October 27, 2009
Young & Successful 2009
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
6:00 -8 PM
Best Hall (Main Lounge)
Ypsilanti, MI 48197  
SPEAKERS:
Terrence Thompson (’02) didn’t have a large support group during his academic journey, so
he works to ensure others have the backing they need to succeed in academics and in life.
Now a lawyer with Miller, Canfield, Paddock and Stone in Detroit, Thompson has not forgotten
what compelled him to drop out of high school and then to restart his academic career.
Thompson earned the respect of his peers and professors, receiving a number of
scholarships and academic honors, including being named to the National Dean’s List at both
Eastern Michigan and Wayne State.

An associate in Miller Canfield’s Corporate and Securities group, his practice includes
corporate formation, mergers and acquisitions, and venture capital. He also helps businesses
obtain business certification in Detroit and state of Michigan disadvantaged business
enterprise certification. In 2007 Thompson spoke at the NAACP’s national convention on
“Supreme Court Review: The Government’s Compelling Interest in Racially Integrating Public
Schools.” Not content to focus solely on his career, Thompson mentors a number of EMU
students, speaks regularly on the importance of education, is a member of Big Brothers/Big
Sisters of Metropolitan Detroit, and became involved with Habitat for Humanity and the S.O.S.
Crisis Center.
The Young and Successful program series was implemented to provide a platform for students to network with EMUBA members
and other EMU Alumni. EMUBA’s mission is to not only assist students financially through our annual scholarship program, but to
provide mentorship and foster a sense of civic and community pride.  EMU Alumni, interested in being involved with this program,
are encouraged to attend.  
Fiction).  She is a contributing author in Chicken Soup for the Girls Soul, New Directions for
Youth Development, and 44th (A full color coffee table book about President Barack Obama
that is a compilation of front page reprints of actual African-American published newspapers
and poetry.)  She has also contributed to several publications and youth development training
materials for the High/Scope Educational Research Foundation.  She has worked as a
columnist and freelance writer for various publications and websites including the Michigan
Front Page Newspaper and is an active member of the Motown Writer's Network where she is
the host of her own show, “Marketing and Motivation Mondays with Monica Marie Jones” on the
Michigan Literary Network Radio.

Monica received her Bachelor’s Degree and teaching certificate in Elementary Education from
Eastern Michigan University. She also received her Masters of Social Work from the University
of Michigan.

Monica is a youth development expert that does training and consultation for the Center for
Youth Program Quality (a joint venture of the Forum for Youth Investment and The High/Scope
Educational Research Foundation.) She is a professionally trained dancer and dance
instructor that has danced with Gospel recording artists such as Dorinda Clark-Cole, in
several venues around the United States, and a three-city tour in Japan with Kierra 'Ki-Ki'
Sheard.  
Monica uses her gifts, talents and expertise to inform her work as a motivational speaker with
a focus on topics including by not limited to self-esteem, empowering women and girls,
fitness and wellness, and youth development.
Monica’s essay, “Don’t Wait for the Weight” and her poem, “Fat Girl” will be published in The
Souls of Our Young Sisters: The Next Generation of Women Tell Their Stories, Overcome Their
Challenges, and Heal Their Spirits (Souls of My Sisters Inc./Kensington Publishing Corp.)
anthology in March 2010.