Series presented by Indianapolis Public Schools
BUILDING YOUR
PERSONAL BRAND
Free 3-Day Virtual Series
Oct 7th / Oct 8th / Dec 9th
Future-forward
thinking NOW.
Are you a young adult interested in learning how to start your own business? Do you want to learn how to turn “your passion” into a career or purpose? Don’t miss our series of development opportunities covering topics such as, Building Your Personal Brand, Growing Your Network, Social Advocacy Through Story Telling, Making Your Money Work for You, Starting and Growing Your Own Business, and Becoming an Influencer.
Join us to learn and win prizes including laptops, iPad, T.V.’s, and SWAG! IBX is virtual and free to everyone. It all happens October 7th, 8th, and November 11th from 4:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m.
Register Here
Fill out the info below in order to access sessions and be eligible for giveaways.
Session Schedule
December 9th – Expand Each Session to Get Access Link
Click Each to Expand
About This Session (Click Here to Join)
A welcome message from our sponsors and information on the prizes and games session.
About This Session (Click Here to Join)
Session Description: This session will focus on choosing your path to higher education now! Ivy Tech Community College provides a path to receiving dual college credit while still in high school, transfer programs to 4-year institutions, and creating affordable pathways to high wage and high demand jobs. Come to this session to learn more about how you can take advantage of these programs and kick start your college path!
Doneisha Posey
Doneisha Posey currently serves as the Executive Director of Employee Diversity, Equity and Belonging at Ivy Tech Community College. She is the College’s Affirmative Action Officer and Equal Employment Opportunity Officer for over 7,000 employees. In her role, she is charged with implementing the diversity initiatives across all 18 campuses throughout the state for faculty and staff.Prior to her tenure at Ivy Tech, Ms. Posey worked in state government with the Indiana Civil Rights Commission where she served initially as the Administrative Law Judge and then as the Deputy Director and General Counsel. Her background includes litigation before state and federal administrative agencies, particularly the Executive Office of Immigration Review within the Department of Justice, and state and federal courts.
About This Session (Click Here to Join)
STEM and STEAM careers are some of the fastest-growing and highest paying and the disparity of access to these pathways for women and people of color is a pressing issue of social and economic justice. The goal of the Urban Technology Academy is to expose as many students as possible to STEM and STEAM career pathways early to help students prepare for careers.
This presentation will explore the career pathways, opportunities, and readiness of students for STEM and STEM Careers.
Daniel Pierson
Daniel Pierson serves as a manager at Eli Lilly and Company. He manages 17 project managers that provide support for Million Dollar Initiatives for Global Network Services, Hosting and Cloud Services, Enterprise DevOps and Tools, and Enterprise Information Platforms. These initiatives support the making of medicine that provides care and support for millions of people around the world.
Mr. Pierson has also held technical and executive roles positions in Pharmaceutical, Telecommunications, Consulting, Chemical, and Staffing Industries.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Illinois State University and currently holds six certifications in technology: Security Plus, ITIL Foundations, Information Security Fundamentals, Project Management Professional, Certified Scrum Master, and Six Sigma Black Belt.
His passion in life is to serve the community where he lives and thus provides volunteer support with the organizations: Board of Directors for Big Brother Big Sisters of Central Indiana, the Indianapolis Uplift Foundation, and the Indiana Math and Science Academy.
Mr. Person started the Urban Technology Academy, which is designed to teach technology to students of all ages to influence students to choose STEM careers.
He is the husband of a community organizer, Amina, and a father of 4 adult women who have completed their college journeys and are working in their chosen fields.
About This Session (Click Here to Join)
Pitch competitions are an important part of the entrepreneurial ecosystem. They give entrepreneurs a chance to be seen by the community and gain exposure to potential investors. Maybe more importantly, pitch competitions give entrepreneurs an opportunity to practice and improve their pitches.
You’ve worked hard on your business. Now it’s time to pitch. How do you tell the story of all of your hard work in the few minutes you get for your pitch?
