St. Louis American, 1/5/2012 (John Cooper, Oseyi Ikuenobe, Cherno Jallow, Tiffany Jones, Toni Love, Al Ware)

St. Louis Computer Team Finishes in the Top 10. Students representing BDPA St. Louis Chapter placed in top 10 in the High School Computer Competition at the 2011 National BDPA conference held in Chicago. In addition, one of the students, James Fields, came in 2nd place in the Xbox competition.

The students were sponsored by Monsanto Corporation.

Read the rest of the St. Louis American article.

Diversity/Careers Magaine, 10/1/2011 (2011 BDPA Conference)

BDPA Career Fair: The GPS of Future Technologists.  BDPA held its thirty-third national technology conference in Chicago this past August, drawing attendees from chapters across the United States.  They were joined by a roster of top technology companies and organizations in a powerful two-day career fair.

Read the full Diversity/Careers article and enjoy over two-dozen photos from the conference.

Diversity/Careers Magaine, 10/1/2011 (Pamela Sexton)

2011 BDPA Conference Offers Guidance & Inspiration. The thirty-third annual national BDPA technology conference and career fair brought more than 700 IT pros, students and corporate supporters together in Chicago this summer. They spent four days attending seminars, panel discussions and awards presentations, and of course they also enjoyed plenty of opportunities for networking.

The conference's Chicago location drew attendees from chapters across the country, as well as a surge of last-minute interest from local job seekers and companies, says conference director Pamela Sexton, an IT exec at HSBC Bank and president of the host Chicago chapter.

Read the rest of the Diversity/Careers article.

Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder, 9/21/2011 (BDPA Twin Cities)

BDPA Twin Cities Place 5th at National Computer Competition. The Twin Cities Black Data Processing Associates (BDPA) Minnesota teams won first and fifth place at the 2011 National BDPA High School Computer Competition, which was part of the 2011 33rd Annual BDPA Technology Conference held August 3-6 in Chicago.

The members of the High School Computer (HSCC) team were Cedric Cyrus (Como HS), Samantha Spears (Woodbury HS), Jorian Wulf (St. Paul Central HS) and Douglas Callahan (St. Paul Central HS). The Twin Cities Chapter High School Competition Team took fifth place out of 45 teams. The Rochester team won first place, Detroit team placed second, Columbus, Ohio team placed third, and the Atlanta team placed fourth.

Read the rest of the  Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder article.

CompTIA Blog, 8/31/2011 (Stephanie Brown, Charles Eaton, Wayne Hicks)

Two Foundations Team Up to Provide Scholarships for Talented Minority Students. By the time she had graduated from Stanford University, Stephanie Brown had already completed internships with Fortune 500 companies Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, and Deloitte. She was only 21. Getting connected with BDPA in high school put Stephanie Brown on a learning track that led to a managing stint at Microsoft.

Says Brown: “Here I had all these awesome role models. It was a turning point in my life.”

Brown attributes much of her success to an organization that has been quietly helping African American students succeed going on four decades. Today with chapters in more than 40 cities, the Black Data Processing Associates (BDPA) has been helping middle school and high school students develop interest and acumen in technology fields such as IT in which minorities (and women, for that matter) tend to be under-represented.

Read the full CompTIA Blog post.

Rochester Post-Bulletin, 8/15/2011 (BDPA Southern Minnesota)

Data Processing Group Continues Its Winning Ways. By any measure, they have become an almost dynastic presence in national high school computer competitions. This year has been no different. For the fifth consecutive year and sixth out of seven years, five Rochester students representing the Southern Minnesota chapter of the Black Data Processing Associates claimed first-place in a high school contest that featured 19 teams from across the U.S. The southern Minnesota team won with a score of 871 points, followed by Detroit's 807 points and Columbus (OH)'s 628 points. In three of the nine years that BDPA Southern Minnesota didn't win the competition, it came in second place.

Read the rest of the Rochester Post-Bulletin article.

