Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder, 1/15/2016 (Fredrick Blocton, Sifora Tek-Lab)

2015 HSTP graduates (l-r) Isaiah Brown, Mohammed Abdi,
Kiani DeJuan Burkett, Diliet Tekie, and Jesus Vega (not pictured)

Tech Group Draws Students Into ‘Smart Zones’. On Friday, January 8, Black Data Processing Associates (BDPA) celebrated its 11th year with a graduation and awards ceremony emceed by Dawn Stevens of FOX 9 news. The theme of the event: transformational leadership.

Approximately 50 students between fourth grade and college level were honored at the event. BDPA is an all-volunteer organization, from the instructors to the students they teach. It boast a 100 percent graduation rate.

Fredrick Blocton, the Twin Cities BDPA chapter president, described their role in creating a foundation for future transformational leaders: “All of our kids that come into BDPA come into what we consider a smart zone. A smart zone means that when you come into the BDPA program you get the opportunity to be as smart as you want to be. And when kids come in they see the other kids trudging away at technology…and they start to all do the same thing. They get in the smart zone and they are able to open up their brains,” Blocton continued. “And what it does is it flips on the switch for them and gives them the opportunity not only to learn in technology, but in other areas of their lives, too.”

Read the rest of the article on MSR Online.

Advance IT Minnesota, January 8, 2015 (Russell Fraenkel)

BDPA names Metropolitan State University & Advance IT Minnesota 2015 Community Supporter of the Year. The BDPA Community Supporter of the Year award acknowledges the efforts of a community organization that believes in and supports BDPA in its mission of increasing the participation of people of color in the information technology (IT) field. Advance IT Minnesota, a Center of Excellence in IT for the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) system and Metropolitan State University have supported BDPA for a number of years, providing in-kind resources and technology-equipped classrooms at their St. Paul campus.

Click here to read the full article.

My Fox Twin Cities, 1/9/2015 (Fred Blocton, Justin Wulf)

My Fox Twin Cities - BDPA Twin Cities is celebrating 25 years of education at its 10th annual awards ceremony. Students learn new technology and compete with other students all over the country.

KMSP-TV

See more.

Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder, 1/30/2013 (Irwin Sylvah, Emmaly Manchanthasouk)

Irwin Sylvah and Emmaly Manchanthasouk

Black IT Pros Give Bank. Lots of people talk about “giving back,” “reaching back,” “paying it forward,” all expressions of how important it is that those who have been fortunate return the favor to others. That principle is alive and well at the local chapter of the Black Data Processing Associates (BDPA), which is showing the rest of the Twin Cities what it really means to extend a helping hand to the next generation. BDPA has been quietly and steadily doing just that for the past eight years.

Read the rest of the MSR article.

KARE Channel 12, 10/20/2012 (Sifora Tek-Lab, Gabrielle Knight)

Minnesota Aspirations for Computing Award. Anna Grecco (Thomson Reuters), Russell Fraenkel (Advance IT MN), Gabriella Knight (BDPA), Sifora Tek-Lab (BDPA) talk about the Minnesota Aspirations Award... https://awardportal.ncwit.org/comps.state.php?competitionId=80&action=detail

Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder, 6/20/2012 (Dorothy Richburg)

CEO Richburg Credits Business Success to Encouragement from Others. Sitting down to talk to Dorothy Richburg is like being with a friend. She’s so warm and kind, it’s easy to forget she’s one of the most influential women in the Twin Cities. Richburg is founder and president of KCS, a Maplewood-based information technology solutions company that she and her husband Joe started 25 years ago. The company employs more than 165 people, does business in seven states, and has numerous clients, including several of Minnesota’s largest employers such as General Mills, 3M Company and Medtronics.

Read the rest of the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder article.

Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder, 12/21/2011 (Monica Anderson, BDPA Twin Cities)

Dr. Monica Anderson

Black Data Processing Associates Celebrates Innovative Young People. BDPA Twin Cities will hold its Seventh Annual Awards Ceremony on Friday, January 6, at Metropolitan Ballroom, 5418 Wayzata Boulevard, Golden Valley. There will be a reception at 5:30 pm and dinner at 7 pm. The theme for this year’s event is “Ignite, Inspire & Empower: The GPS of Future Technologists.”

The keynote speaker will be Monica Anderson. In 2007, Anderson graduated from the University of Minnesota with a Ph.D. in computer science and engineering and is now an assistant professor in the computer science department at the University of Alabama. She is the creator of PREOP, a program which allows computer science novices to program robots graphically using an intuitive object-based interface.

Click here to see the rest of the Spokesman-Recorder 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.

DeniseMpls, 5/23/2011 (BDPA Twin Cities)

FREE Technology Camp for Minnesota 8th-12th Graders.  BDPA Twin Cities believes that computer literacy is NOT an “optional” skill. Computer technology is intertwined within the fabric of daily life of most Americans regardless of age, sex, gender, and race. Everyone must have more than a basic understanding of computers.

Read the full DeniseMpls blog post.

Black Twin Cities Business Directory, 1/1/2011 (H. James Dallas)

BDPA Twin Cities Awards Ceremony. We will recognize an IT Black Professional, IT Business Enterprise of the Year and young people who participated in the 2010 Black Data Processing Associates (BDPA) Twin Cities Community Youth Technology programs, the BDPA National High School Computer Competition in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and the Community IT Youth camp. We will celebrate our high school competition team taking eighth in the nation in July 2010 at the National BDPA High School Computer Competition in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

See the full Black Twin Cities Business Directory article here.

Rochester Post-Bulletin, 7/24/2010 (BDPA Regional Conference)

Community News: Data Processing Students Take First, Third. Teams from Rochester finished in first place and third place at the Black Data Processing Associates Minnesota regional youth competition July 10 at Century High School in Rochester. Teams from Rochester and the Twin Cities took part. The regional is considered a friendly warm-up for the national BDPA competition, which will be in Philadelphia at the end of July.

Read the full Post-Bulletin article here.

MyFoxTwinCites.com, 3/17/2010 (Emmaly Manchanthasouk, Justin Wulf, Michael Wulf)

Grooming Future High Tech Wizards. Young students in the metro are redefining the meaning of "technology geek." FOX 9's Dawn Stevens explains how the organization is grooming our future high tech wizards.

See the Fox 9 video news report here.

Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder, 12/22/2009 (Joe Richburg, Aaron Young)

Music Producer Promotes High-Tech Careers to Youth. Black Data Processing Associates (BDPA) Twin Cities is planning an evening of celebration on January 8, when it will honor the Twin Cities' top IT professionals at its fifth annual awards ceremony. Music producer Andre Fischer, recognized for producing and arranging Natalie Cole's Grammy award-winning album, Unforgettalbe, will keynote the BDPA's ceremony.

"We want to excite youth so they pursue and education and a career in IT," says Aaron Young, president of the BDPA Twin Cities chapter.

Read the full Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder article here.

PRLog, 12/16/2009 (Joe Richburg)

Veteran Music Industry Producer Andre Fischer to Keynote BDPA Annual Awards Ceremony. Veteran music industry producer Andre Fischer will offer the keynote speech at the Black Data Processing Associates-Twin Cities (BDPA) fifth annual awards ceremony Friday, January 8, 2010 at the Radission Plaza Hotel in downtown Minneapolis.

Read the full PRLog press release here.