Join Dr. Joe Albano to learn the structure of a powerful pitch. During the Power Pitches workshop you will learn:
- What is the goal of pitching?
- The elements that must be preset to get an investor’s attention
- What to leave out of your pitch
- Common pitching errors
Dr. Joe will share his experiences of working with hundreds of companies to build pitches that work!
Presenters
Emil Ekiyor
Emil Ekiyor is the Founder/CEO of InnoPower Indy Inc. a community development organization that works with communities and stakeholders in the USA and Sub-Sharan Africa to create capacity-building opportunities for underrepresented businesses and professionals in education, workforce development, and entrepreneurship. InnoPower believes Economic Inclusion invites the Most Vulnerable Populations (MVP) into a pre-existing competitiveness framework for which they were not sufficiently prepared. Inclusive Competitiveness cultivates, trains, and equips MVP talent to engage, compete, and contribute to the overall economic Competitiveness of the community.
As CEO of InnoPower Indy, Emil has successfully created an ecosystem of minority professionals and entrepreneurs from around the state of Indiana via the annual InnoPower Indy Minority Business Conference.
Born in Lagos, Nigeria, Emil left his family at the age of 15 to pursue educational opportunities in the US. Emil attended the University of Central Florida in Orlando where he was a two-time captain on the football team. After an outstanding college career, Emil went on to play six years in the National Football League with the Tampa Bay Bucs, Atlanta Falcons, and Oakland Raiders. After retiring from the National Football League (NFL) in 2005, Emil and his wife Andrea (Indianapolis native) and son Emil Jr. settled in Indianapolis.
Emil recently served as President of the Indianapolis Chapter of Indiana Black Expo, Vice president of the Indy chapter of the National Football League Former Players Association. Emil currently serves as Founder/President of Indy Youth Sports’ the largest Youth Football League in Marion County with over 3000 youth, and the Board of Directors for the Friends of Education a nonprofit corporation dedicated to improving K-12 education in Minnesota since 1999. The organization authorizes 12 charter schools serving more than 10,000 students. Friends of Education achieved the highest Exemplary rating of charter schools authorize performance from the Minnesota Department of Education and is the only authorized in the state to achieve the highest rating.
Emil holds a BS in Behavioral Science, a Kelley Business School Certification in Business Management and Marketing, a Babson College Certification in entrepreneurship, and +Acumen certifications in adaptive Leadership, Social Entrepreneurship, and Design Thinking.
Dr. Joe Albano
Dr. Joe Albano is the founding principal of Logika International, LLC where he works with entrepreneurs and business professionals to start, sustain, and scale their businesses and careers. Joe works with professionals at all levels to define the future of work – moving beyond the “employee mindset” to find meaningful and productive work in the post-job economy. He also coaches business professionals to manage their career decision-making assuring that high-performing professionals are always working at their highest and best purpose.
At Logika we believe that pitch competitions are an important part of the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Pitch competitions give entrepreneurs a chance to be seen by the community, practice and improve their pitches, and get exposure to potential investors.
We also know that organizing and running a pitch competition is hard. So, we want to offer a little help. Between organizing the event, recruiting entrepreneurs to pitch, and getting judges to show up, sometimes there’s just no time to create clear judging criteria.
Details – (Click Here to Join)
Let’s have some fun to close out each day of the event. Those who participated in the day’s sessions will be registered to win any number of prizes including TVs, iPads, laptops, apparel and more. Winners will be drawn at random from those who attended.
October 7th
Click Each to Expand – Each Session Contains an Acess Link
Alyssa Gaines – Click to Join Live
Gaines is a writer, activist, athlete, and student. She was born and raised in Indianapolis and went to Indianapolis Public Schools for her 2-8 education. Her freshman year at Park Tudor School, in addition to playing three sports, Alyssa started a Slam Poetry Club at her high school and was very involved in different affinity groups within her school. Alyssa was the high school finalist for the Indiana Repertory Theatre’s Young Playwrights in Progress competition, and through the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards she received a gold key at the state level in addition to a national gold medal; the Best in Grade Award, awarded to one writer and one artist nationally per graduating class; and an American Voices award, awarded to 5 writers nationally, and one writer per geographical region. During her sophomore year, Alyssa directed a production of her original one-act play, Fireworks, in addition to playing volleyball, playing lacrosse, and being heavily engaged with her school’s Black Student Union.
