---Inclusive Leadership remains key business imperative---
The Executive Leadership Council, the preeminent organization that recognizes the strengths, success, contributions, and impact of African-American corporate business leaders, recently hosted its 2008 annual recognition activities. The Council's mission is to build an inclusive business leadership pipeline and to develop African-American corporate leaders. According to president and chief executive officer Carl Brooks, "the commitment of our member companies to foster business excellence through inclusion is as strong as ever and will be quite evident during our three-day event, despite present economic uncertainties for the business sector." More than 35 Fortune 500 CEOs participated in the 8th Annual CEO Diversity Summit, a half-day, "top-to-top" meeting that focused on issues of diversity in corporate America. Participants came from a wide variety of industries to share and discuss issues, insights and best practices for making the business case for diversity as a business imperative globally. This year's Annual Recognition Dinner hosted more than 85 Fortune CEOs, boasting the larger attendance from chief executives to-date.  The Executive Leadership Council is the nation's premier leadership organization of the most senior African-American corporate executives in Fortune 500 companies. With more than 460 members, one-third of them women, The Executive Leadership Council represents well over 270 major corporations.

Barack Obama

Marc Morial

Ruby Dee(Left)

Aids Living Quilt

Business World Index

---ElectionWatch 2008: Gender Gaps---
Most national and state polls conducted after the first two presidential debates and the vice presidential debate continue to show gender gaps, according to the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP). CAWP's latest review of polls is part of Women's Vote Watch, a weekly look at the women's vote in the 2008 presidential election. After the first two presidential debates and the vice-presidential debate, polls continue to show gender gaps in a range consistent with those in presidential elections since 1980. All of the national polls conducted since the first debate report Senator Barack Obama in the lead. There is variation among gender gaps, with almost all showing women supporting Obama at a higher level than men. One poll (LA Times/Bloomberg) finds no gender gap, and one (CBS/NY Times) actually reports slightly higher levels of support for Obama among men than women, but with majorities of both men and women supporting him.

---Annual Conference Board's 2008 Diversity Seminars - October 21-22---
The Annual Conference Board's 2008 Diversity Seminars - A Cultural Blueprint for Workplace Diversity:  Strategies & Solutions (www.conference- board.org/diversityseminars) to be held October 21-22 at The Westin Alexandria in Alexandria, Virigina will focus  on what can be done to respond to global critical needs. Day One will focus on Strategic Planning for moving Diversity toward Inclusion.  Day Two will focus on solving problems that surface in niche areas of diversity and inclusion. Companies participating include: Capital One, BP, Goldman Sachs, The MDB Group, Inc., PWC, Nestle, USA, and others. Some of the sessions planned include:
--Diversity & Inclusion as Enablers of Global Business Success
--Creating the Pipeline to Sustainability
--Checking the Box: Gender, Race or Both?
--Diferent Women, Different Places
--Creating Competency Profiles
--Employee Resource Groups: How They Can Enable Culture Shift
--Cultural Dexterity
To register,  go to www.conference-board.org/diversityseminars  or call (212) 339-0345.

---National Urban League's President and CEO Marc H. Morial  on Current Economic Crisis---The National Urban League's President and CEO, Marc H. Morial, recently testified before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs at a hearing titled: "Turmoil in the U.S. Credit Markets: The Genesis of the Current Economic Crisis." In the last few weeks, Morial and the National Urban League have undertaken an aggressive campaign directed at the nation's financial leaders to dispel the dangerous and growing myth that minority borrowers are primarily responsible for the country's current economic crisis. Morial calls this "blame game" the weapon of mass deception. Let your local Urban League know how you feel about this issue.

---Remembering Luther Henderson---
The stars came out in grand style in support of the recent benefit concert gala Spreadin' Rhythm Around:Celebrating The Life and Music of Luther Henderson.  Directed by famed director George C. Wolfe, the concert raised funds for The Luther Henderson Scholarship Fund benefiting students of color who study music at The Julliard School.  The concert featured Nancy Wilson, Savion Glover, Leslie Uggams, the Canadian Brass Quintet and other stars.  Ruby shared her thoughts on the scholarship noting,  "Whenever I think of Luther Henderson, I feel like snapping my fingers and tapping my toes!  He left us a legacy of rich rhythms and an appreciation for the full spectrum of music that he brought to Broadway and beyond."   Luther Henderson orchestrated, arranged and composed over 50 Broadway musical including Jelly's Last Jam and Ain't Misbehavin.' In the photo, Ruby Dee shares a moment with Mrs. Billie Allen Henderson. Photo credit: Gerald Peart

---Southern AIDS Living Quilt Project---
Seventy percent of people living with AIDS in Louisiana are minorities, with AIDS being the leading cause of death for African American women ages 25-34 today. On Wednesday, October 22, The Southern AIDS Coalition (SAC) and Test for Life will launch the Southern AIDS Living Quilt, a website featuring real-life video stories from southern women on the frontlines of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The Living Quilt project brings to life the impact of HIV/AIDS in the South, highlighting the disproportionate impact on women, particularly women of color, and providing critical information about routine testing and prevention services and the importance of early diagnosis.