Company News: Page (1) of 1 - 07/07/12

Cogswell College Professor Bret Sweet to Speak at the NAACP Annual Convention, July 8-9, 2012, Houston Convention Center

(July 07, 2012)

SUNNYVALE, Calif., July 7, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cogswell College, today, announced that Bret Sweet, the college's first Entrepreneurship Professor, will be speaking at the NAACP's Annual Convention being held in Houston July 7-12, 2012. Cogswell College http://www.cogswell.edu/ is one of the world's leading regionally-accredited institutions offering a unique curriculum that fuses digital arts, engineering and entrepreneurship. Sweet will be speaking about the value of entrepreneurship education and his own journey as an entrepreneurial musician, music promoter and restaurateur at a workshop for students within the NAACP's Commerce & Industry Expo featuring the first National Black College Fair.

"I am extremely honored to be speaking at the NAACP's Annual Convention," Sweet said. "Creating awareness around opportunity, education and entrepreneurship is a concept very dear to my heart." The 35-year-old Sweet has been teaching at Cogswell College since 2010. He holds an MBA and has been a driving force for high-school entrepreneurship through NFTE (National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship) for over a decade.

"My grandfather led the NAACP in his town and fed the poor from his garden," Sweet recalled. "He raised his children to do the same. Opening doors is the family business." Sweet's father, Clifford Sweet, served as executive director for Legal Aid Services of Alameda County Calif., twice arguing civil rights cases in front of the California Supreme Court. His uncle, Wester Sweet, was a San Jose attorney who marched with Martin Luther King and battled civil rights issues for over 40 years in the Bay Area.

At Cogswell College, Sweet mentors and inspires his entrepreneurship students. Of particular note is Michelle Washington, a software engineering major who was selected as a finalist in the Intel Global Challenge, a technology and entrepreneurship challenge held in Mountain View, Calif., at NASA's Moffett Field in May.

Sweet's entrepreneurship speech and workshop will be held at 1:30 pm and 3:30 pm on Sunday, July 8 and Monday, July 9, within the Commerce & Industry Expo at the George R. Brown Convention Center. A Cogswell College information table will be onsite in conjunction with Sweet's presentations. The college will be launching a masters program in Entrepreneurship in the fall.

Bret Sweet Speaking & Workshop Schedule:

Sunday, July 8, Commerce & Industry Expo, George R. Brown Convention Center

1:30 pm Bret Sweet, Cogswell College, Entrepreneurship Workshop

3:30 pm Bret Sweet, Cogswell College, Entrepreneurship Workshop

Monday, July 9, Commerce & Industry Expo, George R. Brown Convention Center

1:30 pm Bret Sweet, Cogswell College, Entrepreneurship Workshop

3:30 pm Bret Sweet, Cogswell College, Entrepreneurship Workshop

About Cogswell College

Located in Sunnyvale, Calif., in the heart of the Silicon Valley, Cogswell College is an accredited four-year institution of higher education with a curriculum that fuses art, engineering and entrepreneurship (http://www.cogswell.edu/academics/programs.php). As one of the Bay Area's premier colleges, its novel academic approach offers an integrated model that emulates the industry environment—a collaborative, project-based, learning approach that uses multidisciplinary teams to take projects from concept through the delivery pipeline.

Cogswell alumni credentials include the world's best-selling video game, Call of Duty. The Sims, Tomb Raider, Grand Theft Auto and blockbuster films including Toy Story, Cars, Madagascar, Shrek, Spider-Man, Harry Potter and Thor. Student-created films have garnered scores of national awards (http://www.cogswell.edu/student-work/worlds-apart.php) including Best Animation at the Miami Film Festival, Route 66 Film Festival and Philadelphia Film and Animation Festivals, the Audience Choice Award at the San Jose Short Film Festival and the Children's Jury Award at the Encounters Film Festival in the UK. Cogswell alumni have gone on to careers with Activision, DreamWorks, Disney, Electronic Arts, Pixar and Microsoft Game Studio as well as starting their own creative ventures.

CONTACT: Bonnie Phelps
Cogswell College
bphelps@cogswell.edu
408-498-5145

Kimberly Hathaway
Gallagher Group Communications
kimberly@gg-comm.com
415-994-1097

Page: 1

Related Keywords: EDUCATIONAnimators, Pro AV, Presentors, Camera/Film, Business, Business Issues, Presentation, Events, Film, Music, Lifestyle, Game Technology, Computer Science, Business, Judicial, Family, Children,