Diversity/Careers Magazine, 12/31/2008 (Norman Mays)

BDPA Creates the IT Corps. Black Data Processing Associates (BDPA) is going global with the creation of an IT Corps much like the highly successful Peace Corps. The idea went public at the June 2008 Leon H. Sullivan Summit, an economic development conference held in Arusha, Tanzania.

Read the rest of the article here.

ComputerWorld, 12/22/2008 (Earl Pace, Ralph Gordon)

Editor's Note: Race issue still beset by destructive labels. After I interviewed Earl Pace for a Q&A that was posted on our Web site last week, I knew some pieces of it would end up on the cutting-room floor. I'd had an hourlong conversation with the African-American IT pioneer and co-founder of Black Data Processing Associates, and clearly not all of it would see the light of day.

Read the full editorial here.

Detroit Free Press, 12/16/2008 (Eatonia Williams)

Student Inspires West Bloomfield Woman to Launch Eyeglass Project. Eatonia Williams was working for the Detroit Public Schools, doing lessons on conflict resolution and peer mediation, when she realized one of the junior high kids sitting at the front of the class had a problem.

Read the rest of the media story here.

NOTE: Eatonia serves on National BDPA Board of Directors as Detroit chapter president (2004-2005) and National VP-Membership Management (2008-2009).

ComputerWorld, 12/15/2008 (Earl Pace)

Q&A: Tech pioneer Earl Pace on racism in the IT workplace. Early in his career, while working as a programming manager for a financial services company, Earl A. Pace, Jr. attended a computer conference where he was the only African American among the 200 attendees. He decided that needed to change.

Read the full Q&A session here.

John Carroll University, Winter 2008 (Ken Wilson, Norman Mays)

Technology Team. John Carroll University helped prepare a winning team. Linda Seiter, a faculty member in the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, devoted months to helping a group of area high school students get ready for a national programming competition in August.

The rest of the article can be found here on page 10.