Rochester Post-Bulletin, 8/12/2011 (BDPA Southern Minnesota)

Rochester Students Win National Computer Competition -- Again. BDPA Southern Minnesota stands for Black Data Processing Associates-Southern Minnesota. It's not the easiest name to remember, but the five high school students who represented the team at this year's national competition make it difficult to forget.

For the fifth consecutive year and sixth out of seven years, the Rochester team took first place in a national contest that measures computer skills. The highlight of the competition is a seven-hour programming project. This year, students were required to create a web application to allow customers to configure and purchase computer orders based on an inventory of electronic parts from multiple vendors.

Click here to read the rest of the Rochester Post-Bulletin article.

Cincinnati.com, 8/10/2011 (BDPA Cincinnati)

Cincinnati HSCC team with their coach Deborah Jackson

BDPA Cincinnati Takes Culturally Diverse Students to National High School Computer Competition Championship in Chicago. Stock market gyrations, debt ceiling debates and the worries over the upcoming Cincinnati Bengals football season have dominated local headlines in recent weeks. Few in our city were focused on the remarkable achievements of Cincinnati-area high school students in a national computer programming competition, or appreciate the training it takes to excel in this intellectual effort.

So the 13th-place finish of Cincinnati's team (out of 45 BDPA chapters) in the National High School Computer Competition (HSCC) Championship sponsored by BDPA didn't draw a lot of attention. But the four team members went through a comprehensive training program with the local BDPA chapter before they pitted their skills against other teams at the national BDPA technology conference in Chicago.

Read the rest of the Cincinnati.com article.

Rix Bits, 8/7/2011 (BDPA Columbus)

BDPA Columbus Earns 3rd Place in National Competition! The results are in! As we close out the 33rd Annual BDPA National Conference and High School Computer Competition, I’m proud to announce that the BDPA Columbus high school team scored THIRD PLACE this year out of 19 participating teams!

Read the rest of the Rix Bits article.

CyberLife Tutors, 7/26/2011 (April Williams)

Black Data Processing Associates Conference Features April M. Williams. The 2011 National Black Data Processing Associates (BDPA) Technology conference will feature April M. Williams, an executive coach and author of “Social Networking Throughout Your Career.” She will present two sessions, 'Creating Buzz Marketing for Professionals' and 'Facebook: Your Chapter PR Friend.'

During these 90 minute sessions, BDPA conference attendees will engage in interactive sessions to promote their professional careers using social networking tools. As a result of these presentations, participants will be armed to promote themselves effectively in the marketplace and demonstrate the value of their skills.

“The days of passive job career management are gone. By using technology to expand our professional networking, we can leverage our connections to reach out to the key people in our industry,” said April M. Williams. “By building bridges and crafting succinct on-target messages, we can market our best qualities.”

Read the rest of the CyberLife Tutors article.

Diversity/Careers Magazine, 6/30/2011 (Monique Berry, Milt Haynes, Wayne Hicks, Curtis Jenkins, Pamela Sexton)

BDPA Will "Ignite, Inspire and Empower" This Summer in Chicago. The thirty-third annual Black Data Processing Associates (BDPA) Technology Conference and Career Expo promises exciting new features in addition to the panels, workshops and competitions attendees have enjoyed in past years. It will be held August 3 to 6 at the Hilton Chicago, located downtown on the Michigan Avenue Cultural Mile.

Read the rest of the Diversity/Careers article.

Slideshare, 12/15/2010 (Jesse Bemley)

Call for Presenters issued by the IT Showcase founder Dr. Jesse Bemley.   One of the most remarkable BDPA programs is the IT Showcase. This program provides a showcase for talented young people that are the future faces of technology. BDPA is actively recruiting high school and college students to participate in the 2011 National IT Showcase in Chicago

Call for Presenters: BDPA IT Showcase

View more documents from Wayne Hicks.

Please share this information with any high school or college student who you think will benefit from participation in the 2011 BDPA IT Showcase!