More than 200 diverse and driven undergrads descend on downtown Los Angeles in a step towards becoming the diverse leaders of tomorrow’s tech and engineering workforce.

MESA’s Student Leadership Conference brings together hand-picked engineering and computer science students with industry professionals to develop the next generation of STEM leaders.  Held at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel Oct. 5-6, this year’s conference theme is A Bounty of Homegrown Talent.  

Both students and companies benefit from the conference: students network and gain the soft skills needed to be well-rounded employees; companies gain access to talented, diverse candidates for internships and employment.

Companies recognize the importance of engaging with and supporting our students — so much so they fully fund the conference with donations.  These enlightened corporate partners understand these are not simply underserved and underrepresented students, they are an underutilized pool of talent that has been long overlooked.  Companies simply cannot afford to ignore this talent pool.

This year’s partners and sponsors include: Applied Materials, Cisco, Southern California Gas Company, San Diego Gas and Electric, Intuit, California Resources Corporation, PG&E and Edison International

Miriam Aguirre, Senior Vice President of Engineering at Skillz, a worldwide leader in mobile eSports, is the conference keynote speaker. 

Unlike job fairs or speaker-only conferences, MESA students get the unique opportunity to interact one-on-one and in small groups with company executives, engineers and recruiters. Many leave the conference with internship offers that lead to full time employment. Students participate in mock interviews, communications, team building, emotional intelligence and financial literacy workshops.