National Black Staff Network Home Page

NBSN 2012 National Conference in Atlanta
Draws Participants from Across the Country

The NBSN National Conference was a huge success despite modest attendance. A significant number of first time participants were present. The theme of the conference was, “Turbulent Times, Unions under Siege, and Still We Rise!” The conference was held in Atlanta, Georgia on February 24-26, 2012.

Conference Highlights

New member orientation including multi-media presentation on the history of NBSN
Three phenomenal workshops

1.     21^st Century Tools 4 Today’s Jobs

2.     How to Influence and Make Friends Through Relationship Building

3.     Building and Protecting Wealth for Tomorrow’s Enjoyment
Awards banquet - opening remarks by Chris Turner, Executive Director of the Georgia Association of Educators
Jegna Award presentation - Lennell Terrell and Tamera Smiley-Hamilton
Inspirational message - Shirley Greenwood, Lay-Minister and NBSN member from Florida

Special thanks to all of the presenters and people who made this conference come together. A super thanks to the 2012 National Conference Planning Committee:

Mary A. Henson (MI), Chair
Antoinette Lee (TN), Board President
Gloria Constant (NEA)
Terrence Dozier (VA)
Ruth Ivory (FL)
Cheryl McLeod (MD)
Tyrone Melton (NC)
Joyce Phelps (MI)
Kenya Spearman (CA)

A significant discussion was held by the body regarding the future of NBSN and how to move the organization forward. A special effort will be made during the 2012 year to increase membership and participation in NBSN. A challenge was made to each conference participant to sign-up early for the 2013 conference and bring at least one additional person with them. Five (5) scholarships for registration will be offered to first time attendees with five (5) years or less employment with the National Education Association (NEA) or one of its affiliates.

This year’s scholarship awardees are:

§ Denise Carmack, Labor Relations Consultant for the Ohio Education Association
Charlyn Shepherd, UniServ Director for the Kansas National Education Association
Kia Hagens, UniServ Director for the Michigan Education Association

A special thanks goes out to Tamara Smiley-Hamilton, who provided the funding for these awards.

The National Planning Committee recommended that the 2013 conference be held in Greenville, South Carolina and the 2014 conference be held in Dallas, Texas. However, at the final business meeting, the body requested that efforts be made to have the conference go to Dallas in 2013 and possibly, Greenville, SC in 2014. Dates for that conference will be February 22–24, 2013.

Start planning now to attend the 2013 Conference! More information will be forthcoming.

March 1, 2012

Greetings My Brothers and Sisters,

If you were not there, you missed a wonderful conference in Atlanta! It was a blessing seeing folks I hadn’t seen in years. The workshops were very impressive and the plenary session reviewing the political atmosphere was so motivating, I had to Facebook my friends to send an “involvement” text while I was sitting in the session.

Mark your calendar now for Feb. 22-24, 2013 and our next annual conference. More information about the location of next year’s conference will be out soon. Your new Conference Committee chair is Lagratta Mitchell. The committee members are: Charlyn Sheppard (KS), Cheryl McCloud (MD), Kenya Spearman (CA), Gloria Constant (DC), VP Joyce Phelps (MI), Mary Henson as a consultant member.

Thanks to Dr. Tamara Hamilton, we had three “newbies” members attend the conference using the “Pass the Torch” scholarships. Three conference members stepped up on Sunday morning, to carry on the “Pass the Torch” scholarships, so there will be five (5), scholarships available for registrations to next year’s conference. There could be more, so stay tuned for more information!

VERY IMPORTANT – We are in the process of doing our own NBSN list-serv database, and will no longer be using the outdated one that was used by Malcolm Staples. So, when you receive this message, would you simply hit reply and list your name and state in the message. If you are retiring soon, or would rather us use a home or another email address other than the one where you received this message, please reply from THAT address. Our secretary, Dawn Basurto, will use your reply to capture the correct e-mail address and create the NBSN database. If you are from a state like CA or MI which are not on NEA’s list-serv, please print this off and give it to the members in your state so that they can return a message to Dawn, and be counted. Also, if you have new staff in your state, they may not be receiving this message because the list has not be updated in a couple of years, so please share with them. If you know retired members, like Allwyn Critchlow, Ward Roundtree, Dr. John Leake, Deborah Ivery or Patty Brown, (to name a few), who aren’t receiving this, please also send them a copy.

Over the next couple of months, while we are getting the data base together, make sure to visit the website, www.nbsn.org for news, updates, announcements and pictures from the conference. Any other letters I send out will be posted on the website while we are in transition. For the states who have state contacts, information will be sent there as well.

Take Care!!

Antoinette

Antoinette Lee, NBSN President