My Experience at the NABA Student Conference

Last week, I attended the NABA Eastern Region Student Conference. NABA is the National Association of Black Accountants, an organization founded in 1969 to help increase the number of minorities in the accounting profession. NABA is composed of four regions and Norfolk happens to be in the Eastern Region.

Each year, there is a conference of students held in each region of NABA. This year, the Eastern Region conference was held in Norfolk at the new Hilton Main hotel. Students from throughout the region travelled here and participated in the conference. They attended educational sessions, mock interviews, and visited the dozens of companies that set up booths at the career fair. Some students were granted interviews with some of the corporate sponsors in attendance.

Over 600 students from as far away as upstate New York met with 200 professional members and recruiters from Thursday through Saturday. The professionals gave presentations throughout the conference on topics designed to help prepare the students for their careers and to help them manage the student chapters of NABA. There was a Scholarship Breakfast, hosted by Deloitte & Touch, on Saturday in which many students were recognized for their scholastic achievements.

Saturday also saw a small group of local high school students attend sessions designed to introduce them to the accounting profession.

This was my first time attending a NABA event since I was a student. I helped out as a volunteer prior to the event and also attended the career as a corporate attendee. I really enjoyed the opportunity to participate in an event that was so effective in helping students achieve their professional goals. I'll definitely do this again. I look forward to getting more involved in planning for next year's conference, if the opportunity presents itself. These young students were full of energy and excitement and were a real inspiration.

James | 10/10/2017

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My Experience at the NABA Student Conference