Six San Diego Job Corps students, accompanied by Career Transition Instructor Shayna Brockington, attended the Youth Summit hosted by the California Black Chamber of Commerce on August 9, 2012 at the Double Tree Hotel in San Diego.  The Summit was part of the 17th Annual Ron Brown Commerce Summit & Scholarship Awards Gala.  Over the course of 3 days, the California Black Chamber of Commerce hosts small businesses, government agencies, and industry partners in an effort to build relationships, and contracting success at the annual commerce summit. 

The late Ronald Harmon “Ron” Brown was the United States Secretary of Commerce, serving during the first term of President Bill Clinton.  He was the first African American to hold this position and was killed in a 1996 plane crash in Croatia.

“We’re grateful to the California Black Chamber of Commerce for inviting Job Corps students to attend the Youth Summit,” advised San Diego Job Corps Career Transition Services Manager Joe Guiffre.  “This year’s conference theme was Your High Speed Ticket to Success and the information presented was beneficial to our students who are about to join the workforce.  Several highly successful business people, including Magic Johnson spoke of their personal pathways to success and the challenges they overcame as entrepreneurs.”

“All the speakers provided excellent, practical information to assist us in pursuing whatever goals we have for the future,” advised 23 year old Job Corps student Anthony Hernandez, who took part in the Youth Summit.  “My goal is to be an entrepreneur, the CEO of my own company.”  Hernandez recently completed Job Corps’ Office Administration Career Technical Training program and is applying for advanced training at the Shriver Job Corps Center in Devens, Massachusetts.  “I plan on pursuing a degree in Business Administration at Harvard or another Ivy League school after completing my Job Corps training.”

Hernandez also took part in an eight team competition at the Summit.  “We had six people on our team, consisting of college and high school students,” he stated.  “Each team had 30 minutes to come up with a 2 minute “sales pitch” for the company’s product and then make a presentation to the audience.  Hernandez’ team won, and each student received an Asus Transformer Pad Infinity, which Hernandez stated is similar to an Ipad.

“It was pretty exciting to win the Asus Pad, and I’m glad I had the opportunity to take part in the event,” Hernandez continued.  “Attending Job Corps has been a great opportunity and has opened so many doors for me.  It shows me that if I am willing to learn and work hard, I can be successful.”