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

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Upcoming Conference to Unite Over 650 Diversity Practitioners

LEXINGTON, MASS. (January 25, 2002) - The Third Annual Summit on Leading Diversity, a conference launched two years ago by Linkage, Inc., in response to the demand for high quality diversity training continues to boast one of the best educational programs and committed communities available for the nation's diversity practitioners. This community will convene again April 8-11, 2002 at the Crowne Plaza Ravinia in Atlanta, GA.

The Summit offers a compelling recipe for aligning and integrating diversity into your strategic business plan… Take more than 650 diversity professionals from across the nation. Add a world class and inspirational keynote line up led by Oscar nominee actor, director, and civil rights activist Edward James Olmos. Mix in skill building and best practices from organizations ranked in Fortune as "America's 50 Best Companies for Minorities" along with some of today's most influential community and special interest groups to create the premier event for diversity practitioners, where attendees leave capable of accelerating diversity initiatives and acquire real strategies and solutions to solve their most critical diversity challenges.

"Great experience-I wish the whole organization could attend. [The Summit] exceeded my expectations," said Nancy E. Long, project specialist-IS, diversity committee member, Coca-Cola Enterprises and 2001 Summit attendee.

"I appreciate all the hard work put into making this one of the very best conferences on diversity I have ever attended. After 12 years in the field, I still learned some things about diversity. Thanks!" said Janice Wilson, diversity program manager, CIA and 2001 Summit attendee.

The Summit focuses on all areas of diversity including; ethnicity, religion, culture, sexual orientation, and people with disabilities, bringing you a true representation of the all differences we face in the workplace and providing attendees with the training needed to achieve desired results.

The Summit features a world-class keynote line up including:

• Edward James Olmos, actor, director and civil rights activist
  
• Alexis M. Herman, former Secretary of Labor and chairwoman of the Coca -Cola Company's diversity task force
  
• Aida Alverez, first Hispanic woman to head the U.S. Small Business Administration and the first Puerto Rican in any president's cabinet
  
• Myrlie Evers-Williams, former chairperson, NAACP; author, For Us the Living and Watch Me Fly: What I Learned on the Way to Becoming the Woman I Was Meant to Be
  
• Steve Hanamura, author, In Search of Vision and co-owner of Hanamura Consulting
  
• Mark Williams, CEO and president of The Diversity Channel and author, The 10 Lenses: Your Guide to Living and Working in a Multicultural World
  
• Best Practice Presentations from Senior Executives from organizations ranked in Fortune as "America's 50 Best Companies for Minorities":
  
• Maurice Cox, vice president, corporate development and diversity, Pepsi Cola
  
• Stephen Young, senior vice president, corporate diversity, JP Morgan Chase
  
• Al Little, executive vice president of human resources, Newport News Shipbuilding
  
• Charles R. Morgan, executive vice president and general counsel, BellSouth
  
• Amy Frost, training and development manager, Abbott Laboratories