Earl Pace and David Wimberly founded BDPA in November 1975 as a local association. Within three years, the founders grew BDPA into a national organization with chapters in Philadelphia, Washington DC and Cleveland. Today, there are 46 chapters throughout the United States. One part of the BDPA legacy is our program for college students and college campuses. This is a program that enriches the opportunities for our students in a variety of post-secondary education institutions with a focus on low-and moderate-income communities. 31% of BDPA’s membership consists of college students. BDPA understands that its educational life cycle moves from the classroom to the boardroom. A major element of the educational life cycle resides with college students. Annual membership dues for college students are only $25 … a significant savings from the annual membership dues that adult professionals invest in BDPA membership. BDPA established the college student program to teach advanced computer science and community responsibility to students from historically disadvantaged communities. These are major components of our college student program that impact on the educational future of K-12 students: 1. College Scholarships 2. IT Showcase 3. Internships and Entry-Level Jobs in IT Industry 4. Mobile Application Showcase Most of our 46 local BDPA chapters run programs that provide science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) curriculum and experiences for young people of color in community colleges, 4-year colleges and vocational schools. These training programs include a monthly program meeting hosted by each local chapter that provides remarkable information from industry professionals as well as unique networking opportunities that are not replicated anywhere else in the community. BDPA seeks to have more students in college studying STEM-related disciplines. BDPA created the BDPA Education and Technology Foundation (BETF) in 1992 for the purpose of giving college scholarships to deserving high school students. Over 250 college scholarships valued at over $550,000 have been handed out by BDPA and BETF. In addition, BDPA created two programs that feature college students - IT Showcase (2003) and Mobile Application Showcase (2014). BDPA began the process to bridge the ‘digital divide’ before the term was widely known. BDPA recognizes that to close the gap of computer and technology literacy, minority youth must participate and compete in today’s digital economy. Otherwise, our youth run the risk of being obsolete in America’s workforce. The BDPA college student program is intellectually challenging and builds self-esteem through the mastery of applied computer science. We create a foundation for academic and career success.

1. BDPA: College Students
Earl Pace and David Wimberly founded BDPA in November 1975 as a local association. Within three
years, the founders grew BDPA into a national organization with chapters in Philadelphia, Washington
DC and Cleveland. Today, there are 46 chapters throughout the United States. One part of the BDPA
legacy is our program for college students and college campuses. This is a program that enriches the
opportunities for our students in a variety of post-secondary education institutions with a focus on low-
and moderate-income communities.
31% of BDPA’s membership consists of college students. BDPA understands that its educational life
cycle moves from the classroom to the boardroom. A major element of the educational life cycle
resides with college students. Annual membership dues for college students are only $25 … a
significant savings from the annual membership dues that adult professionals invest in BDPA
membership.
BDPA established the college student program to teach advanced computer science and community
responsibility to students from historically disadvantaged communities. These are major components of
our college student program that impact on the educational future of K-12 students:
1. College Scholarships
2. IT Showcase
3. Internships and Entry-Level Jobs in IT Industry
4. Mobile Application Showcase
Most of our 46 local BDPA chapters run programs that provide science, technology, engineering and
math (STEM) curriculum and experiences for young people of color in community colleges, 4-year
colleges and vocational schools. These training programs include a monthly program meeting hosted by
each local chapter that provides remarkable information from industry professionals as well as unique
networking opportunities that are not replicated anywhere else in the community.
BDPA seeks to have more students in college studying STEM-related disciplines. BDPA created the BDPA
Education and Technology Foundation (BETF) in 1992 for the purpose of giving college scholarships to
deserving high school students. Over 250 college scholarships valued at over $545,000 have been
handed out by BDPA and BETF. In addition, BDPA created two programs that feature college students -
IT Showcase (2003) and Mobile Application Showcase (2014). BDPA began the process to bridge the
‘digital divide’ before the term was widely known. BDPA recognizes that to close the gap of computer
and technology literacy, minority youth must participate and compete in today’s digital economy.
Otherwise, our youth run the risk of being obsolete in America’s workforce.
The BDPA college student program is intellectually challenging and builds self-esteem through the
mastery of applied computer science. We create a foundation for academic and career success. BDPA
trains our youth to use technology as a vehicle to learn skills and concepts beyond the technology itself.

