By Layla Jones

On May 17 in a dimly lit Old City lounge, some of the city’s finest Black professional organizations linked up for a quarterly Cocktails and Conversations networking event. The Philadelphia chapter of the National Black MBA Association (NBMBAA) was one of the event’s hosts.

“It reallyis an opportunity to collaborate not just from a networking perspective but programming as well,” explainedSharanaWorsley, NBMBAA president.

The NBMBAAwas founded in 1970 at the University of Chicago. The Philadelphia chapter, launched in 1876, has a regional reach and includes the city’s surrounding suburbs, South Jersey and Wilmington, DE, boasting more than 400 members ranging in age from their 20s to 50s.Focuses mostly on professional development, the organizationis for persons looking to enhance their professional lives, including undergraduate and MBA students, entrepreneurs and established career professionals.

Worsley, a 38-year-old financial services professional, is a graduate of Hampton University. As president since January 2017, she has made it her mission to connect NBMBAA to the countless other thriving Black professional organizations.

“We’ve been able to increase the number of people that come out [to our events] because they know that it’s not going to be the same people each time,” Worsley says.

Because of the group’s quality membership and professional development work, Worsley says NBMBAA is able to link its members to top corporations like Comcast in Philadelphia and Campbell’s Soup Company in Camden.

“If you are a minority in the Philadelphia area looking for an opportunity to connect with employers or looking to pivot careers and go into a different industry,” Worsley offers, “this is where a lot of companies come to recruit.”

More info: nbmbaa.org/nbmbaa-philadelphia-chapter,[email protected]

SIDEBAR:

NBMBAA Fast Facts

• NBMBAA hosted its 37^th2017 National Convention at the Philadelphia Convention Center September 2017. The theme was “Power of Performance: Leadership at the Next Level.”
• The 2018 Conference will be held in Detroit, Michigan in September 2018.
• In 2015, the Philadelphia NBMBAA was awarded Chapter of the Year.