Welcome to our Website!!!

The National Black MBA Association, Inc. Western New York Chapter was established in 1984. Our meetings are held at different locations on the second Saturday of the month. We currently have over 100 members which is a substantial increase over last year’s membership totals. Our chapter is spread out over a massive area which serves Buffalo, Corning, Rochester, Syracuse and all points in between. We manage this geographic challenge in several ways. We rotate our meetings between the cities. We’ve instituted a Director of Operations position in each region to act as a contact in the geography for new members and to oversee regional operations. We send out a monthly email blast called the MBA Digest to members and potential members. We leverage our media and print contacts to get the word out about upcoming events and success stories in our chapter.

Our chapter has three main focus areas – community service, professional development and business partnerships. We conduct annual strategic planning sessions to ensure we’re managing our resources and staying on target to meet our goals. We’ve established community affiliations with the following organizations: The Black Capital Network, The African American Cultural Arts Coalition, The Olmsted Conservancy, and Americorp (in Buffalo) and the Rochester Fatherhood Resource Initiative, the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement, the Greater Rochester Professional Coalition & True Networking Thursdays (all in Rochester). We collaborate with other organizations in our community that share our vision for increasing the monetary and intellectual wealth of our community.

Within the last year we’ve held or supported major conferences on entrepreneurship and franchise ownership. We’ve developed linkages with corporate partners including IBM, M&T Bank, Tops Markets, Kaleida Health Care and Starbucks.

Last year we participated in two major Western NY community events: the Economic Empowerment Summit and the Buffalo Book Fair. On the collegiate side, we’ve established relationships with the University of Rochester’s Simon School of Business and Syracuse University’s Graduate School of Business. We are creating opportunities for collegiate chapters throughout Western New York.

In 2008 we have the distinct pleasure of showcasing Western New York in the first Regional Conference for NBMBAA chapters located on or near the great lakes. In addition we plan to increase the number of social networking events in collaboration with our community partners.

Our ongoing objectives include increasing membership retention, doing succession planning and continuing to offer programs to meet the needs of the Western New York community.

Cordially,

Lavon Stephens