African American MBA Association preps for annual conference

An inside look at the hip-hop industry, a pitch competition and an analysis of diversity in tech are all in store at a conference this weekend.

Hosted by the African American MBA Association, the Whitney M. Young Jr. Memorial Conference will be held this Saturday at the Center City Ritz-Carlton. The conference celebrates humanitarian and civil rights leader Whitney M. Young Jr., who fought for full participation of African Americans in social and economic sectors. This year’s theme, The New Black: Creating Impact in Business and Society, aims to highlight the scope of social, political and economic issues facing the African-American community.

“We decided that we wanted to base our content and panels by featuring a range of African-American executives and entrepreneurs to talk about their perspectives in the career and current state of industries such as technology and urban development,” said Marketing Chair and Wharton MBA candidate Monica Myers.

One of the main attractions of the conference is the main keynote speaker, Russell Simmons. Simmons will discuss his transition from working in the hip-hop industry as co-founder of Def Jam Recordings into work with the Carlyle Group. Four additional panels will address socioeconomic issues that impact African-American and lower-income communities.

“One of our panels — Diversity in Tech — will discuss the state of the union of the tech industry in places like Silicon Valley, what things we can do to get more diversity and minorities in that industry,” Myers said.

The 41st conference welcomes the return of a venture competition. This weekend, current graduate and recent graduate students launching a business will compete to pitch their business plans. The winning students will gain automatic entry as a finalist in Black Enterprise Magazine’s Elevator Pitch Competition as well as a one-hour consultation with a Google Venture.

AAMBAA is also launching new events this year, including a high school business plan competition. Modeled after the venture competition, high school students from Philadelphia will compete to pitch their business plan idea to win a $3,000 grant. Furthermore, AAMBAA has invited representatives from local businesses to talk about their experiences on a panel.

“In an effort to expand the borders of the Wharton community, we wanted to reach out and connect with many minority-owned and local businesses in Philadelphia,” Co-Chair and second-year Wharton MBA student Brian Rikuda said. “We launched a procurement event that caters towards local businesses as well as representatives from University of Pennsylvania and from the city of Philadelphia that will sit on the procurement panel and provide information and insight into these businesses, and how to do business with them.”

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