TOPIC: A study shows the majority of the nation's poor are stuck in urban areas immersed in poverty, according to an article by The Associated Press. The study, released by the Brookings Institution, claims while public housing was concentrated in urban areas, new schools and jobs were developed in the suburbs, making it difficult for people living in poverty to gain access to opportunities to better their economic situations. Atlanta has taken steps to do away with the city's areas of concentrated poverty by developing mixed-income neighborhoods in their place.

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Dr. Marsha Firestone is founder and president of the Women Presidents' Organization, a nonprofit membership organization whose members are a diverse group of entrepreneurial women presidents who have guided their businesses to generate at least $2 million in gross annual sales. As President, Marsha oversees the strategic operations of 55 chapters focusing on organizational growth and empowering members to achieve increased business and financial success. Marsha is a renowned speaker with engagements ranging from Tulane University, New York Women's Agenda Entrepreneurs Update, University of Syracuse, to The Center for Women's Business Research Roundtable and Unicul International in Tokyo, Japan. She has published research in both business and educational journals on such topics as adult learning theory, nonverbal communication and managerial competency. Since founding WPO, Marsha has received numerous awards for her work including a special achievement award from Woman, Inc. of Jamaica, the Applause Award for breaking down barriers for women in business from Women's Business Enterprise National Council, The Hall of Fame Award from Enterprising Women, the Outstanding Alumna Award 2003 from Sophie Newcomb College of Tulane University and the 2004 WMBE Outreach Award from the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce. In 2003, she was appointed to the National Women's Business Council, which reports to the President and Congress on issues of importance to women in business. Prior to the WPO, Marsha's career included leadership roles at Women Incorporated; the American Woman's Economic Development Corporation (AWED); a for-profit education institution; and the Women's American ORT. She also was a faculty member at the American Management Association Competency-Based Management Development Program, City University of New York and Adelphi University. Marsha earned a Master's degree in Communication from Teacher's College of New York, as well as a Ph.D. in Communication from Columbia University, where Margaret Mead sat on her dissertation committee. As an active member in her community, Marsha participates in New York Women's Agenda, the Board of Advisors of the Women's Leadership Initiative at Harvard's Kennedy School, the Board of the Women's Business Enterprise National Council, the Merrill Lynch Diversity Advisory Council, the American Express Open Network Advisory Council and the advisory councils of Women's Financial Network, the International Women's Forum and Enterprising Women. In 1998, Marsha was Executive Director of The Women's Economic Summit where her work resulted in a master plan for accelerating the growth of women's business that was presented to Congress and the public in March 1999. PR Contact: Patty Briguglio, 919-233-6600, patty@mmimarketing.com

Joel John Roberts is the chief executive officer of People Assisting the Homeless (P.A.T.H.). It has become a region-wide agency serving homeless people throughout Los Angeles, Santa Monica, West Hollywood, Hollywood and the Antelope Valley. He is a member of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority Advisory Board, chair of the Spa 4 Metro West Coalition, executive board member of the Westside Hunger and Shelter Coalition, advisory board member of the Asian Pacific AIDS Intervention Team and a Fellow of the Zero Divide Initiative. While attending California State University, Long Beach, he traveled throughout Asia and Africa witnessing poverty and hunger in many countries, unforgettable images that steered him to serving the poor. P.A.T.H. was founded in 1984 in West Los Angeles through a coalition of churches, temples, businesses and community leaders who sought a solution to help homeless people. Rather than establish a soup kitchen or food giveaway program, this group created P.A.T.H., a program to offer homeless people a hand up, not a hand out. Today a multitude of programs help homeless people find work, save money, secure housing, and empower their lives. Roberts has also written the book "How To Increase Homelessness," which highlights the absurd phenomenon of homelessness and takes the debate to an ironically new level. The satiric, practical handbook guides readers through one of society's most difficult and divisive problems and provides hopeful insights and tools for ending homelessness. Loyal Publishing published the book in October 2004. PR Contact: Chris Northrup, 310-836-4381, chris@bjrpr.com

Dr. Merrill Vargo, executive director of Springboard Schools, is both an experienced academic and a practical expert in the field of school reform. Before founding Springboard Schools as the Bay Area School Reform Collaborative (BASRC) in January 1995, Dr. Vargo spent nine years teaching English in a variety of settings, managed her own consulting firm, and served as executive director of the California Institute for School Improvement, a Sacramento-based nonprofit that provides staff development and policy analysis for educators. Dr. Vargo served as Director of Regional Programs and Special Programs and Special Projects for the California Department of Education, where she provided leadership to several key school reform efforts, including the SB 1274 School Restructuring Initiative, Charter Schools, Goals 2000 and the School Improvement Program. Dr. Vargo's experience at the helm of Springboard Schools places her in the top ranks of the nation's school reformers. Hand-picked by an elite group of Bay Area educators and philanthropists to create BASRC (now Springboard Schools), one of nine urban school reform initiatives funded by the Philadelphia-based Annenberg Foundation, she is one of only two executive directors to have survived the politics and vicissitudes of the reform process for the duration of the "Annenberg Challenge." Under Dr. Vargo's leadership, BASRC became one of only four of the 19 Challenge sites to show achievement strong enough to win renewed grants from its original funders, the Annenberg Foundation and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation of Menlo Park, California. The Hewlett Foundation is the largest donor to Springboard Schools, and it was the largest single donor in matching grants for the Annenberg Challenge. A tireless advocate for learning as central to the human experience and for public schools as the cornerstone of democracy, Dr. Vargo consistently champions the needs of children including children growing up in poverty, children of color, and English Language Learners. A former teacher of English and an impassioned advocate for both standards and inspiring teaching, she has been both a student and a teacher in a variety of innovative programs and settings. Dr. Vargo is a product of the public school system and received her BA and Ph.D. in English literature as part of Cornell University's Ford Foundation-funded "Six Year PhD Program." She began her teaching career as part of the interdisciplinary "Freshman Honors Program" at the University of Delaware, a program that set out to serve bright high-school age students in a university setting. She also taught for three years at Deep Springs College, one of nation's oldest and most successful "small schools." Deep Springs students - all 24 of them -- spend two years studying liberal arts courses while operating both the college and a high-desert cattle ranch. PR Contact: Ben Delaney, 415-348-5508, bdelaney@springboardschools.org

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