NABA's founding board members (from left): Bernice Uwase, Kwadwo Owusu, Tari Nagberi, Elias Righi, Amani Becker-Waganda, Kevin Boeing and Mina Porte.
NABA Comes to Campus Minnesota State Mankato’s National Association of Black Accountants chapter did not let the pandemic slow down its inaugural year on campus. The National Association of Black Accountants (NABA) is a national nonprofit membership association “dedicated to bridging the opportunity gap for black professionals in the accounting, finance and related business professions,” according to the organization’s website. In the fall of 2020, seven students in the College of Business launched a NABA chapter on campus—only the second in the state of Minnesota. Despite a year filled with virtual classes and social distancing, NABA’s Minnesota State Mankato chapter has already made a name for itself as a powerful and active RSO. “NABA was a big deal because it allowed us to actually expand on diversity opportunities to get direct contact between firms in the region hiring students and members of NABA,” says Dr. Oksana Kim, chair of the Department of Accounting and Business Law. Kim assisted NABA in obtaining sponsorship funding and continues to make connections between regional businesses and NABA members.
22 / C OLLEGE OF BUSIN ES S I N R E V I E W
An Active First Year Kwado Owusu ’21 is the founding president of NABA on Minnesota State Mankato’s campus. He became a member of the Twin Cities’ chapter early in his college career and recognized its potential right away. He launched Mankato’s chapter in order to offer those same benefits to students closer to home. “I noticed that when an organization like NABA is active on the campus, freshmen and sophomores have an immediate connection to upper division students in business-related majors they can identify and connect with,” Owusu wrote in a letter to potential NABA sponsors. “More importantly, they can make the connection to others in their fields earlier in their academic career. I realized NABA can play a critical role on campus in attracting and retaining students to the business-related majors.” The NABA chapter has certainly lived up to that promise over the last year. The group has held a number of virtual meetings aimed at connecting members with recruiters and industry professionals. In October NABA members logged on with a
