League of Black Women Conference to Explore Global Leadership Power – How to Get It Now
U.S. Surgeon General to deliver keynote; food desert researcher to preview East Coast findings
(DESTIN, Florida, May 8, 2012) – U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Regina Benjamin, MD, MBA, will join her colleagues from the federal government, as well as high-ranking women and men from the private sector to explore the global leadership power and potential of modern-day Black women at the 9th annual League of Black Women conference, “Black Women 2012 New World Power: Bringing You the Global Leadership Power of Tomorrow’s Jobs Today,” May 8-11.
The conference is being hosted by the LBW and its sponsors at the Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort in Destin, Florida, and will feature panel discussions on health care, executive leadership, energy, technology, education, entrepreneurship, media and management consulting. Attendees will also be able to take advantage of executive coaching sessions and network with key influencers in an unencumbered, intimate environment.
Conference speakers will include Dr. Debra Saunders White, Deputy Assistant for Higher Education Programs for the U.S. Department of Education; Reta Jo Lewis, Special Representative for Global Intergovernmental Affairs, U.S. State Department; Ralph Cleveland, Executive Vice President, NICOR Gas; and Kim Reed, Regional Vice President of Sales, Kellogg’s. Noted food desert researcher Mari Gallagher of the Mari Gallagher Research and Consulting Group will give a sneak peak of her latest research that looks at communities lacking healthy food choices on the East Coast. And Blue Cross Blue Shield Association will discuss the impact of health care economic disparities on people and communities of color.
The theme of this year’s conference is intended to capture the forward view, optimism and aspirations of today’s leading Black women across industries and interests.
“Black women cannot wait for the economic condition of the country or the world to improve before they start to plot their strategy to ascend the ladder and assume positions of power and influence,” says Sandra Finley, President and CEO of the League of Black Women. “Black women are weary of waiting for earned opportunities that are promised but go unfulfilled. We want Black women to see themselves as being able to grasp these opportunities today, as in right now.”
The League of Black Women is expected to announce creation of the first League of Black Women Global Research Institute at Bethune Cookman University. The organization will also design online leadership and business coursework for students and professionals. The LBW expects to host a dozen or more students attending historically black colleges and universities during the conference, and will stream live video of key conference sessions to HBCUs.
Sponsors include Deloitte; American Airlines American Eagle; Kraft Foods; Progress Energy; U.S. Cellular; CNA; The Walt Disney Company; Federally Employed Women TIAA Cref; Nicor Gas; and Blue Cross Blue Shield Association.
For information and media access, email tshawntaylor@yahoo.com or call 312-371-6260. For registration, conference schedule and speakers, visit www.leagueofblackwomen.org, or call 708-754-1676.
Black Women 2011: New World Power”
League of Black Women’s 8th annual Strategic Leadership Conference Presents the New World Power
Media contact: T. Shawn Taylor
tshawntaylor@yahoo.com | 312-371-6260
(CHICAGO ) – Top-ranking professional Black women in the U.S. and abroad will convene to broaden their perspectives on global leadership and business strategies and harnessing their collective power and influence at the League of Black Women’s 8th annual Strategic Leadership Conference “Black Women 2011: New World Power May 17-20 at the Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club in Tampa, FL.
“The paradigm is shifting from our strength to our power, which is why the conference is called ‘New World Power.’ Strong black women are growing into powerful black women who operate on a different fuel,” said Sandra Finley, LBW President. “Participants will gain a better understanding about how high-ranking Black women can generate this new world power to achieve their global ambitions.”
This year will mark the second in a row the conference has been held at Innisbrook, owned by America’s first Black female billionaire Sheila Johnson, CEO of Salamander Hospitality and owner of three professional sports teams. Johnson will join distinguished speakers and honored guests including Valerie Amos, U.N. Undersecretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator; Lakshmi Singh, award-winning newscaster for National Public Radio; Ertharin Cousin, U.S. Representative to the U.N. Agencies for Food and Agriculture in Rome; Tjada McKinley, Senior Advisor and Director of the Feed the Future private sector initiative at USAID (participating in relief efforts in Japan); Cassandra Butts, Senior Advisor to the Millennium Challenge Corporation; Dr. Valencia Ray, author and women’s business coach; and Marilyn Johnson, Vice President of Market Development for IBM.