2. In essence it bridges the gap between long-term educational approach of the classroom and short-term
skills experience of the workplace.
It is worth noting that all of these BDPA programs have an added advantage in our efforts to cultivate
exceptional talent – we go beyond just providing programming and STEM-based skills. BDPA also trains
these young people in project management, time management, public speaking, team-building and
presentation skills. In summary, they learn the fundamentals of being an IT professional and personal
leadership in the workplace.
College Scholarships
The BDPA strategy is to bring college students into the professional chapters on the local level as
opposed to creating ‘college chapters’. One strategy in place is the aggressive delivery of college
scholarships to deserving BDPA high school students. There are a number of college scholarship
programs in place:
• BlueCross BlueShield Scholarship for BDPA Students - These scholarships are administered by
BETF. Some BCBS Scholarships are reserved for BDPA Chicago and BDPA Dallas chapters. The
rest are available nationally. This scholarship began in 2014.
• Dr. Jesse Bemley Scholarship – These scholarships are administered by BETF. They are awarded
to high-performing students in the annual BDPA High School Computer Competition (HSCC)
championships. Bemley scholars can be found in scores of colleges around the nation.
• Eli Lilly Scholarships for BDPA Students – These scholarships are administered by BETF. They
are awarded to students around the nation who show a desire to make a difference in the IT
industry over the course of their college and professional careers. Eli Lilly & Company began
funding these scholarships in 2008.
• Human Capital Logistics Scholarships for BDPA Students – These scholarships are administered
by BETF. This scholarship awards outstanding BDPA Greater Columbia student members, with
an interest in information technology, who make significant contributions to society. This
scholarship began in 2014.
• Johnson & Johnson Scholarships for BDPA Students - These scholarships are administered by
BDPA. They are provided to winners of the annual BDPA IT Showcase as well as all-around
excellent HSCC students.
• McDonalds Scholarships for BDPA Students – These scholarships are administered by BETF.
The scholarship began in 2018.
• Monsanto Scholarships for BDPA Students – These scholarships are administered by BETF.
Some Monsanto Scholarships are reserved for BDPA St. Louis chapter. The rest are available
nationally. This scholarship began in 2013.
• Oracle Scholarships for BDPA Students – These scholarships are administered by BDPA. They
are awarded to deserving students selected by local chapters. Over $150,000 has been
awarded to Oracle scholars over the past three years.

3. • State Farm Scholarships – These scholarships are administered by BDPA. BDPA is pleased to
have substantial State Farm funding to pilot its 1st Annual BDPA Mobility Application
Showcase in Indianapolis. This scholarship began in 2014.
• Wanda Everett Scholarship – These scholarships are administered by BETF. Daugherty Business
Solutions sponsors these scholarships and they focus on students from our BDPA St. Louis
chapter. This scholarship began in 2016.
• Zycron Scholarships for BDPA Students – These scholarships are administered by BETF. These
scholarships are funded by Darrell Freeman, president/CEO of Zycron. These scholarships are
offered on a national basis. This scholarship began in 2016.
BDPA IT Showcase
The BDPA IT Showcase is an advanced technology forum where High School
and College students from across the nation demonstrate their research
and theories in the fields of information technology. Papers will be
published in the IT Showcase Proceedings. The purpose of this program is
to encourage more students of color to advance their education to the
Ph.D. level in science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM)
curriculum.
The projects focus on various “advanced thought” topics including;
database technology, web design technology, wired and wireless
communication technology, IT security, data mining, soft computing, high
performance computing, cloud computing, virtual technologies,
nanotechnology, robotics, operating systems, IT certification, social media
and much more.
The Showcase presentations consist of demonstrations where applicable. Three awards (First, Second
and Third Prize) are made in each of two categories: High School and College (undergraduate).
Over the past few years there were 46 undergraduate papers and 74 high school papers presented from
students in 14 states, 33 high schools, 12 universities and three community colleges. Some of the
presentations over the past few years are entitled: Artificial Intelligence Applications in the Military, Can
Cloud Computing Eradicate Hard Drive Storage Systems, Fourth Generation Mobile Communications
Networks, Nanotechnology in High Performance Computing, Positron Emission Tomography, Robotics
and Bioinformatics in Healthcare Industry.
Internships and Entry-Level Jobs in IT Industry
A brand new BDPA Job Board – www.ITDiversityCareers.com – was introduced in 2012. This job board
is the centralized online repository of hundreds of jobs and college internships that are available for
BDPA college students to advance their careers in the IT industry. College students are able to post
“Attendees will be
amazed at the
thoroughness of the
research and the
advanced topics
presented at the IT
Showcase. The IT
Showcase treats the
audience to challenging
“outside-the-box”
thought.”

4. their resumes, free of charge, to this BDPA Job Board as they search for internships, co-op assignments
and full-time job opportunities.
BDPA college students have access to over 50 of America’s largest corporations at our annual Career Fair
that is a component of the annual BDPA Technology Conference.
BDPA Mobile Application Showcase
BDPA Mobile Application Showcase was piloted in 2014. BDPA seeks to encourage college students of
color to develop their talent for developing mobile applications. The applications being showcased will
represent multiple application categories (i.e. business, personal productivity, and gaming). Each mobile
application will have stringent requirements to be met in advance to the showcase. The platforms used
for this development are on the Android and iOS operating systems.
The projects are assessed by a panel of judges at the National Conference with college scholarships
awarded by State Farm to the top performing college and high school students. One of the goals of this
initiative is to provide an outlet for HSCC alumni to continue to compete under the BDPA umbrella.