Professional Development Opportunities for Students
Here you will find a list of professional development opportunities for students that include annual conferences, career development events and networking opportunities. Please note that the month headers are there to give an idea of when the event has been held in the past, but the actual dates can vary from year to year.
February
Department of State's Annual HBCU Foreign Policy Conference
In recognition of Black History Month, the U.S. Department of State hosts the Annual Historically Black Colleges and Universities Foreign Policy Conference. The conference includes expert panels of HBCU alumni who currently work in foreign affairs, subject matter experts from regional and functional bureaus, interactive student program workshops from across the agency, and after-hours sessions with career experts and specialists.
LFW Global Leadership Summit: A Virtual Career Conference for Black Male College Students
The LFW Global Leadership Summit is a virtual intercollegiate career conference focused on helping the next generation of Black Male leaders thrive globally, with a focus on Diversity and Inclusion in Global Leadership and Career Development & Readiness on a Global Scale.
March
Black Internationalism Career Corner Talks
The Center for African Studies at Howard University presents Black Internationalism Career Corner Talks. The talks bring in alumni from Howard and HBCUs, as well as members of the African Diaspora to share their experiences working in international public, private, and nonprofit industries and information on programs that interest our students, alumni, and HBCU community.
April
African Studies Association of Africa (ASAA) Biennial Conference
The African Studies Association of Africa (ASAA) was established in 2013 during the climax of the 50th anniversary celebrations of the Institute of African Studies at the University of Ghana, Legon, to promote Africa’s own specific contributions to the advancement of knowledge about the peoples and cultures of Africa and the Diaspora. The ASAA is currently the only multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary professional association on the continent dedicated to the study of Africa from an Africanist perspective, what Kwame Nkrumah, the first president of Ghana, referred to as studying our societies and experiences in an African-centred way.
May
Entrepreneurship in Africa Conference
The Howard University Center for Global Business Studies, School of Business, hosts a conference to explore strategies for developing entrepreneurship models in African countries. The conference is held in collaboration with the Center for African Studies at Howard University, and the Prof. Akpan H. Ekpo Centre for Public Policy at the University of Uyo, Nigeria.
November
African Studies Association (ASA) Annual Meeting
The ASA Annual Meeting is the largest gathering of Africanist scholars in the world and is the flagship event of the association. With an attendance of over 2,000 scholars and professionals, the conference offers the following: more than 300 panels and roundtables, plenary events featuring keynote speakers, an awards ceremony and dance party, institutional and organizational receptions and meetings, an international exhibit hall, and screenings of award-winning movies from Africa, and/or by African producers.