Accounting Leader Challenge Okiwe Speaks at SU

SALISBURY, MD---One of the country’s youngest accounting leaders speaks at Salisbury University Thursday, November 13.

Challenge M. Okiwe, director of the Center for Advancement of Minority Accountants (CAMA) at the National Association of Black Accountants’ (NABA) national office, speaks on “The Business Case in Support of Diversity” from 3:30-5 p.m. in Holloway Hall Auditorium. The lecture focuses on diversity among young people and why it makes business sense to embrace diversity.

A native of Boston, Okiwe became a member of NABA while attending Bentley College, serving as the college chapter’s president for a year and a half. During his tenure, the organization increased its membership by more than 200 percent, becoming the first chapter with more than 100 members in NABA’s 33-year history.

Okiwe’s leadership earned him NABA’s first Student Achievement Honor during the Boston Metropolitan chapter’s annual awards ceremony and the first recipient of the National Student of the Year, Outstanding Student Chapter and Distinguished Collegian awards presented during NABA’s 31st annual national convention.

At Bentley, Okiwe earned the Most Involved Student, Outstanding Contribution to the Bentley Community, Diversity Affairs Board and True Learner awards. He co-founded Young Savants Inc., a non-profit organization incorporating athletics and academics. He was also a marketing intern and urban college relations assistant at Sony Music Entertainment Inc. He earned a B.S. in information design and corporate communication from Bentley in 2002.

SU’s student chapter of the Financial Management Association sponsors Okiwe’s lecture. The event is free and the public is cordially invited.

For more information call 410-543-6030 or visit the SU Web site at www.salisbury.edu.