During both of her underclassman years, she acted in Park Tudor’s spring musical productions and was overall extremely involved with Park Tudor’s Fine Arts Department in the disciplines of photography and performance art. This year Alyssa is the Junior Co-President of the school’s Black Student Union and the President and Founder of the “Negrisma” club centered around the unique experiences of Black girls across the diaspora, particularly regarding the navigation of predominantly-white spaces. She is also moving through the school’s Global Scholars Program and completing a research project on the effects of generational trauma on Black girls and ways to address and heal this trauma. After serving as the 2019 Youth Poet Laureate of Indianapolis, Alyssa plans to continue to use her writing as a force for positive change in her community. In her writing, Alyssa addresses the nuances of different social justice issues such as racism and gun violence, as witnessed through her experiences growing up Black on the east side of Indianapolis, in addition to exploring Black girlhood and Black girl healing. Gaines has performed her work at the Library of Congress, has accepted awards for her writing in Carnegie Hall, and been published in numerous literary and arts publications at the local and national level. She is currently a student at Park Tudor School and hopes to study economics and political science, film, or music after she graduates.
About This Session
Who you know matters. During this workshop, participants will explore why networking is so important, learn how to grow their networks, and draft an elevator pitch. Participants will also hear first-hand from young professionals who have leveraged the skills of networking on their personal journeys and have the opportunity to put what they’ve learned into practice in small breakout groups.
Moderator: Dian Foreman, Owner of Fly Social, LLC.
Presenters
Aimée Eubanks Davis
Aimée Eubanks Davis is the founder and CEO of Bravenwhich works to ensure underrepresented college students develop the skills, confidence, experiences and networks to get strong first jobs after graduation. Aimée spent the majority of her career at Teach For America where she held various senior leadership roles, including leading the organization’s groundbreaking work around its human capital and diversity efforts. She is a 2019 Obama Foundation Fellow, Pahara-Aspen fellow, a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network, a Braddock Scholar, a Draper Richards Foundation Entrepreneur and a Camelback Ventures Fellow. A graduate of Mt. Holyoke College, Aimée resides in Chicago with her husband and three children
Alex Willis
Alexis Willis is a third-year transfer student at San Jose State University, where she is majoring in Computer Engineering and minoring in Math. Before transferring to San Jose State, Alexis attended Santa Barbara City College, where she was the Vice President of the National Society of Black Engineers chapter on campus and was a NASA NCAS Scholar. After graduating, Alexis would like to pursue a career as a software engineer for a mission-oriented organization that helps underrepresented communities.
Dyllan Brown-Bramble
Dyllan Brown-Bramble is a third-year J.D. Candidate at Georgetown University Law Center, where he is a Tech Law & Policy Scholar. Before attending Georgetown, he attended Rutgers University, where he majored in Psychology and minored in Legal Studies and Computer Science as a student in the Honors College. After graduating from law school, he plans to work with entrepreneurs, especially tech-focused ones, to help with the legal issues involved with building, protecting, and scaling their businesses.
Briannah Drew
Briannah Drew serves as Program Manager, Accelerator for Braven in the Bay Area, where she runs the operations and logistics for 190+ San Jose State University (SJSU) students per semester with ambitious goals surrounding content mastery, student professional development, and community building. She is an avid advocate for social justice, education for all, and providing pathways to break every glass ceiling atop of every underrepresented group.
Briannah, an alumna of SJSU (class of 2019), enrolled in Braven during Fall 2016. She is grateful for the community she became part of and the support she received to reach her goals while not compromising her true self and identity. Now, she feels fortunate to be able to work within an institution she values greatly and to do what she loves every day, which includes interacting with her fellow Spartans and sharing her knowledge or a listening ear with Fellows.
