When the name H. Beecher Hicks is mentioned in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, the famed former pastor and theologian of the storied Metropolitan Baptist Church often comes to mind. But his son, Hicks III, accepted a different calling than his father, leading a flock of Black business leaders as the president of the National Black MBA Association.
“This is my first conference as the president of this organization,” Hicks III told The Informer. “It is good that we are holding the conference a few blocks away from where my father used to pastor his church, on R Street NW.”
Hicks led hundreds of members and others at the organization’s 46th Annual Conference & Exposition that took place mainly at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Northwest from Sept. 17-20.
The conference consisted of workshops, an HBCU Pavilion, pitch competitions, receptions, parties, booths of corporations, businesses and graduate business schools in the Exhibition Hall as well as meal events featuring noted business leaders such as director and part NFL owner Will Packer and Jamie Dimon, president and CEO of JPMorgan Chase.
The conference included a political panel on Sept. 17 at the Howard Theatre in Northwest featuring academic and journalist Marc Lamont Hill, MSNBC host Symone Sanders-Townsend and noted journalist Ed Gordon as the moderator.
On Sept. 18, former Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams delivered an electrifying message encouraging the business leaders to vote in the upcoming presidential election.
Happenings Around the Conference
On Sept. 19, 30 people listened to speakers at a workshop sponsored by Northwestern Mutual, an insurance company, talk about the benefit of owning life insurance as protection for events that take place in life as well as a part of building generational wealth.
“Life insurance is not just for when you die,” said Rodney W. Griffin II, a financial adviser with the company based in Bowie, Maryland. “You can use life insurance in various ways such as paying for your kids’ college education.”
Griffin advised the attendees to hire a financial adviser in the same manner that top athletes have coaches.
“An adviser can help you get where you need to be,” he said.
One floor down from where the Northwestern Mutual workshop was held was the Exhibition Hall where dozens of companies and business schools were housed in booths. Ifeoluwa Adeboge, a 20-year-old student at Iowa State University working on an MBA degree, was waiting patiently in line at the American Airlines booth for an on-the-spot interview.
“This is a good opportunity for me to network,” Adeboge said. “I understand that they are really interested in hiring people and I hope they are interested in me.”
Across the Exhibition Hall sat David Harrison, a recruiter for the Fisher School of Business at Ohio State University. Harrison, 61, said he came to the convention “to support our graduates and undergraduate students.”
“I am here to sell undergraduate students and some graduate students the benefits of having an MBA from Ohio State,” he said. “We have a variety of programs such as an Executive MBA and we are open to veteran friendly.”
Worldwide Technology Company based in St. Louis, was one of the few minority-owned companies with a booth.
“We are the largest minority company in the country, and we are looking for diverse people to work for us,” said recruiter Prentice Ivy Jr., 34. “Some people don’t know who we are, and we are here to educate them about us.”
On Sept. 20, during a three-course luncheon, Dimon engaged in a fireside chat with journalist Soledad O’Brien. The JPMorgan Chase talked about his journey in business and leadership and offered advice to attendees.
[In response to a question on the secret to great leadership, Dimon mentioned business icons and businesses that he respects. He mentioned Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart and Home Depot as great examples of business leadership.
“I read about Abe Lincoln and about Nelson Mandela,” Dimon. “I read and talked to people who worked to make things better.”