October 21, 2008
Young & Successful 2008
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
6 -8 PM
EMU Student Center Room 310A
Ypsilanti, MI 48197  
SPEAKERS:
Brandon A. Jessup exemplifies the power and commitment of young adult leadership.  A
captivating and inspirational speaker, dedicated activist and community leader, Jessup is
highly regarded as an advocate for human rights and equal representation for all people.  

He is an experienced, nationally recognized leader who edifies servant leadership principles.
Jessup is presently the Michigan Voter Protection Advocate for the Advancement Project. In this
position he works daily to protect against any possible voter disenfranchisement for all of
Michigan’s voters.   

For the last six years, he has been on the forefront of the civil rights movement, currently serving
as advisor for the NAACP Michigan State Conference Youth and College Division, guiding more
than 15 youth councils and college chapters across the state of Michigan.
FULL BIO, CLICK
HERE
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.  
Political Science from Virginia Commonwealth University and a Master of Liberal Studies in
Women and Gender Studies from Eastern Michigan University. She also joined one of the most
elite sororities in the world, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated.  While she reached great
achievements in academia, it has not been any of those accomplishments that have left a
lasting impact on her life.  It would not be long before she found out that common sense is
better than bought sense.

Charnessa experienced an upbringing not too drastically different than those of her young
audience that she so passionately cares for.  At the age of 13, Charnessa experienced the
devastating effects substance abuse had on her mother.  Seeing the immediate dilapidation of
her family, Charnessa would move around to 4 different houses before landing on a bed in the
middle of her paternal grandmother’s living room.
FULL BIO: CLICK HERE