Participants will enjoy high-level roundtable discussions and workshops on topics such as Black women in U.S. intelligence; world food security; the banking industry; and global opportunities in the emerging energy industry. LBW will unveil the “Big Fat World Poll” on leadership, jobs, wealth and joyful living produced by the Gallup organization, which will offer indexes from their global well-being poll as it applies to Black professional women’s interests, as well as LBW’s special report “Risk and Reward: Black Women Leading Out on a Limb.”
Sponsors include Jones magazine (media sponsor); American Airlines (official conference airline); Booz Allen Hamilton; Deloitte; U.S. Cellular; Southern Company; The Walt Disney Company; CNA; Progress Energy; TIAA CREF; Federally Employed Women; and Kraft Foods.
October 7, 2010
Media Advisory
Metro/Photo Desk
League of Black Women president takes “Bring a Girl Into Your World” mentor-protégé program on the road for eye-opening experience in the Big Apple
( NEW YORK ) – League of Black Women President and CEO Sandra Finley is taking the organization’s mentor-protégé program on the road. Finley and her mentee, Lashay Manning, a 13-year-old Chicago Public Schools student, will travel to New York City on October 10 – 12 to sightsee and to present the LBW’s Black Rose award to Rachel Robinson, widow of baseball pioneer Jackie Robinson.
Mrs. Robinson was unable to travel to Florida in June due to illness to accept the award at the LBW’s 7th annual conference “Black Women 2010 Global Ready” held at the Innisbrook Golf Club and Resort outside Tampa . The award is given annually to a woman who has used the power of her position to positively impact the lives of others. Mrs. Robinson created the foundation to provide college scholarship and leadership opportunities for youth.
Finley believes her trip to New York City would provide an excellent opportunity to expose young Lashay to a whole new world.
In January, the LBW partnered with the Chicago Public Schools and launched a local campaign to recruit a minimum of 100 professional Black women to mentor girls in the 6th through 8th grades from three Chicago Public Schools. The mentor program kicked off at DuSable Museum of African American History during a special preview of the “Freedom Sisters” exhibit, which showcased Black women’s contributions to the Civil Rights Movement.
Mentors in the program represent the top echelon of Black women in business, law, academia and philanthropy, including corporate vice presidents, entrepreneurs, judges, attorneys and college professors. Finley believes the trip to New York will be an eye-opening experience for Lashay, whose experiences have been limited by her economic and educational circumstances.
Lashay and Mrs. Finley will spend their first two days touring the city. Lashay also will accompany Finley to a meeting with an executive from L’Oreal as Finley pursues potential sponsorship opportunities for the LBW’s educational and professional development programs and research. Their itinerary is below:
October 10 – Arrive in NY. No meetings scheduled.
October 11 – Sightseeing. No meetings scheduled.
October 12 – 9:00 a.m. – Meeting with L’Oreal representative
Noon — Finley and Lashay meet with Rachel Robinson at the offices of the Jackie Robinson Foundation to present her the Black Rose Award.
7:30 p.m. – The two depart for LaGuardia to return to Chicago
Mrs. Finley can be reached at 312-301-0012 (cell) while in New York . To schedule an interview or photo opportunity, please contact T. Shawn Taylor at 312-371-6260 or at tshawntaylor@yahoo.com. Mrs. Finley and Lashay’s journey provide the setting for an inspirational feature article.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 8, 2009
Contact: Tristin Aaron, Media Director
(212) 563-0680, ext. 103
Tristin@womensmediacenter.com
The Women’s Media Center Announces Final Class of
Progressive Women’s Voices 2009
The Nation’s Premiere Progressive Media Training Program Draws Record Applicants;
Reports Excellent Media Placements for Participants
July 8, 2009 (New York) – The Women’s Media Center (WMC) is delighted to announce the third and final class of Progressive Women’s Voices (PWV) for 2009. A core program of the WMC, Progressive Women’s Voices is an intense media training and outreach program. Now in its second year, PWV drew over 400 women for 31 spots, admitting just 7.5% of all applicants this year, making it one of the most selective and elite media training programs in the country. With the WMC’s help, this incredible cadre of progressive women have earned 1300 media hits since January 2009, diversifying the media landscape by appearing in high-profile outlets like NBC’s “Today Show,” The CBS Evening News, MSNBC, CNN, Fox News, NPR, The Associated Press, USA Today, The New York Times, Newsweek, Marie Claire, Entertainment Weekly, Fast Company, MSN, Yahoo, Salon, Slate as well as hundreds of other significant media outlets in print, online, radio, and broadcast.
