African Professionals Speaker Series

The African Professionals Speaker Series is designed to provide networking opportunities, professional development trainings, and support for both established and young African professionals. We hold four (4) speaker series annually on professional development and integration issues, with networking sessions and industry-specific group discussions to explore solutions to common professional challenges. Event speakers will share their experiences and thoughts on the importance of civic engagement, how to be an effective African professional, and where to find opportunities to get involved in local communities.

Past Speaker Series Events

9th Event – Access to the fast-growing industries in Massachusetts – Alysia Ordway (Employers Engagement Director, Boston PIC) and Richard Curtis (V.P. Global Diversity and Inclusion, State Street)
8th Event – African Professionals and Civic Engagement – Leverett Wing (Director, Commonwealth Seminar)
7th Event – Achieving the Dream of Homeownership – Undersecretary Chrystal Kornegay (DHCD)
6th Event – Building and Maintaining Professional Relationships Across Cultures – Prof. Daniel Darko (Gordon College), Ellen McCurley (The Pendulum Project) and Kirk Vitello (Dale Carnegie Training Institute)
5th Event – Managing and Building Wealth Beyond Your Salary – Ousmane Diagne (Timbuktu Capital Management, LLC)
4th Event – Tapping Into Your Talents to Unleash Your Potential – Dani Monroe ( Director of Diversity, Partners Healthcare)
3rd Event – Mastering Workplace Culture and Core Competency Skills – Kwadwo Poku (MIT) and Ahmed Mohammed (Dartmouth College)
2nd Event – Advancing Equity and Opportunities: Engaging Systems Together – Cindy Parker (International Institute of Social Change)
1st Event – From Immigrant to Professional: Pursuing an Uncommon Career Path in The Commonwealth – Dr. Joyce Sackey (Dean of Diversity and Global Medicine, Tufts School of Medicine)

Statistics

Number of participants in the Speaker Series: Close to 500 professionals have attended one of these Speaker Series event.

Countries of Origin: The participants of the speaker series are originally from the following home countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, D.R. Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Haiti, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Togo, Sierra Leone, Uganda, and Zimbabwe.

Years in the US: 57% of the attendees have been in the U.S. for 12 years or more, 14% have been in the U.S. for 8 – 11 years, 10% have been in the U.S. for 4 – 7 years and 19% have been in the U.S. for 1-3 years.

Integration Challenges: 58% of the attendees express challenges integrating or adapting to the broader U.S. society. Challenges include:

Lack of understanding of the social norms of the society
Lack of social support to address day-to-day challenges (no family and friends)
Language barriers
Difficulty finding the correct information

Educational Attainment: 48% of attendees hold a graduate degree, 46% hold at least a bachelor’s degree and 6% hold PhDs. 79% have attained their highest level of education in the US.

Please check the event calendar for information on the next Speaker Series event. For more information, email Emmanuel Owusu, Executive Director, at info@africanbn.org.

Statistics

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