According to National Black MBA Association – DFW Chapter Community Relations Chair Jared Fitzpatrick,
“The National Black MBA® Association was created in 1970 to help African-Americans coming into the corporate sector, largely for the first time, share experiences and insights to help make the journey easier. By nurturing these new professionals, our nonprofit helped early members navigate and, ultimately, succeed in unfamiliar and frequently challenging environments. It is those professionals who have risen up and reached back to bring up the next generation of Black professionals through providing coaching, guidance and mentoring.
“Fast-forward 50 years and our mission remains – to lead in the creation of educational, wealth building, and growth opportunities for African-Americans throughout their careers as students, entrepreneurs, and professionals. We serve over 1,000 members in our local chapter and provide many opportunities for our members to get engaged, including professional development sessions, spotlights of corporate partners, financial literacy seminars, and networking events.
“To support the next generation of African-American leaders, we have two primary initiatives focused on Black youth – Leaders of Tomorrow and the Excel Scholarship.
“Since its inception in 1991, the NBMBAA® Leaders of Tomorrow® (LOT) Program has mentored more than 8,000 talented youth aspiring to leadership roles in professional fields. The LOT® Program is a comprehensive programmatic approach for providing leadership development to high school students. The program is driven by mentoring across five developmental areas: Leadership, Financial Literacy, College Preparation, Career Preparation and Life Skills. The program offers participants resources, knowledge and opportunities in the way of mentoring relationships, scholarships, and internships.
“Each year we invest over $25,0000 so that 50 local students can participate at no cost in an 8-month program that covers financial literacy, entrepreneurship, leadership, time management, online presence, and business etiquette. Students also take part in a national case competition to build their research and presentation skills. Our LOT Chapter has a long history of accomplishments that include winning the National Case Competition as well as hosting a very successful Financial Literacy Summit for high schools from around the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
“In addition to LOT, we provide scholarships to 8-10 students annually to help them pay for college. In 2021, we awarded $16,000 in scholarships to graduating high school seniors, undergraduate, and graduate students.
““As we continue to invest in the lives of students, we need your help. This North Texas Giving Day, we invite you to support us as we equip African-American students to be the next generation of leaders.”
* Photo credit: Jared Fitzpatrick ** Photo provided by National Black MBA Association – Dallas/Fort Worth Chapter
Communities Foundation of Texas’ North Texas Giving Day helps build awareness and support for nonprofits like nothing else. In 2021, $66 million was raised through 103,000 donors benefiting over 3,300 local nonprofits, bringing the 13-year total to over $441 million for our community. NTx Giving Day is the largest community-wide giving event in the nation.
On Thursday, September 22, support the National Black MBA Association – DFW Chapter by linking here and spreading the word. #NTxGivingDay