Minority MBA Association

The purpose of the Minority MBA Association (MMBAA) is to add value to the Penn State community through continual diversity awareness and recruiting events. The MMBAA strives to create a sense of community by providing a strong support base for professional development and enhancing the academic experience of MBA students.

The Minority MBA Association hosted their annual How to Work a Career Fair workshop in Sept 2008. Karen Hill 2003 Smeal Alum, was the featured speaker, and she shared her secrets for success. Karen, a 2003 Smeal graduate, revealed her perspectives for winning at a professional career fair and for interviewing like a pro. Karen shared what she called her game day winning strategy for maximum performance.  The session was not only a great preparation tool for the National Black MBA Conference in Orlando, Florida, it was a powerful resource that will be leveraged by many students for years to come.

The 2008-2009 school year started off with a bowling at the Northland Bowling Alley. The students from the class of 2009 and the class of 2010 had a chance to mix get together and mix and mingle. A fun time was had by all who attended.
 
Members traveled to Washington D.C. from September 12 through September 16, 2007, for the National Black MBA Conference and Case Competition. This was an opportunity to network and talk with companies that do not generally come to Penn State campus regarding internship and full-time opportunities. Three students, Tai Parks, Carl Asher, and Reggie Amoa competed with schools around the world in a business case competition. During the first weekend in October, several members attended the National Society of Hispanic MBAs in Houston, Texas. This also gave the members an opportunity to connect with companies that normally do not come to campus.

Congratulations are in order for the Diversity Case Competition team. Second year MBA students Tai Parks, Reginald Amoa, and Carl Asher recently took home the 1st place prize, $5000, at the 4th Annual Howard University Minority Case Competition. The team faced stiff competition from students of  some of the top ranked MBA programs in the country. This year’s case focused on the National Veterinary Stockpile Program. They were tasked with analyzing and developing strategies to tackle the major issues presented within the case, such as the development of a cost-benefit analysis, at least 3 strategic supply-chain strategies, and performance assessment measurement tools.

On Monday, November 3, the Minority MBA Association (MMBAA) in conjunction with the Women’s MBA Association (WMBA) held a community dialogue entitled Who is Qualified to Lead? How Race & Gender Influence Our Attributions About Political Leaders. The discussion was moderated by Dr. Barbara Gray, Professor of Organizational Behavior and Director of the Center for Research in Conflict and Negotiation. Students from both the first and second-year classes engaged in a lively discussion centered on the presidential campaign and how the prominence of players like Barack Obama, Sarah Palin, Hillary Clinton, Condolezza Rice, and Colin Powell have shaped their perceptions about the leadership capabilities of  women and ethnic minorities.

Clear your calendars. The weekend of April 4th , the Office of Diversity Enhancement will be commemorating 25yrs of Diversity within the Smeal MBA Program. This is a monumental achievement. This year the program plans on celebrating in style, hosting the main reception and banquet at the Penn Stater. Diversity Appreciation Weekend activities will begin with the mixer on Friday evening. The mixer is the event that allows prospective students to meet students and alumni in an informal environment. There will be an alumni panel on Saturday afternoon at the Nittany Lion Inn. This event serves to educate prospective students aboutMBA life at the Smeal College of Business. The highlight event of the weekend is the Diversity Appreciation Banquet on Saturday night. This year, Vern Taylor will be the keynote speaker during our event. In summary, this weekend serves as our opportunity to show prospective minority students why Smeal is such a great place to get an M.B.A. degree.

Officer Bios

Hector Tantoh, President

Hector Tantoh was born and raised in Cameroon, West Africa.  In 2004, he earned his Bachelor of Science in Financial Planning from The Ohio State University.
Prior to coming to Smeal, Hector worked at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio as an IT Systems Specialist for three years.
Hector chose Smeal not only because of its academic strengths but also because of the close knit community and the personal attention from faculty and staff.
While at Smeal, Hector hopes to concentrate in Marketing and Finance, and explore Entrepreneurship.  Hector has a lot of extracurricular interests including soccer, basketball and football and is also a member of the Penn State Entrepreneurial Network, as well as Penn State Net Impact.  After Smeal, he hopes to work in a Marketing role in an emerging market, and use his love for helping people and technology to give back to people in underdeveloped economies.
hnt107@psu.edu

Graham Gaya, VP of Alumni & Corporate Relations

Graham joined Smeal after working with Rockwell Automation as a Senior Applications Engineer in the Philadelphia area.  His areas of interest are in supply chain management and manufacturing management.  Rumored to be related to President Obama, Graham was born and raised in Kenya, and received his undergraduate degree in electrical engineering from Virginia Tech.
gug120@psu.edu

Carlos Ponce-Ramirez, VP of Finance

Carlos A. Ponce-Ramirez earned his Bachelor in Science in Civil Engineering from Oklahoma State University in 2006. Upon completing his degree he began work with Professional Service Industries in the Boston area performing Project Management, and later on transferring to their Geotechnical Engineering department in Oklahoma City. In January of 2008 he joined Soluciones de Vanguardia, an engineering consulting firm based out of Mexico City with offices in San Antonio TX as well, where he was a Quality & Project Control Supervisor until May of 2008. During the summer of 2009 Carlos will be completing a Commercial Internship with MARS Snackfood's in Hackettstown, NJ.
Carlos is joining the Smeal MBA program as a Bunton Waller Fellow with the desire of completing his concentrations in Supply Chain Management as well as Entrepreneurship, and is looking at eventually starting his own engineering consulting firm with the skills he will gain during his two years at Penn State University. Carlos is involved in various organizations such as MBAA, along with the MMBAA. In his spare time, Carlos enjoys snowboarding, basketball, cooking, traveling, and music.
cap291@psu.edu

Maria Reuter, VP of Marketing & Student Affairs

Maria Victoria Reuter earned her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Colgate University in 2004.  Upon graduation she moved to New York City where she served as a paralegal for the law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP.  She completed her first year at Seton Hall School of Law but quickly realized that
she did not want to continue down this career path.  Upon leaving, she accepted the position of Account Executive in charge of all marketing and sales efforts
for a boutique consulting company, where she discovered her love for marketing.
Maria is thrilled to be at Smeal and honored to be a Bunton Waller Fellow. She plans to complete concentrations in Marketing and Strategic Leadership, and hopes to become involved with several philanthropic efforts during her time in State College.
mvr116@psu.edu

Diana Cooper, VP of Communications

Prior to Smeal, Diana received a business administration degree from Hampton University in Hampton, Virginia, and has worked with companies such as Prudential Financial and Ernst & Young in the Financial and Accounting areas. Diana chose Smeal because of the rigorous and supportive environment, their world class faculty, and smaller class sizes. Her concentration will be in corporate finance and strategic leadership. In addition to the MBAA, Diana is also involved with the Women's MBA and the MBA Association, and is a GA in the office of the Assistant Dean of Diversity Enhancement. dianajcooper@psu.edu