Business

Career Fair targets professionals of color

MINNESOTA SPOKESMAN-RECORDER — The POC Career Fair returns this spring, another day-long hiring event for the professionals of color (POC) in Minnesota. The fair at the Minneapolis Convention Center on April 30 will feature some 30 employers aiming to connect with under-employed talent.

Published

7 years ago

April 21, 2019

Oakland Post

By Solomon Gustavo

The POC Career Fair returns this spring, another day-long hiring event for the professionals of color (POC) in Minnesota. The fair at the Minneapolis Convention Center on April 30 will feature some 30 employers aiming to connect with under-employed talent.

“It’s a career fair, not a job fair,” Sharon Smith-Akinsanya, event founder and CEO of the Rae Mackenzie Group, made clear in a recent interview with the MSR. She sees solving the problem of educated people of color unable to find professional work as her niche.

Minnesota’s POC community is already in bad shape when it comes to jobs, so being hit with a workforce shortage spells crisis. There are talented, educated, well-trained people of color already being ignored who might get pushed further back.

“We have a crisis in the state of Minnesota,” said Smith-Akinsanya. She said the unemployment rate currently among people of color (POC), especially among Blacks and Latinx, is two to four times higher than Whites’. This bodes badly, she noted, with 2020 state workforce outlooks forecasting a roughly 100,000 employee shortage.

It’s a problem she got the state to recognize, first meeting with then-Gov. Mark Dayton about the issue before launching the career fair in 2016.

The current state administration and Twin Cities leaders also agree: Gov. Tim Walz, Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter all will be in attendance.

Smith-Akinsanya aims to bridge the gap with the career fairs. She doesn’t believe employers don’t want people of color. It’s just that “they can’t find them,” she said.

Instead, people of color with doctorate degrees are working low-level jobs. Smith-Akinsanya said those who have gone to school for four, six or eight years have earned “the dignity of a good job.” They should be fully enjoying doing the things that make Minnesota a great place to live for the general population — and Minnesota should enjoy the higher tax revenues such employment would provide.

On top of the tax base, “a more diverse workforce means a more productive workforce,” said Smith-Akinsanya. National companies like Target and Wells Fargo, she said, will be among the employers on hand, and they need employees who reflect the nation and their customers.

Also among the employers who will have people there face-to-face to speak with prospective employees about all types of upper-level jobs, is the state of Minnesota, US Bank, Anderson Windows, Sleep Number, Metro Transit, Best Buy, Ameriprise Financial, Boston Scientific, Bremer Bank and more.

Smith-Akinsanya said she knows people are getting hired because sponsors and hiring managers from the above companies continue to come back.

Those companies will have plenty of prime candidates to choose from; Smith-Akinsanya anticipates 750 people to be in attendance.
“The energy in the career fair is unlike any other,” she said, adding the event doubles as a great POC networking opportunity for those who already have a job.

Trained and talented people of color can find excited employers who “value their degree,” she added. Those POC workers, in turn, find a committed and inclusive workplace to join.

Participants are also offered a free headshot — a must, said Smith-Akinsanya, for those who want a good-looking LinkedIn page. You can also register to vote.

There is no cost and the event is open to the public. There’s even a free Metro Transit ride, said Smith Akinsanya, for those who download the pass online. “We made it easy for you to make your elevator pitch and get on the bus stress- free. Just come on down.”

The POC Career Fair — Spring 2019 will take place April 30 at the Minneapolis Convention Center, located at 1301 2nd Ave. S. in downtown Minneapolis.

For more info, visit poccareerfair.com.

This article originally appeared in the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder.

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Oakland Post: Week of February 25 – March 3, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of – February 25 – March 3, 2026

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1 week ago

March 1, 2026

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Chase Oakland Community Center Hosts Alley-Oop Accelerator Building Community and Opportunity for Bay Area Entrepreneurs

Over the past three years, the Alley-Oop Accelerator has helped more than 20 Bay Area businesses grow, connect, and gain meaningful exposure. The program combines hands-on training, mentorship, and community-building to help participants navigate the legal, financial, and marketing challenges of small business ownership.

Published

2 weeks ago

February 21, 2026

Oakland Post

Bay Area entrepreneurs attend the Alley-Oop Accelerator, a small business incubation program at Chase Oakland Community Center. Photo by Carla Thomas.

By Carla Thomas

The Golden State Warriors and Chase bank hosted the third annual Alley-Oop Accelerator this month, an empowering eight-week program designed to help Bay Area entrepreneurs bring their visions for business to life.

The initiative kicked off on Feb. 12 at Chase’s Oakland Community Center on Broadway Street, welcoming 15 small business owners who joined a growing network of local innovators working to strengthen the region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.

At its core, the accelerator is designed to create an ecosystem of collaboration, where local entrepreneurs can learn from one another while accessing the resources of a global financial institution.

“This is our third year in a row working with the Golden State Warriors on the Alley-Oop Accelerator,” said Jaime Garcia, executive director of Chase’s Coaching for Impact team for the West Division. “We’ve already had 20-plus businesses graduate from the program, and we have 15 enrolled this year. The biggest thing about the program is really the community that’s built amongst the business owners — plus the exposure they’re able to get through Chase and the Golden State Warriors.”

According to Garcia, several graduates have gone on to receive vendor contracts with the Warriors and have gained broader recognition through collaborations with JPMorgan Chase.

“A lot of what Chase is trying to do,” Garcia added, “is bring businesses together because what they’ve asked for is an ecosystem, a network where they can connect, grow, and thrive organically.”

This year’s Alley-Oop Accelerator reflects that vision through its comprehensive curriculum and emphasis on practical learning. Participants explore the full spectrum of business essentials including financial management, marketing strategy, and legal compliance, while also preparing for real-world experiences such as pop-up market events.

Each entrepreneur benefits from one-on-one mentoring sessions through Chase’s Coaching for Impact program, which provides complimentary, personalized business consulting.

Garcia described the impact this hands-on approach has had on local small business owners. He recalled one candlemaker, who, after participating in the program, was invited to provide candles as gifts at Chase events.

“We were able to help give that business exposure,” he explained. “But then our team also worked with them on how to access capital to buy inventory and manage operations once those orders started coming in. It’s about preparation. When a hiccup happens, are you ready to handle it?”

The Coaching for Impact initiative, which launched in 2020 in just four cities, has since expanded to 46 nationwide.

“Every business is different,” Garcia said. “That’s why personal coaching matters so much. It’s life-changing.”

Participants in the 2026 program will each receive a $2,500 stipend, funding that Garcia said can make an outsized difference. “It’s amazing what some people can do with just $2,500,” he noted. “It sounds small, but it goes a long way when you have a plan for how to use it.”

For Chase and the Warriors, the Alley-Oop Accelerator represents more than an educational initiative, it’s a pathway to empowerment and economic inclusion. The program continues to foster lasting relationships among the entrepreneurs who, as Garcia put it, “build each other up” through shared growth and opportunity.

“Starting a business is never easy, but with the right support, it becomes possible, and even exhilarating,” said Oscar Lopez, the senior business consultant for Chase in Oakland.