[Press Release] : Columbia receives 2008 City Cultural Diversity Award

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 13, 2008

Contact: Renee Graham
Public Communications 
(573) 874-7316


Columbia receives 2008 City Cultural Diversity Award from National
League of Cities and National Black Caucus of Elected Officials

	(Columbia, MO) -- Mayor Darwin Hindman is pleased to announce
that Columbia received a National League of Cities’ (NLC) and National
Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials (NBC-LEO) 2008 City Cultural
Diversity Award, which recognizes community efforts to enhance and
celebrate cultural diversity.
	Columbia was recognized for the Columbia Values Diversity
Breakfast and Columbia Values Diversity Awards. The breakfast and awards
ceremony occur annually on the Thursday before the nation celebrates the
Martin Luther King Jr. birthday. The Columbia Values Diversity Awards
are presented to citizens whose work exemplifies the life and teachings
of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by fostering individual dignity, racial
equality, understanding, peacemaking and solving problems through
non-violence.  
	The City’s Office of Community Services, Columbia Values
Diversity Celebration Planning Committee, the Human Rights Commission
and Let’s Talk Columbia Volunteers work to create a variety of
diversity programs included in the award application.
	Mayor Hindman welcomed the acknowledgement of Columbia’s
diversity breakfast and awards. “City staff and community partners
work hard to create an event that crosses cultural barriers, invites
inclusiveness and celebrates diversity. It is gratifying that such an
esteemed national organization has recognized their efforts,” says
Hindman.     
	The awards were presented Monday, March 10, during the annual
“Celebrate Diversity” Breakfast at NLC’s Congressional City
Conference in Washington, D.C.  House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn
(D-SC) provided the keynote address, focusing on the importance of
diversity to a community’s culture and quality of life.
	The NLC/NBC-LEO City Cultural Diversity Awards were established
in 1995 to promote cultural diversity in community governance through
citizen and community participation. Winning cities are selected from a
pool of applicants and are grouped according to population. Columbia was
the winner in the 20,000 - 100,000 population group. Other City Cultural
Diversity Awards were presented to Enterprise, Ala.; Alexandria, Va.;
and Phoenix, Ariz. 
	NBC-LEO President-Elect Daisy W. Lynum, mayor pro tem, Orlando,
Fla., chaired this year’s awards competition. The National Black
Caucus of Local Elected Officials (NBC-LEO) was established in 1970. A
constituency group of the National League of Cities, NBC-LEO advocates
for the interests of African-American local elected officials. Its
mission is to provide African-American municipal officials and their
colleagues with forums to share ideas, discussion groups to develop
strategies for improving municipal governance, debates on policy issues,
and programs that contribute to the success of America’s cities and
towns.
	For more information on the City Cultural Diversity Awards,
visit NBC-LEO’s Web site at www.nbc-leo.org. For more information on
the Congressional City Conference, visit NLC’s Web site at
www.nlc.org.
	Information about the Columbia Values Diversity Breakfast and
Columbia Values  Diversity Awards are available on the City’s Web site
at www.GoColumbiaMo.com.

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