“Our mission at The Women’s Media Center is to make women visible and powerful in the media,” said Carol Jenkins, WMC president. “Our Progressive Women’s Voices program does just that. We are thrilled to welcome the new class, and to be able to continue to provide our top notch media training and placement assistance to progressive thought leaders. We know that this program has a profound impact on the media, because when we speak to bookers, producers and editors, they can no longer tell us that ‘there just aren’t any good women out there.’ Together with our database of over 500 top women experts, SheSource.org, our PWV graduates truly make the WMC the go-place for journalists looking for women sources, experts, and commentators.”
Participants in the third class for 2009 include experts in North & South Korea, education theory, medicine, bioethics, health impacts of climate change, progressive journalism, international women’s rights, leadership for women of color and more. These ten women come from manifold backgrounds, reflecting a diversity generally absent from mainstream media coverage. They join 54 participants from 2008 & 2009, forming a roster of media-trained progressive women adding their voices to the national conversation in areas of economics, politics, health care, immigration, women’s rights, workplace policy, and other important issues.
To learn more about previous classes of PWV, please visit: http://www.womensmediacenter.com/progressive_womens_voices.html
PWV 2009 Class 3 bios:
ROSE AGUILAR (San Francisco, CA) is the host of “Your Call,” a live call-in daily radio show on NPR-affiliates across the Bay Area featuring in-depth discussions ranging from the occupation of Iraq and poverty to the arts and the environment. Aguilar also writes about politics and social issues for Alternet and offers political analysis for the BBC. Aguilar is the author of Red Highways: A Liberal’s Journey into the Heartland, based on a six-month road trip she took across the U.S. Her work also appeared in the book Red State Rebels: Tales of Grassroots Resistance In The Heartland. Aguilar serves as a board member for the Women’s Intercultural Network, a non-profit that connects women and girls across cultures, and is currently working on a book about lifelong activists working for peace, equality, and social justice.
CHRISTINE AHN (Oakland, CA) is a policy analyst with the Korea Policy Institute and co-founder of Korean Americans for Fair Trade. She writes and speaks regularly on U.S.-Korea relations, including the nuclear crisis, human rights, free trade, and militarism. Ahn has addressed the United Nations, U.S. Congress, and the South Korean National Human Rights Commission and works with the Global Fund for Women, Women of Color Resource Center, Institute for Food and Development Policy, and Legal Aid of DC. Ahn is a fellow at the Oakland Institute and the Institute for Policy Studies’ “Foreign Policy In Focus.” Ahn has appeared on CNN, NBC, Al-Jazeera, NPR, Voice of America, and elsewhere and has published numerous op-eds. She is the editor of Shafted: Free Trade and Americas Working Poor, producer of Fashion Resistance to Militarism, and contributing author to The Revolution Will Not Be Funded: Beyond the Nonprofit Industrial Complex. Christine was inducted into the OMB Watch Public Interest Hall of Fame and recognized as Rising Peacemaker by the Agape Foundation. She has a Masters in public policy from Georgetown University.
TAINA BIEN-AIMÉ (New York, NY) is the Executive Director of Equality Now, an international human rights advocacy organization that works to end violence and discrimination against women and girls, with a focus on rape, domestic violence, female genital mutilation, reproductive rights, and trafficking. Previously, Bien-Aimé served as the Director of Business Affairs/Film Acquisitions at HBO and practiced international corporate law on Wall Street. Bien-Aimé has provided expert commentary for numerous national and international media outlets, including the New York Times, AP, Reuters, CNN, NPR, Huffington Post, and elsewhere. Bien-Aimé contributed essays to Becoming Myself: Reflections on Growing Up Female and When You Need a Lift…Two Cups of Comfort and Support from Joy Behar and Friends. She holds a Juris Doctor from NYU School of Law and a License in Political Science from the University of Geneva and the Graduate School of International Studies, Switzerland.
SANDRA FINLEY (Chicago, IL) is President, CEO, and Board Chair of the League of Black Women, the premiere leadership organization for black women nationally. The League of Black Women has been commended for providing strategic resources to help Black women advance for their leadership ambitions, and is noted for its holistic approach and emphasis on sustainable, joyful living. A graduate of Loyola University, Sandra is active in her community. She is a member of the Union League of Chicago’s Committee on Race and a past board member of the Illinois Health Maintenance Organization Guaranty Association. Finley presented at the EU Commission global summit on Women Stabilizing an Insecure World in Brussels, Belgium. Her firm, Sandra Finley Company, specializes in strategic diversity consulting.