Briannah was selected as Braven’s first Live Your Legacy Award recipient. She was also awarded the Tommy Smith and John Carlos Community Engagement award in Spring 2018 after accomplishing SJSU United Students Against Sweatshops’ first campaign to get President Papazian to sign back onto the Workers Right Consortium. When she is not working towards a more just and equitable Bay Area, she is loving on her houseplants, sister, and grandmother.
About This Session
Click to Join Live
This workshop will focus on building your personal brand in a way that is authentic to who you are and where you want to go in your career based on the branding principles.
Moderator: Lashauna Triplett, School Director, Mackida Loveal & Trip Outreach Center
Presenter
Angel Franklin
Angel joined Cummins in January 2019 to lead the Compensation and Benefits team, including health and wellness, retirement, mobility, and broad-based compensation. Before joining Cummins, she spent 15 years devoted to employee success focusing on talent strategy, performance and succession management, organizational culture change, diversity and inclusion, and leadership development. She resides in Indianapolis with her husband, Reggie, and their children, Tre’ (11) and Austin (9).
About This Session
Click to Join Live
Do you have a business or have a business idea you want to develop further? This session will help you create your very own business plan. In this workshop, we will take a deep dive into what elements your business plan should have and how to research things like your competitors, material cost, and marketing. You will learn about the different types of business entities, licenses/permits, how to strategically market their services/product, the importance of networking and communication, social skills, how to manage finances (personal/business), the importance of access to capital and credit, and the creation of their individualized business plan and resume.
Moderator: Bunmi Akintomide, Indy Black Millennials
Presenter
Chrystal Hines
Chrystal Hines, a 38-year-old native of Indianapolis, is a proud wife, mother, and daughter. Hines is a member of The People’s Church under the leadership of Pastor Eli and Nakia Johnson. A graduate from the University of Indianapolis, she majored in Education with a strong concentration in Science and Social Studies. Chrystal has worked in both IPS and Charter Schools at the middle school level. While teaching, Chrystal noticed that she was being pulled more toward the social arena of the children’s lives thus developing The Inner Beauty Program, Inc. This unique program caters to young ladies ages 8-18. Armed with a passionate purpose of creating life-changing experiences to ultimately change our urban communities, Hines has been blessed to create a team of professional women in Indianapolis to work with the youth on a daily basis. She has also paired with her husband, Kareem Hines, to provide a brother program, New BOY (New Breed of Youth) to mirror The Inner Beauty Program but cater to young males in need of services.
Click to Join Live
Let’s have some fun to close out each day of the event. Those who participated in the day’s sessions will be registered to win any number of prizes including TVs, iPads, laptops, apparel, and more. Winners will be drawn at random from those who attended.
October 8th
Click Each to Expand – Each Session Contains an Acess Link
Christopher Box Click to Join Live
Christopher Box, 18, is a performing artist from Gary, Indiana. He is a junior in high school at West Side Leadership Academy. Christopher has been practicing the art of spoken word and rap since the age of 15, giving the opportunity to perform at his mother’s church, The Greater Life Chapel and Outreach Ministries of Gary, IN. He has always had an interest in rapping and began to pursue and develop that interest relocating to Indianapolis. During his musical journey, he has recorded 4 independent mixtape projects, performed for the Tea’s Cafe Youth Open Mic nights, the Cultural Arts Pavilion Art Speak’s Cafe Youth Open Mic nights during the Indiana Black Expo Summer Celebration 2018-2019. He has also participated in the IBE Summer Youth Leadership Program as a scholarship recipient. Christopher looks forward to continuing to make music but also has interests in attending Purdue University for Business and Management. He aspires to be an entrepreneur and business owner.
