JAD communications—Helping women on the Journey to Achievement of their Destiny

The LBW conference started with a wonderful reception and a presentation of the 2007 Black Rose Award to NASA Astronaut Joan Higginbotham. As she shared the story of her journey from her hometown of Chicago, Illinois to the Kennedy Space Center, I realized how far we have come as women of color.

Ms. Higginbotham has logged over 308 hours in space having completed her first mission with the crew of STS-116 where her primary task was to operate the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS). I am proud that this young woman is a role model to the LBW members. Joan is pictured below with Sandra Finley, President of the League of Black Women.

The next evening after a full day of seminars such as "Resilience for Leadership Cohesion & Engagement" and "Leading With Substance, Savvy, and Style." We ended the day by presenting the League of Black Women Premier Corporate Partner Award to Ms. Tonie Leatherberry, Director, Deloitte.

A video featuring Doug Lattner, Chairman and CEO for Deloitte Consulting LLP, allowed him to share his commitment to diversity and to women of color with the attendees. Tonie and I are pictured below.

This picture shows Award Recipient Tonie Leatherberry being congratulated by Deloitte and Booz Allen Hamilton attendees.

On Saturday I moderated a panel titled "All the Right Stuff: Preparing Women to Run for Public Office." The panel included Senator Valencia Seay, Rep. Laura Hall, Rep. Nikki T. Randall and Baroness Valarie Amos, Leader of the House of Lords.

At the conclusion of the panel, several attendees voiced their new interest in participating in the political process. Senator Seay and I are pictured below.

We also held High Tea. Hats are required. I LOVED this hat and thought I'd share it with you. The model certainly does it justice!

We closed the conference with a "Friends: Fabulous and Forever Farewell Brunch." I am pleased to report that Baroness Valarie Amos joined us for the entire conference and helped close the conference with a few words.

Baroness Amos was the Keynote Speaker for the conference and I saved this portion of the writeup for last as I found her story so compelling. The Baroness and I are pictured below.

As always, the LBW National Leadership Conference brought together professional women of color from all across the nation. The speakers and topics were timely and topical. For me, this year's conference provided two women of color that are inspirational role models.

Joan Higginbotham grew up in Chicago and set her sights on becoming an astronaut. She achieved that dream and I am sure there is much more to come. To learn more about her achievements visit this link

Baroness Valarie Amos who left Guyana at the age of nine, had a distinguished career in public service, and did lots of work in South Africa after Nelson Mandella came to power. Then in 1997, completely out of the blue, she recieved the call from Tony Blair appointing her Leader of the House of Lords and the Lord President of the Council. Her keynote was memorable, her gentle spirit welcoming, and her achievements inspirational.

As Women of Color we look forward to next year's League of Black Women conference. Until then, don't let weeds grow around your dreams!

Yvonne F. Brown
CEO, JAD Communications International
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