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March 19, 2004
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Women Business Leaders to Gather at Smith College to Stir Interest In Business and Encourage Business Careers Among Undergraduate Women

Additional Contact:
Elizabeth Koons
Sommerfield Communications, Inc.
(212) 255-8386
elizabeth@sommerfield.com

Kick-Off of Committee of 200's National Undergraduate Outreach Program Designed to Combat Lack of Interest in Business -- Confirmed in Recent Study ­ Among Young Women

Two-Day Event ­ 3/26 and 3/27 ­ Addresses Entrepreneurship, Liberal Arts and Business, Networking, Negotiating and Personal-Professional Balance

Northampton, MA ­ March 19, 2004 ­ The Committee of 200 (C200), an organization of leading women business owners and corporate decisionmakers, will bring 20 of its members to Smith College to lead two days of forums and workshops designed to inspire and feed interest in business among undergraduates at the nation's largest women's college.

"Women At The Top: Leading Business, Leading Change" will take place on Friday, March 26, and Saturday, March 27. The event is the pilot for a planned series of similar programs at campuses around the country. Topics will include: entrepreneurship; leveraging a liberal arts degree; networking; negotiating; work/life balance, and using business to change society.

Said Carolee Friedlander, Vice Chair of C200 and President and CEO of Carolee Designs: "Our own national survey research tells us that 97% of young women expect to work to support themselves and their families -- but that fewer than 10% of them anticipate careers in business. This is because young women simply don't see business as being aligned with their aspirations or as a way to contribute in a positive way to the world. With this program at Smith, and subsequent ones based on it, we hope to transform these perceptions and demonstrate how fulfilling and creative business careers can be ­ and how business can and does enhance society."

The program at Smith, which is coordinated through the college's Women & Financial Independence Program (WFI), will include a keynote address by Shelly Lazarus, Chairman & CEO of Ogilvy & Mather Advertising and a Smith graduate, and a plenary session called "The Power of Women in Business to Change the World."

In addition to Ms. Lazarus, C200 participants at the Smith event include:
• Carolee Friedlander, President & CEO, Carolee Designs, Inc., and Vice Chair of C200
Ann Kaplan, President, Circle Financial, and Smith College graduate
• Joanne Griffin, Corporate Vice President, Enterprise Rent-A-Car Company, and Smith College graduate
Doris Meister, Senior Vice President, Private Wealth Management, Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., and Smith College graduate
• Jeanette Wagner, Vice Chairman Emeritus, The Estee Lauder Companies, Inc.
Lurita Doan, President and CEO, New Technology Management, Inc.
• Eve Benton, Co-Chairman and CEO, Precision Certipro Warehouse, Inc., and Smith College graduate
Robin Brooks, Chairman & CEO, Brooks Food Group, Inc., and Smith College graduate
• Carolyn Setlow, Senior Vice President, NOP World (formerly RopeASW), and Smith College graduate

Topics of forums and breakout sessions at the event include:
• How I Turned My Passion Into Profit: Entrepreneurship
• The Liberal Arts and Business: A Winning Combination
• Tips From the Top on Networking and Negotiating
• A Balancing Act: Achieving Personal and Professional Fulfillment

New C200 Imperative: Reach Women Undergraduates

The Smith College event extends C200's educational outreach efforts, which had been focused on women graduate students, to women undergraduates. Over the past decade, more than 11,000 women MBA candidates have participated in C200 programs, from mentoring initiatives and seminars to case studies of women-owned businesses.

Smith College students who participate in the free-of-charge event will also be able to apply for 10 summer internships hosted by C200 members' companies. Each internship lasts two and a half months and includes an educational stipend of $5000.

About C200

The Committee of 200 is the organization of preeminent businesswomen that capitalizes on the success, power and influence of women in the global economy. The mission of C200 is to exemplify and promote entrepreneurship and corporate leadership among women of this generation and the next. C200 reaches out to a broad spectrum of women: from young girls, to female students in the country's leading business schools, to women running their own businesses and the largest corporations, to mentor and educate them for leadership and success.

C200 membership requires that women either be entrepreneurs with annual revenues of over $15 million, or run companies or a division with at least $250 million in annual revenues. The membership controls over $100 billion in corporate revenues.

Founded in 1982, the C200's early members include Muriel Siebert, the first woman to own a seat on the New York Stock Exchange; Lillian Vernon, the catalogue entrepreneur; the late Katherine Graham, publisher of the Washington Post; Sherry Lansing, Chairman and CEO of Paramount Picture Group, and Ellen Gordon, President and COO of Tootsie Roll Industries, Inc.

The C200 executive offices are located at 980 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60611-3108. C200's website address is: http://www.c200.org.

About Smith College

Smith College is consistently ranked among the nation_s foremost liberal arts colleges. Enrolling 2,800 students from every state and 60 other countries, Smith is the largest undergraduate women_s college in the country.

For More Information

Journalists interested in attending the event at Smith College, receiving additional materials or speaking with C200 members should contact Elizabeth Koons of Sommerfield Communications, Inc. at 212-255-8386 or elizabeth@sommerfield.com, or Laurie Fenlason of Smith College at (413) 585-2190 or lfenlaso@email.smith.edu.

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