CAREER DAY AND YOUTH SUMMIT

Thousands of students, from local high schools, colleges, youth organizations, churches and their parents, attend the Career Day & Youth Summit annually.

The Cleveland Branch NAACP and Ford Motor Company's African Ancestry Network (FAAN) conceived the Career Day concept. The idea is to create a forum whereby youth will have an opportunity to learn some of the necessary steps to assist them in preparing for their future. These steps include financial management, getting out of debt and staying out, the importance of your credit record and not falling into the credit card trap, professional presentation, the do's and don'ts of interviewing, and the benefits of being an entrepreneur, to name a few.

Students are given the opportunity to speak one-on-one with historically black colleges and universities from around the country. They are also exposed to the various components of the auto industry ranging from manufacturing and engineering to finance and human resources.

Each year an essay/presentation contest is held, whereby a total of 12 students win scholarships totaling $20,000. In addition to their scholarship, the top four winners and a guest attended the NAACP Fight for Freedom Fund Dinner. Numerous other prizes are given away during Career Day such as: desktop computers, DVD players and Border's Books gift certificates.

Each year an exemplary individual who demonstrates a positive image to the African-American community is selected as the keynote speaker. Past speakers include Tavis Smiley, Laila Ali and Robert Porcher.