Minority Involvement
Minority MBA Association
The purpose of the Minority MBA Association (MMBAA) is to add value to the Penn State community through continual diversity awareness and recruiting events. The MMBAA strives to create a sense of community by providing a strong support base for professional development and enhancing the academic experience of MBA students.
View the Minority MBA Association page for more details regarding minority MBA involvement.
NBMBAA
NBMBAA Career Fair
The NBMBAA Career Fair provides this unique opportunity annually for MBA students to build relationships with potential organizations to target within their job search, share their resumes, explore job opportunities, and informally interview with human resources and corporate recruiters.
On September 22-25, 2009, over 40 Penn State Smeal MBA students traveled to New Orleans, LA to attend the 2009 National Black MBA Association Conference and Career Fair (NBMBAA). This event is an excellent opportunity to network with representatives from large companies, connect with Smeal alumni, and interview for internships or post-MBA careers. Over 90% of the 2009 and 2010 minority MBA class received either full-time or internship offers at the conference.
Case Competition
Each year, a team of students represents the Smeal College of Business in the NBMBAA Case Competition. The 2009 National Black MBA Case Competition team was comprised of second-year students, Natasha Bansgopaul, Graham Gaya, and Hector Tantoh. The team presented a well-formulated business resolution strategy which was highly recognized by fellow peers and faculty members for the team’s hard work and insight. The competition gives our students the opportunity to recommend solutions to actual business problems before an executive panel and be judged competitively against students from other nationally ranked business schools. The team had two weeks from the start of the semester to compile a strategy that most effectively addresses the issues. This year the competition was hosted by Chrysler LLC in New Orleans, LA, from September 24-25.
NSHMBA
The National Society of Hispanic MBAs (NSHMBA) hosts an annual conference where attendees can immense themselves in various outlets ranging from exploring workshops to networking with professionals to landing their dream job.
KeyBank Foundation Minority MBA Case Competition
On Friday, February 26th, 2010, 15 teams registered for The Ohio State University and Key Bank Minority MBA Student Case Competition. One school was missing: Penn State.
After a day of intense snowing from Thursday night into Friday morning, the case competition team, consisting of Natasha Bansgopaul, Graham Gaya, Oscar Lang, and Hector Tantoh, decided to brave the weather and make the perilous journey to the OSU Campus.
The team arrived at the competition hotel after 3:00AM. Following an intense practice session and a few hours of sleep, the team awoke refreshed and ready to present to the esteemed judges and audience members.
By the end of the day, it was revealed that our Penn State Smeal MBA Case Team made their way to the final round and won the award for fourth place. This marks the first instance of a Smeal MBA team making it to the OSU/Key Bank Case Competition finals.
Our team was constantly praised on their poise and professionalism during the whole case experience, their superior presentation slide deck, and their vast knowledge and creativity relating to their case recommendations in the presentation. Congratulations Natasha, Graham, Oscar, and Hector for a wonderful job!
