MESA Student Leadership Conference

Overview

Student Leadership Conference

MESA Student Leadership Conference (SLC) connects top engineering, computer science and other STEM undergraduates with industry professionals to cultivate the next generation of diverse leaders. 

Over two days, students build essential career skills—like communication, collaboration, and problem-solving—through workshops, panels, and one-on-one networking.  Teams also compete in a hands-on project challenge that showcases creativity, technical skill, and awareness of societal needs.  Prizes are awarded to top teams! 

Conference

What to Expect

During the conference students will:

Attendance

Who's at SLC?

The in-person conference is an invite-only event for MESA computer science, engineering and other STEM undergraduate students from more than one dozen community colleges and 17 universities throughout California, including:

Highlights

Key Conference Elements

Conference events will give students the unique opportunity to interact with industry professionals one-on-one or in small groups. This access boosts confidence, exposes them to real-world career situations and helps companies identify potential future employees.

ACTIVITIES

Workshops 

Students attend a series of on site workshops focused on developing emotional intelligence, leadership, and other important skills critical to their success.

Career Expo

Student participants have an opportunity to interact with a representatives from a numer of companies in the STEM field to learn more about careers and internship opportunities.

Team Challenge 

In-person student participants are grouped into teams and given a project assignment to complete by the end of the conference.  Each project will be reviewed and judged by industry representatives.  Prizes are awarded to the top-scoring project teams.

Ray Landis Impact Award

This distinguished honor is bestowed upon a visionary in STEM education.  At the 2018 MESA Student Leadership Conference, we commemorated the life and impact of Ray Landis with the inaugural award presented to Rick Ainsworth.

Understanding Dr. Landis’ life and work is to understand a blueprint for how to have impact.  His legacy is all around us: from the 250,000 MESA alumni to the over 45 MESA college program sites to the over 7,000 college students currently enrolled in MESA programs here in California alone.  We believe, however, that it is critically important for us to preserve his legacy by continuing to tell the story of his life and his work.   

Event Schedule

What's happening at SLC?

Industry partners participate in panels, workshops and a Career Expo during which they may identify candidates for internships and full time STEM positions.  A complete conference schedule is pending and will be posted soon.

Find more details at the bottom of this page on how companies and individuals can get involved. 

Company Engagement

Sponsorships include myriad opportunities for branding, student impact, talent recruitment and access to high caliber MESA students.

Sponsor benefits:

For more information, view our SLC 2025 Sponsor Packet.

If you are interested in supporting the Student Leadership Conference, or to find out more information, please contact:

Mindy Rieger, Director of Development
mindy.rieger@ucop.edu

Individual Engagement 

Inspire and be inspired! Volunteer for SLC.