Short film (28min) and discussion with Bruce Franks Jr. Click to Join Live
Bruce Franks Jr. is a 34-year-old battle rapper, Ferguson activist, and state representative from St. Louis, Missouri. Known as Superman to his constituents, he is a political figure the likes of which you’ve never seen -full of contradictions and deep insights, who has overcome the unspeakable loss to become one of the most exciting and unapologetic young leaders in the country. This short verité documentary follows Bruce at a critical juncture in his life, when he is forced to deal with the mental trauma he been carrying for the nearly 30 years since his 9-year-old brother was shot and killed in front of him, in order to find peace and truly fulfill his destiny as a leader for his community.
Bruce Franks Jr., a Ferguson activist and battle rapper who was elected to the overwhelmingly white and Republican Missouri House of Representatives, must overcome both personal trauma and political obstacles to pass a critical bill for his community.
Moderator: Ta’Aliyah Pinner, Indiana Black Expo, Inc. Tobacco Prevention & Cessation Youth Coordinator
About This Session
Stories have existed long before recorded history. People have always told stories to connect, inspire, and leave a legacy. From Hip Hop to Poetry to Folklore, storytelling is the oldest and most powerful tool to affect change in society. The art of storytelling for advocacy helps bring out the importance of the issues and how it relates to people. During this interactive workshop, participants will be given the key elements of storytelling and activism. Participants will walk away with tools on:
- How to effectively craft personal and/or branding stories
- How to create a sense of empathy from the targeted audience
- How to build backstories with Data
- How to include a call to action
Moderator: Brandon Randall, Program Director, VOICES Corp.
Presenter
Kia Wright Click to Join Live
Kia Wright was born in Michigan and moved to Indy at the age of 8. A graduate of Lawrence Central High School went on to attend Indiana State University on a full Track and Field Scholarship. While earning her master’s degree in criminology, Kia obtained employment with the Vigo County Juvenile Probation Department in 2004, where she developed a passion for community organizing and program development. Kia moved back to Indy in 2008 and began working with Marion County Juvenile Probation. In 2010, she walked away from Juvenile Probation and founded VOICES Corporation. VOICES was created to center youth voices and experiences and to provide safe spaces for youth to express themselves and begin to heal from trauma through the arts. Kia is a current member of the Central Indiana Racial Equity Fund steering committee, the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative steering committee, and the Commission on Improving the Status of Children in Indiana Family Planning Committee. Kia, along with her husband Trey Wright, run VOICES together and have 4 children.
About This Session
Do you have a business or have a business idea you want to develop further? This session will help you create your very own business plan. In this workshop, we will take a deep dive into what elements your business plan should have and how to research things like your competitors, material cost, and marketing. You will learn about the different types of business entities, licenses/permits, how to strategically market their services/product, the importance of networking and communication, social skills, how to manage finances (personal/business), the importance of access to capital and credit, and the creation of their individualized business plan and resume.
Moderator: Bunmi Akintomide, Indy Black Millennials
Presenter
Chrystal Hines
Chrystal Hines, a 38-year-old native of Indianapolis, is a proud wife, mother, and daughter. Hines is a member of The People’s Church under the leadership of Pastor Eli and Nakia Johnson. A graduate from the University of Indianapolis, she majored in Education with a strong concentration in Science and Social Studies. Chrystal has worked in both IPS and Charter Schools at the middle school level. While teaching, Chrystal noticed that she was being pulled more toward the social arena of the children’s lives thus developing The Inner Beauty Program, Inc. This unique program caters to young ladies ages 8-18. Armed with a passionate purpose of creating life-changing experiences to ultimately change our urban communities, Hines has been blessed to create a team of professional women in Indianapolis to work with the youth on a daily basis. She has also paired with her husband, Kareem Hines, to provide a brother program, New BOY (New Breed of Youth) to mirror The Inner Beauty Program but cater to young males in need of services.
Details
Let’s have some fun to close out each day of the event. Those who participated in the day’s sessions will be registered to win any number of prizes including TVs, iPads, laptops, apparel and more. Winners will be drawn at random from those who attended.
Sponsors
In Partnership With
