with this edition of diversityinbusiness.com, we have reached an important milestone.  We are celebrating our third anniversary as an independent Internet publication.  It has been an extremely blessed run, and I must thank those of you who have taken a personal interest in our work. You motivate and inspire us. Thank you.

Another reason why our journey has been so blessed is the incredible range of success stories we've encountered.  More than the "success," it's the people we've met that have made our work so rewarding.

You may have noticed that over the the past few months, this publication has promoted the Women in Business 2004 Conference, which will be held in New Orleans, June 22nd through the 24th.  It is a major event for women entrepreneurs, and we're pleased to support the Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), which hosts the annual event.  WBENC and its conference are evidence of the enormous good that can be accomplished when people come together in a spirit of cooperation and mutual respect.

That spirit is a key part of our mission, which is to bridge understanding and promote development between and within diverse communities.  It is our hope that with each edition, we come a little closer to fulfilling our mission.

From our very first edition, women have been an important part of the stories we tell, and this edition is no exception.  In fact, this edition features several remarkable women who have blazed amazing trails for themselves and other women.  We're delighted to feature Lisa Ross who is a senior vice president at Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide.  Ross is among the small but growing cadre of women of color in senior positions within the advertising and public relations industry.

While the corporate world continues to make important strides towards creating more inclusive work environments, the public sector has made significant contributions to the advancement of women, and women of color. 

I'm pleased to introduce Ann Azevedo, who was recently promoted to Chief Scientific and Technical Advisor (CSTA) for Aircraft Safety Analysis within the Federal Aviation Administration.  Azevedo is now responsible for helping the FAA develop and implement policies that lessen the likelihood of accidents in commercial aviation.  Not only is she smart, but her work literally affects the quality of air travel.  That's pretty amazing.

In this edition, we also highlight the achievements of three incredible women who have served their country through in the armed services.  The first is Captain Lillian Kinkela Keill who bravely served in both World War II and the Korean War.  After her military service, she worked for many years as a flight attendant with United Airlines.  Keill is one of the most decorated women in U.S. military history, and the most decorated U.S. military woman of World War II.

Next is Brigadier General Carol Mutter (retired), who achieved a number of firsts for women in the U.S. military.  She was the first woman Marine Major General, and the most senior woman in all the services at that time. Today, she is a member of the Defense Department Advisory Committee on Women in the Services (DACOWITS), which provides the Department of Defense with advice and recommendations on matters and policies pertaining to the recruitment and retention of highly qualified professional women in the armed forces.

While preparing the article on how the military is showing business and civic leaders its efforts in the war on terrorism, I discovered Brigadier General Rosanne Bailey, Commander of the 435th Air Base Wing at Ramstein Air Base, in Germany. She is also Commander of the Kaiserslautern Military Community (KMC) in Germany.  In her dual role as wing and KMC commander, Bailey leads the largest American community outside the United States.

I'm pleased to share the stories of all of these remarkable women with you because they inspire me.  I trust that you will find their stories equally [interesting - if not] inspirational.

As I was finishing the story on Ann Azevedo, she shared something with me that's worth repeating.  She said she had always been good at math, but she added that a high school physics teacher gave her the encouragement she needed to attend technical school.  Her experience demonstrates the enormous potential we all have to positively contribute to the development of another person - especially a young person.

This summer, I hope you will consider spending some time with a young person.  If you do, you just might contribute to the next Ross or the next Azevedo, or perhaps the next brigadier general. 

Bless others and be blessed.

The End