The National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) is an organization of nearly 16,000 members dedicated to redressing the underrepresentation of blacks in their field. Broad corporate and government agency support makes possible the programs and activities NSBE utilizes to advance its mission and move toward its main 10-year strategic goal, which is to lead the U.S. to increase its number of African-American engineering bachelor’s degree recipients to 10,000 annually, by 2025.
At NSBE’s 43rd Annual Convention in Kansas City, this past March 29–April 2nd, the Society recognized its most outstanding individual and organizational supporters with two awards. The 2017 Chairman’s Award honored 15 organizations that made a positive impact on black communities by contributing more than $100,000 to NSBE during the 2015–16 fiscal year. The Gene Washington Champion of Champions Award for 2017 recognized nine individual representatives of NSBE’s Board of Corporate Affiliates (BCA) — the Society’s top-level supporters — who went above and beyond the call of duty within their organizations on NSBE’s behalf. Washington, a longtime executive at 3M, now retired, played a prominent role in founding the BCA.
“I was delighted to have the opportunity to meet with our honorees and their representatives in person to present these awards, which are small tokens of NSBE’s gratitude for their generosity,” said NSBE National Chair Matthew C. Nelson. “Their financial contributions, time and guidance are vital to the work that we do.”
A list of the award winners is below. Attendance at the Annual Convention, which took place at the Kansas City Convention Center and nearby venues, exceeded 10,000 aspiring and practicing engineers; educators; members of the Greater Kansas City community and representatives of more than 200 academic institutions, government agencies, corporations and nonprofit organizations.
“The good deeds of our Chairman’s Award and Champion of Champions Award recipients are proof positive that diversity and inclusion are alive and well in America,” said Karl W. Reid, Ed.D., NSBE executive director. “It is uplifting to know that our government and industry partners know the critical importance of our work to communities of color and the nation.”
