Mark your calendars; we’re less than a month away from the sixth annual African-American Financial Professionals Conference.

The conference, sponsored by The American College in partnership with MetLife, takes place Aug. 16 and 17 in Atlanta, Georgia.

“The American College is an educational institution that focuses on coursework and continuing educational opportunities for people in insurance, securities, banking and accounting,” Eric Gordon, assistant vice president for communications at the American College, tells BET.com.

Once a year, in partnership with financial service companies, the American College provides an opportunity for advisors to get together and participate in educational seminars, earn credit for continuing education licenses and help advisors stay current on the latest financial information in order to provide the best possible services for their clients.

Gordon says that one of the main reasons the conference exists is because limited mentoring opportunities exist for Blacks in the financial services industries.

“Unfortunately, African-Americans, as professionals in the financial services industry, are underrepresented,” says Gordon. “What this does is it brings together people from different companies from all around the country because one of the values is not just the education people participate in at the event, but it’s the opportunity to network to talk to the people who have been there and gone through the type of experiences that young financial professionals who are African-American have.”

Young professionals will enjoy the opportunity to build relationships and seek mentors. Seasoned professionals can enjoy the opportunity to share their knowledge and skills with the next generation.

Through a series of workshops, networking lunches and peer group sessions, participants will have the opportunity to network over breakfast and dinner.

“What people are going to hear are presentations from experienced, financial services professionals who will talk about and help share product knowledge and sales skills that can help individuals who are looking to pursue a career in financial services become more successful,” says Gordon.

Scheduled speakers include Newark, New Jersey, Mayor Cory Booker, 60 Minutes correspondent Byron Pitts and Delvin Joyce, associate managing director of The Prudential Insurance Company of America.

For more information, or to register, visit here.

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(Photo: Xinhua /Landov)