LSUS institute hosting symposium in D.C. 10/15/02

The LSUS Institute for Human Services and Public Policy will host “The Nonprofit Connection: A Renaissance Experience for National Nonprofit CEOs,” at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., Nov. 6.

The seven-hour symposium, co-sponsored by the national Points of Light Foundation and limited to 30 national nonprofit CEOs, will feature a keynote address by Leslie Lenkowsky, CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service. John Bridgeland, executive director of the USA Freedom Corps, will make closing remarks.

Three panel discussions will deal with areas of need outlined by President George W. Bush in establishing the Freedom Corps: responding in case of crisis at home, rebuilding our communities and extending American compassion throughout the world.

According to Norman Dolch, the LSUS institute’s director, Bush, in establishing the Freedom Corps, called on every American to commit at least 4,000 hours of voluntary service over their lifetime. “This renaissance experience will explore the various dimensions of the president’s challenge and how the nonprofit sector can respond,” Dolch said.

Dolch, LSUS Chancellor Vince Marsala and Points of Light Foundation CEO Bob Goodwin are scheduled to welcome the 30 participants and 11 panelists and speakers.

“Crisis at home” panelists are Marsha Johnson Evans, president and CEO of the American Red Cross; Bobby Jindal, assistant secretary in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and former president of the University of Louisiana System, and Terry Scanlon, president of the Capital Research Center.

Panelists discussing “rebuilding our communities” will be Mack McCarter, founder of Shreveport-Bossier Community Renewal; Floyd Morris, program officer with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and Suzanne Morse, executive director of the Pew Partnership for Civic Change.

The “compassion” panel will comprise Hal Corlew, Habitat for Humanity International’s director of national service; Thomas J. Walker, vice president of marketing and communications, United Way International, and Robert Long, vice president for programs, W. K. Kellogg Foundation.

The Kellogg Foundation is one of six symposium sponsors. The others are Willis-Knighton Health System, American Humanics, Inc., KPMG Foundation, State Street Bank & Trust Company, and Grant Thornton.