Charlottesville – February 10
Downtown Richmond – March 25
Chester – May 13
Southside – May 27
Innsbrook – July 21
Fredericksburg – October 7
West End – November 8

Justin was happy to help this worthy cause and feels his time in the “slammer” proved to be enlightening.

The personal stories by some of the speakers were touching and the event as a whole was educational. M. H. West & Co., Inc. is proud to be a table sponsor for this worthy cause, not only this year but for the years to come.

Marilyn, Meaghan and Erica each enjoyed NAWBO’s meeting and thought it was a postive start to the year.

The keynote speaker was Louis Sullivan, M.D. who gave an interesting speech on the need for more diversity among health professionals. Other speakers included: Governor Tim Kaine (on his last day in office), Mayor Dwight Jones, Senior Vice President at Dominion, Robert Blue and Chairman of the Board of Trustees at Virginia Union, Dr. Frank Royal. The Virginia Union Singers did a great job of performing musical selections throughout the event.

It was interesting to hear from the many speakers how the words, ideals and actions of Dr. King influenced their lives and inspired them to make the world a better place. It was inspiring that Dr. King used innovative methods (at the time) to achieve his goals which were the timeless principles of equality and dignity.

Please see this link for more information on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The conference brought together jurisdictions from around the country that are currently implementing the gang violence and/or the drug market strategy. The participating groups shared best practices and addressed common issues such as; providing a supportive community of practice for new jurisdictions and working to make these strategies standard practice across the United States.

Some of the best minds of the criminal justice system and youth welfare were at the conference. Innovative programs like David Kennedy’s Ceasefire, provided a sense of optimism to conference participants that crime reduction was possible when a solid plan is implemented.

M.H. West & Co., Inc.’s Health & Human Services Analyst, Erica Cage attended and came away impressed with many of the speakers. She also found it insightful that the speakers focused the dialogue on health care pertaining to Richmond in particular.

Topics discussed at the 2009 Diversity and Aging Forum included:

• Cutting-edge research, and innovative programs on diversity and aging
• Issues faced by older adults from diverse communities
• Information on managing an older and more diverse workforce

Erica Cage found the forum to be extremely informative and seemed particularly impressed with keynote speaker, Kathy Greenlee. Meaghan found it interesting that the AARP is educating not only seniors but everyone on the issues facing seniors.  The AARP also is playing a significant role in the health care debate to ensure that seniors are provided affordable and attainable health care.

The Richmond Kidney Walk is an event that has grown each year and all the WEST  members were happy to donate their time and effort to this worthy cause.