Purdue focuses on youth at 2013 Indiana Black Expo

Jesse Moore Download Photo

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Helping prepare youth to be global leaders will be Purdue University's focus at the 43rd annual Summer Celebration of the Indiana Black Expo.

The Expo started July 11 and concludes Sunday (July 21) in Indianapolis. Purdue is sponsoring the Youth Leadership Summit, which is themed "Growing Global Leaders," from Friday (July 19) through Sunday. It will be at the Hyatt Regency hotel, 1 S. Capitol Ave., in downtown Indianapolis. The event encourages youth, ages 11-18, to focus on their academic, personal and community service goals and to develop leadership skills.

"The youth leadership summit will provide students with skill sets necessary to develop effective leadership in a global context," said G. Christine Taylor, vice provost for diversity and chief diversity officer at Purdue. "It fits nicely with Purdue's strategic plan of launching tomorrow's leaders."

Taylor said she hopes more students will participate in this year's summit.

"We're anticipating more than 350 students this year," she said. "The planning committee has engaged in strategic outreach, networking and advertising with the expected outcome of increasing participation of Indiana students. The students will have an opportunity to look closer at academic opportunities presented through Purdue University. All of our academic colleges will present interactive opportunities with the student participants. In addition to the colleges, there will be representatives from the Center for Career Opportunities as well as the Purdue University Police Department."

Workshop topics for the rest of the youth summit include preparing for college, developing strong leadership skills and effective event planning.

Purdue also will sponsor an exhibition where visitors can learn more about the university through several hands-on activities.

"The booth not only gives us a strong presence at Expo, it also exposes students, parents and everybody else to what is happening at Purdue," Taylor said.

Also at the Summer Celebration, Jesse Moore, director of supplier diversity development at Purdue, was recognized as the Mayor's Minority and Women Business Enterprise Advocate of the Year. Moore was honored on Monday (July 15) during the Indiana Black Expo Mayor's Breakfast at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis.

Moore is the first and only director of Purdue's Office of Supplier Diversity. The office was created in 2005 to help minority- and women-owned businesses work with the university. Greater Lafayette Commerce honored the office with the Diversity Roundtable 2010 Workforce Diversity Best Practices Award. Moore helped start Relationship to Partnerships Sessions at Purdue. The annual program brings diverse firms to campus to meet with Purdue buyers.

In addition to his work at Purdue, Moore volunteers with the Hanna Community Center and the Greater Lafayette Indiana Black Expo.

The Expo's Summer Celebration is the largest ethnic and cultural event of its kind in the nation and attracts more than 350,000 attendees annually. It provides networking, educational, career and cultural opportunities for participants. Through events such as the celebration, the Expo generates resources to support its key initiatives, including education. Since 1984, the Expo has awarded more than $2 million in scholarships to more than 2,000 Indiana students. 

Writer: Greg McClure, 765-496-9711, gmcclure@purdue.edu