American Honda Foundation Awards $25,000 toBDPA Education and Technology Foundation

COLLEGE PARK MD (August 19, 2010) – American Honda Foundation awarded a $25,000 grant to the BDPA Education and Technology Foundation (BETF), a nonprofit organization led by racially diverse CEOs and executive level management who promote educational programs for students of color in the information technology industry.

The grant funds will be used for our Student Information Technology Education & Scholarship (SITES) program. It will assist in supporting the administrative operation of the National BDPA efforts to support its 45 chapters in preparing and bringing students to the National High School Computer Competition (HSCC) held at the national BDPA Technology Conference each year. A portion of the funding will go to BDPA Southern Minnesota chapter to support the exceptional work they are doing with the youth in Minnesota.

"The American Honda Foundations' Board of Directors has decided to partner with the BETF in its efforts to make a difference in the lives of our youth,” said AHF senior program officer Donna Hammond-Cotton. "In fact, the SITES program ranked number one out of the top 15 finalists! Not to mention that there were over 500 other proposals that we had to review for consideration this quarter."

BDPA served over 800 young people in the 2010 SITES program. The program culminated last month with the 2010 national BDPA HSCC held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Five high schoolers from Rochester, Minnesota won the national championships with stiff competition by teams from Washington DC, Chicago, Detroit and St. Louis. The SITES program is poised for growth in all 45 chapters due to its ongoing success in raising students' performance in school.

"We're excited to work with American Honda Foundation to expand our SITES program, said BETF executive director Wayne Hicks. "We strongly believe that BDPA can advance the careers of these students from the classroom to the boardroom.”

The SITES program effectively uses technology to stimulate and sustain the interest of young people in science and technology. BDPA seeks an increased interest from parents and students alike on basic science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) knowledge and integration of science, technology and math in their lives. BDPA is building a strong relationship with public school systems around the nation toentice high school students to participate in our program.

About BETF -- Founded in 1992, BETF is a 501(c)(3) foundation with a mission to locate the funding necessary to support educational and technology programs for BDPA and others across the country. BETF executive director Wayne Hicks lives in greater Cincinnati area.

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