7th Annual Charles Hamilton Houston Leadership Retreat

Held annually during NBLSA's Congressional Black Caucus Weekend, the Charles Hamilton Houston Leadership Retreat (CHH) offers the opportunity for chapter leadership to meet and intimately interact with National Board Members. The purpose of the retreat is to give local chapter leaders the tools, information, and skills essential to having a successful tenure as a NBLSA leader. The retreat gives attendees an overview of national programming plans and guidelines for the year.

This year the retreat will be comprised of multiple, interactive breakout sessions covering such areas as recruitment and retention of members, fundraising, garnering corporate sponsorships and managing chapter finances. The retreat will also focus on educating attendees about the 2012-2013 NBLSA initiatives. Specifically, this portion of the retreat will focus on issues surrounding educational inequality, voter disenfranchisement, and mentorship. Moreover, CHH will devote considerable time to Professional Development, offering attendees the opportunity to participate in a resume workshop where they'll receive one-on-one feedback on the strengths and weaknesses of their resume from legal professionals.

This Year's Programming

Breakout Session 1 | We L.E.A.D. (Leadership Exploration and Development)

• The Total Money Makeover: Ensuring Your Chapter's Financial Fitness - Budgeting, Fundraising & Sponsorship
• iMembership: Recruiting, Communicating, and Connecting with Your Members - Chapter & Membership Development
• NBLSA Cares: Essentials to Planning a Successful Community Service Event and Navigating the Chapter of the Year Application Process - Community Service & Becoming the Chapter of the Year
• Cordially Invited: Learning the Elements of Strategic Event Planning and Organizational Leadership - Pragmatic Programming & Organizational Leadership

Breakout Session 2 | S.T.E.P. Up! (Striving Towards Excellence in Programming)

• STILL Waiting for Superman: Educational Inequality--America's Kryptonite Educational Inequality (K-12)
• deVOTEd : The Ballot or the Bullet--Obstacles to Exercising Your Right to Vote
• Each One, Reach One: Mentorship and Mobility--The Importance of The Minority Mentoring Movement

Breakout Session 3 | Full Disclosure: Being the Right Hire - Resume and Interviewing Workshop 3:00pm-4:30pm

• Part 1: Presentation by Dana Weekes of Patton Boggs LLP on Interviewing, Professionalism, and Branding
• Part 2: Staged mock-interview to show NBLSA members how to have a successful interview
• Part 3: Attorneys will work one on one with a small group of students to help improve students' resumes and interviewing skills