The world’s largest gathering of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) graduate business school students is taking place now through October 8th in Dallas as Reaching Out MBA (ROMBA) hosts its 2016 LGBT MBA & Business Graduate Conference.
The three-day conference, which this year centers around the theme of “Authentic Disruption,” aims to be much more than simply a career fair for LGBT MBA students. Indeed, with a jam-packed schedule of keynote addresses, community initiatives, company visits and more, the event seeks to promotes broader visibility and transparency of the LGBT business community, create a forum for networking and foster partnerships with leading companies across geographies and industries.
Each of the three days will be highlighted by ROMBA’s Community Outreach Initiative (COI), the Reaching Out Event Steering Committee and friendly competitions.
For the Community Outreach Initiative, teams of MBA students will partner with consultants and nonprofit representatives to create a set of strategic plans for local nonprofit groups. Utilizing an original business case, each group must work together to assess the risks and potential in its plan, then present the final plan to the entire group.
The Reaching Out Event Steering Committee crafts the content of each ROMBA conference, so participants in this event will also be looking ahead to next year’s conference, which will be the organization’s 20th, as well as to the Women in Business Conference and Club Leadership Summit.
Multiple other competitions will take place during the conference, including a Case Competition focusing on LGBTQ issues, an Entrepreneurship Pitch Competition and a Mergers & Acquisitions Competition. Each of these competitions will test the analytical and practical savvy of participants, which can earn them prizes as well as national recognition for their achievements.
More than 90 companies partnered with ROMBA for the conference, with Boston Consulting Group and Target coming on board as “Diamond” sponsors. Platinum sponsors include Apple, 3M, Wells Fargo and Bank of America/Merrill Lynch.
For a complete schedule of events, click here.
