Aiming for Greater Excellence!
New Orleans, Louisiana • July 30 – August 4, 2013
Benro Ogunyipe, NBDA President
As president of the National Black Deaf Advocates (NBDA), it is my pleasure to issue a Call to the Conference. The conference, which will mark NBDA’s 26th national conference, will take place at the Sheraton New Orleans Hotel on July 30 – August 4, 2013 in New Orleans, Louisiana, just a short walking distance from the French Quarter. NBDA is partnering with the New Orleans Black Deaf Advocates (NOBDA), a local BDA chapter, to plan the first ever national conference hosted in New Orleans. The conference is chaired by Tim Albert.
The 2013 conference theme is: “Aiming for Greater Excellence!” with four key supporting themes:
- Unity: Aim to Get Together;
- Role Models: Aim to Emulate;
- Leadership: Aim to Guide and Support; and
- Education: Aim to Increase Knowledge and Awareness.
NBDA holds biennial national conferences during odd numbered years. Conference-goers who are likely to attend include high school and college students, sign language interpreters and ASL students, children of deaf adults, administrators and professionals from education, VR, mental health, advocacy, and other fields, as well as parents and siblings of deaf children, senior citizens, and many others, all in the interest of taking advantage of opportunities for “promoting the leadership development, economic and educational opportunities, social equality, and safeguarding the general health and welfare of Black deaf and hard of hearing people.” National programs that operate during the conference include Youth Empowerment Summit, Collegiate Black Deaf Student Leadership Institute, the Senior Citizens Program, and the Miss Black Deaf America Pageant.
This exciting conference will include the following: opening reception and welcome ceremony, plenary (keynote) sessions, panel discussions, and workshops, exhibits, entertainment events, Steamboat Natchez, Miss Black Deaf America pageant competition, general membership meeting, election of 2013-2015 NBDA Officers, and closes with the conference banquet.
More information about the conference including registration, hotel reservations, conference schedule, workshops, opportunities for exhibiting, advertising, or becoming a sponsor can be found at: www.nbda.org/neworleans.
We hope you will join us for this historical conference!
Comments are closed