LATINO Magazine recently presented an AHORA Student Day in Philadelphia, bringing together high school students with outstanding role models from corporate America, the Federal government, U.S. Armed Forces and other careers. Each AHORA Student Day consists of an interactive panel in which students ask questions of the speakers and learn about career opportunites in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

In Philadelphia, the AHORA Student Day was hosted by the National Society of Hispanic MBAs (NSHMBA) during their annual conference at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.. The audience of over 150 students from local high schools were welcomed by Carlos Passi, IBM, chair of the NSHMBA Foundation. The keynote speaker was  Captain Andres Delgado, Chief of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion at the U.S. Coast Guard.

Participants in the panel moderated by LATINO Publisher Alfredo Estrada included Cosette Gutierrez, Target; Tomas Leal, GSK; Cindy Cordoba-Koziol, GM; and Rosanna Duruthy, Cigna.  Many of the questions concerned the importance of STEM education, and the need for students to become proficient in these fields to fill the growing need for these positions. Indeed, as one panelist noted, nearly half of all new jobs in the next decade will be STEM-related. There simply aren’t enough STEM graduates to fill current demand, so it presents an opportunity for Latinos.

Participating schools included Olney Charter School; Edison High School; and Pan American Charter School. Students from Columbia North YMCA also attended. Many thanks to the teachers and principals of these schools for their help.

Many thanks to our hosts at NSHMBA, our partners at GM, Target, GSK, Cigna, the U.S. Coast Guard, and Comcast; all the panelists and speakers; and all our other friends in Philadelphia for making this AHORA Student Day a success.