The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff launched a Leadership and Achievement Building (LAB) Program in October, and 15 UAPB students are participating in the inaugural cohort.
Sponsored by Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) through their Tomorrow’s Innovator Program, the UAPB program is designed to provide students with the tools, mentorship and experiences they need to excel academically and thrive in their future careers, according to Angelisa Henry, LAB Program manager and interim executive director of UAPB’s Business Support Incubator (BSI).
“The LAB Program represents our commitment to nurturing the next generation of leaders,” Henry said in her welcome message during a kick-off event at UAPB’s BSI in downtown Pine Bluff.
“This program is designed to provide our students with hands-on experiences, professional training and the opportunity to connect with industry leaders. We are confident that the skills and networks they build here will serve them well for years to come,” she said.
The 15 UAPB students currently participating in the inaugural LAB Program are listed with their classification and major:
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Arah Anoma, graduate student, addiction studies;
Wisdom Ariagbofo, junior, computer science;
J’Keile Hadley, senior, criminal justice;
Mari’Neisha Hardrick, senior, mass communications/Spanish minor;
Melosha Henderson, junior, science education life/Earth;
Dorian Henry, senior, art & design;
Ericia Hobbs, freshman, special education;
Zyonnah Isiguzo, freshman, biology (Pre-medicine);
Jaylan Lawson, senior, industrial technology;
Ashley McGuire, junior, biology (Pre-dentistry);
David Opiri, senior, nutrition/food science;
Jada Sharp, senior, psychology;
Gerald Shimo, sophomore, computer science;
Brooklyn Tanner, sophomore, biology;
Cornelia Watts, junior, business administration.
Henry praised BMS for their “generous support” in helping to mark the beginning of a “transformational journey for our students.”
She also extended her “heartfelt thanks to our sponsors, mentors, faculty and staff, who have dedicated their time and energy to make this program a success. With support from UAPB and the business community, this program is set to foster the next generation of diverse and talented leaders who will make a significant impact in their fields.”
UAPB is one of five Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) included in the Tomorrow’s Innovator Program, which is designed to build a sustainable bridge for diverse talent from HBCUs to the biopharmaceutical industry.
During the program, three BMS representatives made presentations. They included Toni Ajavon-Hartmann, director of clinical pharmacology and pharmacometrics; Eugene Whobrey, a scientific writer and manager of global scientific and regulatory documentation; and Kylan Weatherspoon, a commercial associate for the Omnichannel Strategy — U.S. Oncology Division in Princeton, N.J.
A native of Pine Bluff, Weatherspoon is a UAPB spring 2023 graduate who was hired by BMS shortly after attending UAPB’s 2022 Fall Career Summit. Weatherspoon shared that he obtained a degree in business administration with a concentration in marketing and was a UAPB Chancellor’s Medallion award recipient. The Chancellor’s Medallion is the highest honor presented during the commencement. The award is given to graduates with the highest grade point average (GPA) in their academic school.
Whobrey, who described Weatherspoon as a “direct UAPB to BMS colleague,” discussed the benefits of her company’s participation in the career summit.
“We very much enjoy coming to the UAPB Career Fairs. We get to meet a variety of students in different academic fields …. freshmen to seniors, and we gauge their needs and interests and then take it back to our team to tailor it because we are a UAPB-dedicated team. And so, while we engage with the students and they tell us what they’re looking for, we try to keep that in consideration every time we come back and have those things ready for them … to best prepare them for success whether it’s with BMS or elsewhere,” Whobrey said.
When asked what some of the fields of study and classes a student should be pursuing, Ajavon-Hartmann said, “I’ll say the basic sciences are primarily the biggest, broadest skills that we are looking for. But we don’t stop there. Anything that is within the UAPB curriculum is valuable to BMS. As long as a student can find a niche point where they really want to focus on, we are happy to help them tailor whatever they’re learning to get them to that point. So that’s really what we’re all about.”
Weatherspoon told how he prepared for a career with BMS.
“We actually had a career readiness workshop, which we do often, multiple times a year,” Weatherspoon said. “Essentially, it’s where they invite college students, and they prepare them for everything in regards to mock interviews as well as …. resume correcting (and the) STAR (situation, task, action, result) method as far as how you should speak to recruiters and when you are interviewing.”
Weatherspoon’s key advice is: “Always connect with career services (at UAPB) because they will lead you down the correct path just as they did me.”