Diversity conference set for September

“Working with New Hampshire Businesses, Creating Opportunities, Building Bridges and Forging Alliances For a More Diverse New Hampshire” is the theme of the fourth annual New Hampshire Diversity Conference, scheduled for Sept. 19 in Manchester.

Put together by the New Hampshire Cultural Diversity Awareness Council, the conference and its accompanying expo and career fair is designed to help New Hampshire businesses, government agencies, and educational institutions learn more about diversity and its benefits.

Focus of the discussion will be on ethnicity, women and people with disabilities. Organizers say that conference topics will connect attendees and panelists with open and honest dialogue on such topics as:

• Why is diversity important for business?
• Avoiding common pitfalls in building a diverse workplace
• Learning about the many faces of New Hampshire
• Is diversity good for business?

Keynote speaker is Erle Pierce, vice president of Verizon New Hampshire. Also among the participants will be Congressman Jeb Bradley, Elizabeth Moore, a partner and labor and employment attorney with Nixon Peabody LLP, recipient of the New York City Bar Association’s Diversity Champion Award, and David Casey, vice president for diversity and workplace culture for Wellpoint/Anthem Inc.

The Business & Industry Association of New Hampshire, along with the Greater Concord, Manchester and Nashua chambers of commerce, are co-sponsors of the conference.

The conference begins at 11:30 a.m. at the Center of New Hampshire Radisson Hotel in Manchester.

For more information, contact Wayne Jennings, chair of the New Hampshire Cultural Diversity Awareness Council, at 487-385 or visit nhcdac.org.