Only 10 Black CEOs led Fortune 500 companies in Fortune’s February 2026 count. Clearly, Black professionals remain underrepresented in executive leadership across major U.S. corporations. 

The Black Business Student Association (BBSA) at Vanderbilt is responding to that gap in representation. Through its Chicago Career Trek, Vanderbilt students moved through leading consulting, finance and technology firms in Chicago over three days. They met with BMO Financial Group, McKinsey & Company, Northern Trust, Kearney, LinkedIn and Boston Consulting Group, engaging with Black alumni and professionals through panels, office tours and recruiting conversations across each site. 

BBSA Co-founder and President Austin Mboijana described the importance of representation. 

“To see people who look like us, who we can aspire to, and we can see ourselves in these roles and in these firms serves as an inspiration and a reassurance that we are capable and qualified, and it gives us the tools needed,” Mboijana said. 

Students asked direct questions as Black professionals across roles and career stages responded with specifics about their work, recruitment pathways and progression within their firms. Mboijana later reflected on what he observed as those interactions developed. 

“I was walking around that room and seeing the smiles on everyone’s faces and feeling the warmth in the community,” Mboijana said. 

The moment reflected the trek’s mission: Placing Black students within the institutional settings where professional pathways are shaped. During informational sessions, Vanderbilt’s aspiring early-career professionals probed the hidden curriculum of career advancement and recruitment.  

Mboijana framed the experience as a defining moment for the organization’s work. 

“The career trek really became the culmination of so much of BBSA’s impact,” Mboijana said. “I think that the power of getting people into the room to shake the hands of the boots on the ground is extremely important and extremely underrated.” 

Students asked about relatively unfamiliar industries and how to position themselves in spaces like consulting and finance. Mboijana pointed to how those relationships develop over time. 

“The people you meet along the way are what helps you move forward,” Mboijana said. 

Those interactions turned what had been distant into something students could navigate directly. 

For Mboijana, BBSA began with that structure in mind. He explained how competitive business organizations shaped his early experience on campus. 

“I knew many students who were unable to get into these business fraternities because of how competitive their application processes were,” Mboijana said. “I also noticed that people who did not come from traditional business backgrounds or who came from different socioeconomic backgrounds were disadvantaged in these application processes.” 

BBSA became his response. 

“What we wanted to create was a space especially for Black students, where there was no application process and all you needed was a willingness to learn and a passion for business,” Mboijana said. 

He reflected on the effort required to build the organization, describing a process that extended beyond launching a student group. Building BBSA meant securing funding, coordinating events, maintaining consistent engagement and establishing credibility with both students and firms, all while operating within a campus with many established organizations. 

“It took a lot of commitment, it took a lot of mistakes, and it took a lot of perseverance,” Mboijana said. 

First-year and trek organizer Davida Adeniruju described how the planning behind the trek created opportunities for students to step into these environments. 

“It was a really good opportunity to see the fruition of hard work and planning and to watch students be in spaces like this while learning about organizations they could work for,” Adeniruju said. 

The trek began even before the first firm visit. In the morning hours of April 1, 26 students gathered outside Rand Hall and boarded a charter bus to Chicago for an eight-hour ride that became part preparation and part rehearsal. Students reviewed company materials, compared notes and talked through the questions they wanted to ask once they arrived. 

That evening, black Vanderbilt alumni met with students at a pizza parlor to discuss recruitment timelines and relationship building. 

The next day moved with the same precision. The students started the morning at BMO Financial Group with a presentation on commercial banking and early talent programming. McKinsey and Company followed with consulting careers and recruiting conversations. Northern Trust closed the afternoon with networking that centered on direct engagement rather than presentation. 

On the final day, the participants walked between Kearney, LinkedIn and Boston Consulting Group, carrying the rhythm of earlier conversations into each new firm. Students introduced themselves repeatedly, adjusting how they spoke and how they presented themselves in conversations with consultants, analysts, and recruiters. 

Sophomore Sebastian Heriveaux reflected on how the experience shaped his understanding of business careers. 

“I did not know what consulting was before I came to college,” Heriveaux said. “Among the Black community, there can be a gap in access and knowledge about these industries and how useful they are for economic mobility.” 

At McKinsey and Boston Consulting Group, that reality met the structure of recruiting itself. Heriveaux described what he observed in those spaces. 

“I would say the biggest image that I had was that they stick to recruiting people that go to very prestigious institutions,” Heriveaux said. “At BCG, I was able to see a collaborative and working environment filled with interesting people that I would want to get to know and would enjoy working with.” 

Adeniruju, remarked at the value observing representation first-hand meant for her. 

“Representation is really important at the firm because it helped us realize that we belong in the space and can work our way up into roles that we did not see as possible before,” Adeniruju said. 

By the time the charter bus pulled back toward Nashville after Boston Consulting Group, the schedule had ended, but the impact of the firm’s visits and conversations had already begun to extend beyond the trip itself.  

Mboijana, now preparing to graduate, emphasized the long-term value of BBSA as a network where students, entrepreneurs and aspiring professionals build confidence and connections that extend beyond campus. 

“The relationships and the people you meet along the way are what help you move forward,” Mboijana said. 

BBSA turned three days in Chicago into a foundation that reshapes how Black students enter and move through the corporate spaces that shape careers. 

They now leave those rooms knowing exactly how to return to them.