Contact Information:
Jeff Scholes
Linkage, Inc.
781.402.5558
press@linkageinc.com
www.linkageinc.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Women in Leadership Summit Comes to Boston The Event Pursues the Full Partnership of Men and Women Leaders Speakers Include Barbara Corcoran, Goldie Hawn, Among Others

BURLINGTON, MASS. (October 7, 2003) - Linkage, Inc., a global organization specializing in leadership development, will bring its highly successful Women in Leadership Summit to Boston. Held in San Francisco for the past five consecutive years, the Summit is designed to provide participants with the tools and strategies to increase their visibility, influence, and leadership skills throughout organizations of all sizes. The event will run November 3-5, 2003, at The Westin Copley Place.

Today's leadership model is changing from a hierarchical, command-and-control standard to a more collaborative version. Relationally focused and results-oriented, women possess the skills that will increasingly define exemplary leadership. Yet research shows that women leaders are leaving Fortune 500 companies at a rate of 1,400-1,600 per day, twice the rate of men, to start their own businesses or work for competitors. In addition, recent research from The Glass Ceiling Research Center shows that the 25 Fortune 500 companies with the best track record of promoting women to high positions are 18-69% more profitable than the median Fortune 500 firms in their industries.

"Research shows that high-performing organizations require the presence of inclusive leadership models involving the full partnership of both male and female leaders. Without them, companies face enormous ramifications related to the loss of intellectual capital and high turnover costs," says Linda Coughlin, president of Linkage, Inc. "We designed the Women in Leadership Summit to enhance women's leadership capabilities, enabling them to make a real difference within organizations, communities and the world. Linkage is thrilled to be offering this exceptional program to executives on the East Coast."

The Boston keynote roster includes multi-billion-dollar entrepreneur Barbara Corcoran, former White House aide and best-selling author Gail Evans and actress, producer, and CEO Goldie Hawn, among others.

Along with seven inspirational keynotes, the Summit program features 25 critical skill-building learning labs designed to equip women with the strategies, skills, and techniques to catalyze change, accelerate development, gain visibility within an organization, and create sustainable operating results. An unprecedented agenda also features nine radically honest Speak Up/Speak Out sessions and a new track dedicated to entrepreneurs and corporate innovators.

In addition, Linkage will be contributing a percentage of Summit proceeds to "Today's Girls… Tomorrow's Leaders," an initiative of the United Way of Massachusetts Bay.

About Linkage, Inc.
Linkage, Inc. is a global organizational development company that specializes in leadership development. Serving the public and private sectors, the Company provides clients around the globe with customized leadership development and strategic change solutions that include and integrate consulting, training, assessment, coaching, and benchmark research. With a relentless commitment to learning, Linkage also offers a full range of conferences, institutes, summits, public workshops, and distance learning programs on leading-edge topics in leadership, management, HR, and OD. More than 100,000 leaders and managers have attended such a Linkage program since the Company's founding in 1988. Linkage is headquartered in Burlington, Massachusetts, with regional offices in Minneapolis, Atlanta, San Francisco, London, Brussels, and Singapore. On two occasions, Linkage has been named to the Inc. 500, a list of the fastest growing private companies in the United States.