New York, N.Y. – July 20, 2004 – The National Urban League will pay tribute to the accomplishments of seven very distinguished women at the inaugural Women of Power Awards Luncheon, sponsored by Office Depot, General Mills and Federated Department Stores, on Saturday, July 24 at 12:30 p.m. at Cobo Center, National Urban League Marc H. Morial announced today.

The theme of the conference is Empowerment: Building on the Civil Rights Movement and is expected to draw 15,000 attendees from across the nation and the region. Registration is now open and available via website at www.nul.org and by telephone (800-263-9926). .

The National Urban League 2004 Annual Conference takes place Wednesday, July 21 through Sunday, July 25 at the COBO Center. The Detroit Urban League, under the leadership of N. Charles Anderson, is the host affiliate. G. Richard Wagoner, Chairman, President and CEO, General Motors Corporation will serve as the 2004 Conference Chairperson. Roderick D. Gillum, Vice President/Corporate Diversity, General Motors Corporation is the Host Committee Chairman. .

The National Urban League is the nation’s largest civil rights and community based organization. With over 100 affiliates in 35 states, the National Urban League serves 2 million people in the African American and urban communities nationwide. .

Awardees include: Civil Rights - Rosa Parks, Mother of the Civil Rights Movement; Entertain/News - Linda Johnson-Rice, President & CEO, Johnson Publishing Company; Entrepreneur - Cathy Hughes, Founder and Chairperson, Radio One, Inc. and NUL Trustee; Politics - The Honorable Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, Michigan’s 13th District; Corporate -Myrtle S. Potter, President, Commercial Operations, Genentech, Inc.; Local Leader - Ella Bully-Cummings, Detroit Chief of Police; and Justice - Kamala D. Harris, District Attorney, San Francisco. Michele Morial, CBS newscaster and BET News anchor will serve as mistress of ceremonies. .

“The National Urban League salutes the outstanding achievements of these Women of Power,” said Marc H. Morial, President & CEO, National Urban League. “We are delighted to honor their accomplishments and host them at our annual conference. The Women of Power Awards Luncheon will continue at the annual conference as we showcase the contributions of women in civil rights, entertainment, entrepreneurship, corporate, politics and justice.” .

Conference highlights include the National Urban League President’s Keynote address, Wednesday, July 21 from 6:00 p.m. through 8:00 p.m.; and an address by President George Bush, Friday, July 23 at 10.00 a.m. and Democratic Presidential nominee Senator John Kerry on Thursday, July 22 at 10:00 a.m. .

Other speakers include U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige; Jesse Jackson, Sr., Founder & President, Rainbow/PUSH Operation; Ann Fudge, Chairman & CEO, Young & Rubicam Inc; Rosa Parks, mother of the modern-day civil rights movement; Dr. Charles J. Ogletree, Jesse Climenko Professor of Law, Harvard Law School; Professor Derrick Bell, NYU School of Law District; the Honorable Dennis W. Archer, President, American Bar Association; Cathy L. Hughes, Founder and Chairperson, Radio One, Inc.; Linda Johnson-Rice, President & CEO, Johnson Publishing Company; Donna Brazile, Managing Director, Brazile & Associates; the Reverend Al Sharpton, Founder, National Action Network; Ted Shaw, Director-Counsel, NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund; and Dr. Charles Adams, Pastor, Hartford Memorial Baptist Church, Detroit. .

Other conference highlights include five new Empowerment Exhibit Zones on Health, Employment, Technology, Homeownership, and Fun (Education & Learning) that are free and open to the public; the Women of Power Awards luncheon; the Vote 2004: Hip Hop Voter Empowerment Rally & Voter Registration Drive to register youth and young adults; the annual Whitney M. Young, Jr. Conference gala tribute to legends; the NULYP (National Urban League Young Professionals) Training Ground: A Next Generation Leadership Development Seminar; A NULITES (National Urban League Incentives to Excel and Succeed) Youth Summit. The nationally syndicated Tom Joyner Sky Show will also broadcast live from the conference. .

New additions to the conference include a 3-kilometer Wellness Walk targeting community health empowerment; an Urban League Book Drive for Detroit Youth; a Behind the Business Tour of Detroit’s African-American businesses; and a historic bus tour of Detroit, which will include the original Motown Studio and the Charles H. Wright Museum of African History.

In addition, strategic vision forums will address empowering the black male, closing the achievement gap, best diversity practices, health disparities in the African-American community, America’s workforce crisis and reinvestment for urban communities.

National Urban League conference activities open to registered guests include the President’s keynote address; and the annual Whitney M. Young, Jr. Conference Gala Special Tribute to Legends. The free Career Fair, located in the Employment Zone, features more than 100 Fortune 500 and high-tech companies, as well as non-profit and government agencies with both local and national job opportunities.