SUJATHA JESUDASON (Oakland, CA), PhD, is the Executive Director and founder of Generations Ahead, a social justice organization that brings diverse communities together to promote policies on genetic technologies that protect human rights. Jesudason has worked at Asian Community for Reproductive Justice, Marin Abused Women’s Shelter, Narika, and 9to5 National Association of Working Women. She currently serves as the Board Chair of the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum and brings to her work a background in immigration, racial justice, domestic violence prevention, particularly in the South Asian community, and reproductive rights in communities of color. She earned her Ph.D. at the University of California at Berkeley in sociology.
ILEANA JIMENEZ (New York, NY) is an educator and activist for inclusive curriculum and diversity programming. In 2006, she founded the New York Independent Schools LGBT Educator Network and serves as the board Vice Chair and Secretary of the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice. Jimenez also chairs the planning committee for the 2010 Women of Color Conference at Smith College, and serves as a judge for the Lambda Literary Awards, one of the nation’s premier LGBT book awards. Currently a teacher at the Little Red School House & Elisabeth Irwin High School (LREI) in New York City, Jimenez offers courses on feminism, Latina/o literature, LGBT literature and film, and memoir writing. Jimenez received her MA in English Literature at Middlebury College’s Bread Loaf School of English and her BA in English Literature at Smith College.
MANA KASONGO (Albany, GA) Dr. Mana Lumumba-Kasongo is a board-certified emergency physician as well as a nationally published writer. Born in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo), Kasongo received a Master’s degree from the Columbia School of Journalism, co-founded the Black Star News, and worked as a freelance reporter for many news venues including InStyle Magazine and Institutional Investor. Kasongo also received her medical degree from Rush Medical School and completed her residency in emergency medicine from New York University. She has recently had articles published with ABC news, Newsweek, Real Health Magazine. Kasongo has also been a featured speaker and serves on the advisory committee for the College of Communications. Kasongo currently serves as an attending physician at Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital in Albany, Georgia and has an interest and expertise in emergency health care issues, African and African-American politics and women’s health.
KIM KNOWLTON (New York, NY) P.H., is senior scientist with the Health and Environment Program at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), researching and publishing on links between global warming and health, specifically mortality in a changing climate; interactions between climate, ozone and pollen; and disease. A graduate of Cornell University and Hunter College/CUNY, Knowlton received a doctorate in public health from Columbia University, where she is also currently Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences. She received a 2006-2007 Mellon Foundation Teaching Fellowship at Barnard College, and was among the researchers who participated in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s 2007 Fourth Assessment Report.
CRISTINA LÓPEZ (Washington DC) is President of the National Hispana Leadership Institute (NHLI), the premier non-profit organization developing Latina ethical leaders through training, relationship building and community activism. Prior to joining NHLI, López served as Deputy Executive Director of the Center for Community Change (CCC), serving as spokesperson on the immigrant rights movement. López has also served as Vice President of MOSAICA and as Vice President for Institutional Development at the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), and is an involved community activist who has served on numerous boards over the last two decades. She has worked in Latin America on education, health, and human trafficking programs. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from the University of South Florida, Tampa, and a Masters in Social Foundations of Education from the University of Virginia.
TRACY VAN SLYKE (Chicago, IL) is the Program Director of The Media Consortium, a network of the nation’s leading, independent progressive media outlets. Van Slyke’s first book, Beyond the Echo Chamber: How a Networked Progressive Media Can Reshape American Politics will be published in Fall 2009. Van Slyke is the former publisher of In These Times magazine, and in 2005 and 2006, she co-authored several landmark articles on strengthening the progressive media landscape. Previously, Van Slyke served as the Communications Director for the National Training and Information Center and covered national politics in Knight Ridder’s Washington, D.C. bureau. Van Slyke holds a double BA in Journalism and Mass Communications and Literature, Science and the Arts from the University of Iowa.
The Progressive Women’s Voices participants join an outstanding roster of women sources and experts already signed on with the WMC to ensure that women are visible and powerful in the media. The Women’s Media Center acts as a spokesperson resource for media professionals seeking to connect with great women sources in a variety of areas. For more information on the organization or to connect with any of these women, please visit our Progressive Women’s Voices page or contact Tristin Aaron, Media Director, at (212) 563 0680, tristin@womensmediacenter.com.
Tristin Aaron, Media Director
The Women’s Media Center
151 West 25th Street Suite 12F
New York, New York 10001
(t) 212.563.0680
(f) 212.563.0688
The Women’s Media Center
http://www.womensmediacenter.com/
Making women visible and powerful in the media.
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