Exclusive Career Expo Access for Members Only
9:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.
Please note that only NBMBAA® and Prospanica® members (must
be on your badge) will be able to access the Career Expo floor
during this period.

Career Expo: All Access
11:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

11 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
(Open to all registered conference attendees)

Meet the Experts (MTE) is an intense and interactive session, which encourages mentoring and near peer-to-peer mentoring relationships to help you identify opportunities, interests, education and career
paths. MTE highlights subject matter experts from various fields. A 75-minute workshop led by prominent company leaders who are experts in their field. The sessions will cover a range of topics and may include other thought leaders, interactive experiences, and industry networking.

• The Elephant in the Room: The Courageous Yet Uncomfortable Conversation
Interactive Session sponsored by:

• Chick-fil-A: Work Full of Life – Where Innovation and Service Intersect
Interactive Session sponsored by:

• Leading with Heart: Delivering Innovation that Improves Lives
Interactive Session sponsored by:

• Navigating the New Way of Working
Interactive Session sponsored by:

A C-Suite Master Class: Lessons in Leadership
Interactive Session sponsored by:

• Passion, Pivot, Perform: Break Out and Break In

Interactive Session sponsored by:
 

12:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.
(Ticket required for this event.)

“The CEOs” Luncheon Panel of Fortune 500 business leaders is a dynamic discussion on the Power of Performance and the necessity of next-level leadership to enable significant results.This session is designed to encourage and guide our conference attendees into taking steps to increase their performance to ensure career progression.

Presented by:

NBMBAA Case Competition® in Collaboration with Prospanica® - Graduate

11:30 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Teams of students analyze a complex business case to demonstrate their problem-solving skills and present their findings before a panel of executives from leading corporations and academic institutions from across the country. 

Sponsored by:

NBMBAA® Case Competition in Collaboration with Prospanica® - Undergraduate 

6:30 a.m. - 8:30 p.m.

Teams of students analyze a complex business case to demonstrate their problem-solving skills and present their findings before a panel of executives from leading corporations and academic institutions from across the country. 

Sponsored by:

10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.

Keynote Speaker:
Dan Pallotta, Founder & President, Charity Defense Council

2:45 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. 

• Dynamic Leadership: Risk vs. Reward: High Stakes Decision Making
Presented by:

• Technology & Digital Innovation: The Business Implications of Artificial Intelligence

• International Business: Doing Business in Africa: Entrepreneurship Meets Social Investment

• Financial Prosperity: Private Equity 101

• Education & Workforce Development: Coalition Building: The Power of Partnership

• Entrepreneurship: Taking the Franchise Route

6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
The Corporate Hospitality Receptions will be held at the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown and the Downtown Sheraton. Please check the conference app for updated times and locations.

By Sheryl S. Jackson

While searching for a dissertation topic, Stephanie Evergreen, Ph.D., attended a conference in hopes of finding a direction among the many data-driven presentations she would attend. She found her idea – not because a presentation caught her attention but because all of the presentations were so boring that she found it hard to stay awake.

“I’m angry that we have so much data available today, but we can’t present it in a way that is informative and supports decision-making,” said Evergreen. Her dissertation, her books and her business focus on tools and strategies that can be used by everyone to make data easier to see, understand and use in all businesses.

By Robin Farmer

Are you afraid to make the jump onto an entrepreneurial path? Ask yourself this: What’s the worst thing that can happen?

That’s the question Ahmad Islam, CEO of Ten35, asked himself. His answer: “I have to get another job.”

Islam said during Wednesday’s “Overcoming Your Fear of Entrepreneurship” that he knew acting on his worse case scenario would free him.

By Sheryl S. Jackson

With 500 million people on the network, six million jobs posted on LinkedIn and 92 percent of recruiters checking some sort of social media to identify candidates, it is critical that professionals have a presence on the platform, pointed out Ty Heath and Jacqueline James of LinkedIn – sponsor of the Wednesday afternoon educational session.

Unfortunately, only 28 percent of LinkedIn members are black and only 18 percent are Latino, said James. “LinkedIn is not just about building a professional network, it is about leveraging a network for professional and personal gain.”

By Robin Farmer

Hilary Clinton’s unsuccessful bid for the presidency put women’s issues on the forefront, gave women the opportunity to see the journey of a well-qualified candidate and highlighted the roadblocks for women in power, panelists said Wednesday at the Female Leadership & Breaking the Glass Ceiling session. 

The packed session featured Ivory Harris, Vice President of Total Rewards and Corporate HR Services for North America, BASF; Beth Brady, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of Principal Financial Group; and, Julie Coker Graham, President and CEO, Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau.

By Sheryl S. Jackson

“I don’t want you to walk out of here saying that you are motivated. I want you to walk out of here with the tools to move to the next level.”

This opening statement by Eric Thomas, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of ETA, LLC, and also known as the hip-hop preacher, set the tone for a dynamic, energetic talk that offered insights on how people can achieve their goals.

By Antonya English

One of the major benefits for both large and small businesses which promote an environment that is accepting of LGBT individuals is that it allows employees to be their best in both their work and personal environments. 

That was a small portion of the powerful message conveyed in a Wednesday afternoon session Beyond Out: Corporate Leadership and LGBTQ+, which included a panel of distingushed professionals: Moderator Eric Guthrie, Esq., CEO, Better Me, Better We; Rosanna Durruthy, Head of Global Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging with LinkedIn; Matt Kidd, Executive Director of Reaching Out; and Jonathan D. Lovitz, Senior Vice President, National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce.

"People who cover are less happy and not as productive at work," Kidd said.

By Sheryl S. Jackson

“Defining purpose is not a snapshot in time – it is a movie, or in some cases, a trilogy," said Damon A. Williams, Ph.D., in his Wednesday afternoon session. According to Williams, the keys to becoming a purposeful leaders include:

• Passion – Get in touch with what makes you happy and what you enjoy
• Purpose – Set goals because if you don’t, you are floating with no direction
• Possess a growth mindset – Remember that we come into the world with a perfect growth mindset – never giving up as we learned to walk and talk
• Grit – Set long-term goals with intermediate goals to reach and weather whatever comes up on the way to your long-term plan.