Women of Powers Awardees

The Honorable Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick Member, U.S. House of Representatives 13th Congressional District, Michigan

The Honorable Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick is serving her fourth term as the Congresswoman from Michigan’s 13th Congressional District. Her hard work and thoughtful political leadership style has earned her the confidence and respect of her peers who appointed her to the powerful House Appropriations Committee, the only Michigan Democrat on this committee which authorizes spending for all levels of the federal government. She is also a member of the Transportation, Treasury and Independent Agencies Committee and the Foreign Operations Subcommittees of the Appropriations Committee where she plays an integral role in determining the funding of such programs as the U.S. Highway System, Peace Corps, National Transportation Safety Board and the Agency for International Development.

Rosa Louise Parks Civil Rights Activist

Rosa Louise Parks is nationally recognized as the “mother of the modern civil rights movement” in America. Her refusal to surrender her seat to a white male passenger on a Montgomery, Alabama bus triggered a wave of protest in December, 1955 that reverberated throughout the U.S. Her quiet, courageous act changed America, its view of black people and redirected the course of history. A boycott of that city’s bus line that included sympathizers from all races throughout the south and the country lasted 381 days and was led by Martin Luther King, Jr. Mrs. Parks moved to Detroit, Michigan in 1957 and became a deaconess in the African Methodist Episcopal Church in 1964. From 1965 to 1988, she was employed by Congressman John Conyers.

Myrtle S. Potter President, Commercial Operations Genentech, Inc

Myrtle S. Potter is president, Commercial Operations at Genentech, Inc. where she leads Sales, Marketing, Managed Care, Commercial Development and Dedicated Support for Commercial Operations functions. She also co-chairs Genentech’s Product Portfolio Committee, providing strategic and financial oversight of Genentech’s drug development portfolio. She joined Genentech in 2000 as executive vice president and chief operating officer. Prior to joining Genentech, Ms. Potter was president of Bristol-Myers Squibb’s U.S. Cardiovascular/Metabolics business unit. She spent 14 years at Merck & Co., Inc in a variety of sales, marketing and business planning positions. In 2003, Ms. Potter was named to Fortune magazine’s Top 50 Most Powerful Women in Business and in 2002, was named to Fortune’s Most Powerful Black Executives in America list.

Ella M. Bully-Cummings, Chief of Police City of Detroit

Ella M. Bully-Cummings is Detroit’s Chief of Police and the first female chief in the Police Department’s 138-year history. Leading more than 4,700 sworn officers and civilian employees, Ms. Bully-Cummings is in command of the 10th largest police department in the nation. She first joined the Detroit Police Department in 1977 assigned to patrol duty. As she rose through the ranks, she assumed various responsibilities including commanding officer of the Crime Prevention Section, the Public Information Section and the Administrative Services Bureau. Appointed to rank of commander in 1988, Ms. Bully-Cummings took over as commanding officer of the 8th Precinct and was subsequently named acting deputy chief of the Western Operations Bureau with oversight over several precincts. She retired in 1999 to pursue a law practice. She rejoined the Detroit Police Department as the first female assistant chief of police in 2002 until her elevation to chief in 2003.

Kamala D. Harris District of Attorney San Francisco, California

Kamala D. Harris is the District of Attorney of San Francisco, a position to which she was elected with 56 percent of the vote on her first run for public service. Her election is historical in that Ms. Harris is the first woman to serve as District Attorney in California; the first African American in history to serve as District Attorney in California and; the first Indian American in the United States to serve as District Attorney. A veteran prosecutor with 13 years of courtroom experience, Ms. Harris has dedicated her legal talents to prosecuting violent crime and combating sexual exploitation of children. After 8 years as Deputy District Attorney in Alameda County, she joined the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office and subsequently led the Division of Families and Children in the San Francisco City Attorney’s office. A longtime community leader in the Bay Area, she is the recipient of numerous awards in recognition of her work. Ms. Harris is a graduate of Howard University and received a J.D. from Hastings College of Law.

Cathy L. Hughes, Founder and /Chairperson
Radio One, Inc.

Cathy L. Hughes is founder, and chairperson of Radio One, Inc., the largest African American owned and operated broadcast company in the nation, the first African American company in radio history to dominate several major markets simultaneously and, the first woman-owned radio station to rank #1 in any major market. Ms. Hughes entered radio in 1973 as general sales manager at WHUR, Howard University Radio. She purchased WOL-AM (D.C.), her first radio station in 1980. Today, it is the most listened to talk radio in the nation’s capital. Her stations now reach over 18 million Black listeners daily.

Linda Johnson Rice, President & CEO
Johnson Publishing Company

Linda Johnson Rice is president and CEO of Johnson Publishing Company, publishers of EBONY and JET magazines. In addition, Johnson Publishing Company is also the owner of Fashion Fair Cosmetics, Supreme Beauty Products, the Johnson Publishing Company Book Division and produces the EBONY Fashion Fair, the world’s largest traveling fashion that has donated over $50 million to charitable causes. She is responsible for overseeing the corporation’s domestic and international business operations and the implementation of several innovative systems and new technologies, which has resulted in increased productivity for both the publishing and cosmetics sectors of the business.