The Black Professional MBA Student Organization (BPMBA) is one of many clubs for Darden’s Executive and Part-Time MBA students. Chartered in 2017, the club is dedicated to recruiting Black business students and its membership’s professional and academic advancement. In addition to its professional and academic goals, Black Professional MBAs host social outings throughout the year to foster relationships within the groups’ membership and the Darden community at large. Explore clubs at Darden.
The Black Professional MBA Student Organization
Mission Statement:
We support the advancement of prospective and current Black students in their endeavors to become intentional and transformational leaders through academic and professional initiatives. We bring diversity in thought to forge equity and inclusion within the Darden community and beyond.
With over 30 active members across all cohorts of the Executive and Part-Time MBA programs, BPMBA connects with the Full-Time MBA students in Charlottesville, as well as multiple external groups in the DMV.
BPMBA is looking forward to their upcoming events focused on fostering community. This is the first year with two cohorts of Executive MBA and three cohorts of Par-Time MBA students. They want to make sure there are meaningful connections across all five groups.
For Steven Daley, he is focused on broadening the pipelines for Black professionals and expanding representation at Darden. During his MBA decision process, early outreach and connections with current students made a big impact.
This year, the National Black MBA Conference was held in Washington D.C. The conference connects students across schools to companies around the country. It’s a great way to learn more about available opportunities and hear from executives about their experiences in their careers.
Having a network of people with similar experiences you can lean on has been big for me. I’ve connected with people across different industries and even students in the full-time program who are approaching Darden from a different perspective. It’s helped broaden my network and connect me with professionals at other business schools. It’s been a great aspect of my Darden experience and helped round out what I can bring to the table.
Meet the Current Co-Presidents
Steven Daley, Part-time MBA Class of 2025
Originally from outside of Boston, Daley has a background in Economics and Environmental Policy which lead him to Raytheon and the aerospace industry. He is excited to earn his MBA from Darden.
“The spring is the final push for me. It’s an exciting time to look at the 33 months that have passed and all the memories and experiences we’ve been able to have. It’s really been a great experience for me,” he said.
Sean Webber, Executive MBA Class of 2025
Webber grew up in Maryland, close to the D.C. area and went to Elon University to study Computer Science and Economics. After graduation he went to JP Morgan Chase. As he grew in his career, he wanted to shift to the project management space and began looking to earn his MBA.
An elective that stands out to him is Digital Project Management. While he had limited experience within his role, the course allowed him to apply new frameworks and customer prospectives into his day-to-day work.
Cedric Thomas, Part-Time MBA Class of 2026
After growing up in northern Virginia, Thomas earned his bachelors in History from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. He initially wanted to go into research and education but quickly realized it wasn’t for him, so he shifted to the defense space. His experience in cyber security lead him to his role at Elastic, managing data and consulting for the U.S. intelligence community.
Hear more of their conversation on the ExecMBA Podcast below!
