Summit at A&T Pairs Undergraduates Interested in Health Care Careers with Professionals

EAST GREENSBORO, N.C. (Feb. 27, 2025) — Undergraduate students interested in careers in medicine, public health, research and health care roles that support patients and medical professions are gathering this week at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University.

The Inspiring Futures Summit, which began Thursday, Feb. 27, and continues Friday, Feb. 28, includes sessions on exploring these career options and creating professional networks as well as developing key skills. Speakers also are delving into advancing maternal health, community-based participatory research, and addressing barriers to health through community engagement.

State Sen. Natalie Murdock, whose platform objectives include Black maternal health, is the keynote speaker.

The event is sponsored by BELIEVE (Building Equitable Linkages with Interprofessional Education Valuing Everyone), a partnership between N.C. A&T and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill that is funded by a $2.3 million grant from the American Heart Association. BELIEVE seeks to assess gaps in current maternal practice and build and implement a curriculum to address these issues across a network of hospital and community providers.

“This summit will help students explore their educational and professional options in the health care field, as well as make important connections,” said Janiya Williams, program director and clinical instructor in the Pathway 2 Human Lactation Training program in A&T’s College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences (CAES).

“We’re bringing together undergraduate students from 10 different HBCUs (historically Black colleges and universities) from across the country,” said Williams, who helped organize the event. “These students will help shape the future of health care.”

Participants can engage with professionals one-on-one and through a young professionals’ roundtable. A DJ will provide entertainment at Thursday’s dinner, and a networking mixer, HBCU swag gift exchange and line dancing will round out the evening.

The event, at the University Farm Pavilion, 3020 McConnell Road, Greensboro, is funded by the American Heart Association’s Maternal and Child Health Equity Research Network through the P3 EQUATE Network.