President’s Address

Hello!

Welcome to the University of Missouri’s (Mizzou) chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE). My name is Mariam Morafa and I am honored to serve as Mizzou NSBE’s 2024-2025 Chapter President.

I am thrilled to work with key players such as our chapter executive board, Region V NSBE, Mizzou’s College of Engineering, and many more this year in increasing our efforts to follow NSBE’s mission and national directive of graduating 10,000 black engineers annually by 2025.

To reach this goal, we need to raise awareness of who we are and what we stand for. We are a leading DEI Professional Organization on our campus with 70+ members and one of the largest NSBE Chapters in the Midwest. As a chapter, we prioritize the community, professional, and personal development of our members and the surrounding Columbia area.

To excel academically we host programs such as the Guaranteed 4.0, various tutoring sessions, study halls, GPA checkups, and more. To help our members succeed professionally, we often partner with our College of Engineering to hold resume reviews, elevator pitches, and mock interview workshops and bring in companies for real-world experience with internships, Co-Ops, and entry-level opportunities.

To ensure we are positively impacting the community, we do community clean-ups, volunteer at the food bank and the Boys and Girls Club, and host our annual Walk for Education.

Furthermore, we sponsor our students to attend the NSBE Fall Regional Conference and National Convention for the opportunity to connect to the NSBE mission, expand their networks, and utilize our tools to seek professional opportunities.

As chapter president, my directives are to see our chapter G.R.O.W. For NSBE to guide our members through the difficulties of engineering. To become a resource for support and have the connections to provide new opportunities, and finally to maintain one's well-being during the process. I want NSBE to be a safe place for all members, especially at a time when DEI efforts are in an unstable place. We want our members to know that the Mizzou NSBE Family is always there to support them and uplift them during their engineering journey.

We invite you to help foster and grow the next generation of innovative, intelligent, and powerful minority practitioners in STEM. On behalf of Region V, I thank you so much for your time and consideration. We look forward to working with you for years to come!

SINCERELY,

Mariam Morafa

Mizzou NSBE President