The Black History Hero for this week  is Ursula M. Burns. She is the first African-American woman CEO to head a S&P 100 company and the first woman to succeed another woman as head of a S&P 100 company.

Ursula M. Burns is chief executive officer of Xerox Corporation.

Burns joined Xerox in 1980 as a mechanical engineering summer intern and later assumed roles in product development and planning. From 1992 through 2000, Burns led several business teams including the office color and fax business and office network printing business. In 2000, she was named senior vice president, Corporate Strategic Services, heading up manufacturing and supply chain operations. She then took on the broader role of leading Xerox’s global research as well as product development, marketing and delivery. In April 2007, Burns was named president of Xerox, expanding her leadership to also include the company’s IT organization, corporate strategy, human resources, corporate marketing and global accounts. At that time, she was also elected a member of the company’s Board of Directors. Burns was named chief executive officer in July 2009.

Burns earned a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from Polytechnic Institute of NYU and a master of science degree in mechanical engineering from Columbia University. She serves on professional and community boards, including American Express Corp., CASA – (The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse) at Columbia University, FIRST – (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), National Academy Foundation, MIT, the U.S. Olympic Committee and the University of Rochester. Burns was also named by President Barack Obama to help lead the White House national program on STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) in November 2009.

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Today is the day the new rules for banks issuing credit cards to consumers take affect. Since the initial signing of the bill I’ve had the interest rate for two cards jump to 29.99% and a business card canceled because I didn’t use it enough. It doesn’t matter how good your credit score is anymore, which proves that no matter what their commercial says, your welfare is the last thing on their minds.

I’m no personal finance coach, so I thought I’d share an article I read by personal finance columnist Michelle Singletary regarding some of the loopholes in the credit card law. There’s also a fact sheet about the Credit Card Act on the White House Website. The best thing to do and my personal goal is to pay off all the credit cards. But if you’re not in a position to do it, know the law so they won’t take advantage of you.

On Jan 22, 2010, the President signed the following bill(s) into law:
H.R. 4462: Small Business Act Temporary Extension. To accelerate the income tax benefits for charitable cash contributions for the relief of victims of the earthquake in Haiti.

On Jan 27, 2010, the President signed the following bill(s) into law:
S. 2949: Emergency Aid to American Survivors of the Haiti Earthquake Act. A bill to amend section 1113 of the Social Security Act to provide authority for increased fiscal year 2010 payments for temporary assistance to United States citizens returned from foreign countries, to provide necessary funding to avoid shortfalls in the Medicare cost-sharing program for low-income qualifying individuals, and for other purposes.

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Scholarship Value: up to $ 5000

Classifications: College Junior, College Sophomore, Graduate Student

Minimum GPA: 2.5

For more scholarship opportunities, visit blackstudents.com

Eligible Majors: Business, International Business

Eligible Schools: Open for 4 Year Colleges Only

Application Deadline: Sunday, March 07, 2010

How to Apply : Apply Online

Scholarship Detail:

This competition opens on Jan 4, 2010.

Applicants must be sophomores or juniors at the time of application, enrolled in accredited colleges or universities majoring in Business or graduate studenst enrolled or accepted to a master’s or doctoral program within a Business school in an accredited college or university in the United States (Applicants may apply during their sophomore year).

Applicant must currently be in good academic standing and making satisfactory progress toward and undergraduate or graduate degree.

Applicant must be in the top 20% of his/her class. Applicants do not need to demonstrate financial need.

Required Materials:

1. Three letters of recommendations (one personal, two academic references from the business school of the accredited college.) Letters of recommendations must be written on official letterheadand – must be directly uploaded to the online application by the recommenders.
2. Recent official transcript and evidence of fulltime enrollment – must be mailed to UNCF by the program deadline.
3. Essay – must be directly uploaded to the online application by the applicants.

**Please also open and read the attached document above for more instructions and information about the NAACP scholarship applications.

Members of the National NAACP Board of Directors, SCF Trustees, National Youth Work Committee, the NAACP Scholarship Selection Committee, employees and their spouses or families to the first degree of consanguinity are not eligible to apply for or receive this scholarship.

It’s hard to believe it’s already 2010. But we’re here and there are still new things in store for this blog. When I started blogging, the main goal was to share information and hopefully open up dialogue on issues that affect the black community. I think I did that in some way this year, but it wasn’t to the extent that I’d done in previous years.

The goal for this year is to continue on the track of keeping the site informative. I plan on opening it up to others who are interested in sharing their point of view with the readers of this site. There are some talented, well-written people out there and I want to showcase them and get some real discussions going.

Late in the year, when I got swamped with projects for work, I fell off the blogging scene for a couple of weeks. Blogging can be a daunting task and coming up with things to write about can be time consuming (especially when it isn’t one of my strengths). So this year, I’m going to solicit your help. If you or someone you know are interested in blogging, but don’t want to manage their own site, email me at info @ theotalks.net. I’m always in need of someone to write and it usually turns out to be a win-win situation for both parties.

This year, I also want to focus more on minority small businesses. In these turbulent economic times, a lot of people are turning to owning their own business. I think that’s great, so I decided to start a list of some of my favorite small businesses. I’ll be highlighting small business owners throughout the year, so contact me if you’re interested in participating.

Finally, here are some websites that you need to keep an eye on for 2010. I’ll be blogging a lot about them and hope to be visible on most of them as time permits. Check them out when you get the chance:

• Liberate Magazine
• Tech Relations Firm
• Dallas South News
• Barter My Biz

Have a Happy New Year and God Bless!

The IRS is changing the rules and raising the fees… so we just want to give you one last chance to register for Kill the Myths & Make Money Pursuing Your Passion:  How & Why to Build a Thriving Nonprofit Organization.  This is the last opportunity for this webinar before the IRS makes its move!  Don’t miss it!

- Do you want to start a nonprofit organization but think it means you can’t make money?

- Do you have a passion to serve the community but don’t know how to turn your ideas into profits?

- Do you want to know where the money is and how to get it?

- Want to know how to build a thriving 501(c)(3) organization?

Nonprofit DOES NOT MEAN no money!

Learn the nuts, bolts and much, much more, including:

- What is the difference between a not-for-profit corporation, a tax-exempt organization, and a limited liability company (LLC)?

- What are the funding source?

- How to build wealth in a tax-exempt organization?

- How to turn your community service passion into profits?

- Where is the money to fund your ideas?

Despite our current economic environment, there is still money out there to fund your organization… you just have to know how and where to find it!

We will dispel the myths, misconceptions and mindsets that hinder you from succeeding and building a thriving organization (“We can’t do that as a nonprofit…”).  Whether you lead a nonprofit, are thinking about starting one, or work for one… this webinar is for you.

Tuesday, December 29, 2009 7:30 PM – 9:00 PM EST

Sign Up Here

For those instances where I haven’t been able to use their service, I usually know the owner in some way and base it on how I’ve seen them manage  their company. I try to keep it professional and add only those I know are serious about their business. I don’t receive any free products or kickbacks from this. It’s all about showing some love to a hard-working business owner, no strings attached. We need more of this and I hope this list in some way inspires other to do something similar. I will continue to add to the list and would like to hear comments from those who use them.

If you are a business owner and would like to showcase your business, I’d recommend you check out Liberate Magazine. It’s an online magazine for entrepreneurs that allows them  to “tell their stories” and present the vast opportunities in life to create independent living through entrepreneurship. To get started, submit your answers to The Liberate 10 questions and the editors will get back to you if your request is approved.

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