NEW to Celebrate 10 Years With Yearlong Awareness Campaign

CHICAGO -- The Network of Executive Women (NEW) is marking its 10th anniversary with a year of activities designed to increase awareness of the organization and advance women and diversity in the consumer products and retail industry.

The outreach effort -- the largest in NEW's history -- will include a special magazine with a circulation of more than 100,000, regional celebrations and the CPG Retail Diversity Hall of Fame.

"In the past 10 years, the Network has grown from a small band of visionaries into a mission-driven organization with more than 4,000 members, 70 national sponsors and 17 regional groups," said Joan Toth, NEW president and CEO. "But this outreach is more than a celebration; it's part of a yearlong effort to recognize the achievements of those driving diversity in the industry and prepare our members for the next 10 years of change."

Highlights will include the following:

-- NEW10 Leadership Summit, Sept. 19-20 in Orlando, Fla.: There will be a red carpet reception, Hall of Fame Awards banquet, "Night of Thousand Stars" after party, paparazzi, video booths and more, followed by general sessions including keynotes by age wave expert Maddy Dychtwald and mountaineer Alison Levine. One of the industry's most powerful women, Walmart International CFO Cathy Smith, will discuss what it means to be a female leader in the industry today. For more information visit www.newonline.org/summit.

-- NEW CPG Retail Diversity Hall of Fame: Ten honorees will be recognized during the leadership summit for their contributions to driving diversity in the consumer products and retail industry. Receiving the William J. Grize Diversity Hall of Fame Award, named for the late Ahold USA CEO, are Linda Dillman of Hewlett-Packard, honored for her work at Walmart; Jeri Dunn, recently retired from Bacardi, honored for her work at Tyson Foods; Tom Greco of PepsiCo; Don Knauss of the Clorox Co., also recognized for his work at Coca-Cola; Jeff Noddle, retired CEO of Supervalu; Kay Palmer of J.B. Hunt Transport Services; Judy Spires of Kings Super Markets, formerly with Acme Markets; and James White of Jamba Inc., honored for his work at Safeway. Two companies, Delhaize America and Procter & Gamble, will also receive the award.

-- NEW CPG Retail Diversity magazine: Appearing this fall in issues of seven industry publications, this 28-page color special-edition magazine will feature interviews with NEW's founders, a look at the industry's most powerful women, trends for the next decade and more. The special edition will have a combined circulation of more than 100,000 copies, making it the largest outreach in NEW's history. A digital version of the magazine may be viewed online at www.newonline.org/specialedition.

-- NEW regional celebrations: Across the United States and Canada, special events will feature the women and men who helped establish NEW and panels looking at the industry's future. "Our regions are where so much of our education is accomplished," Toth said. "We are excited that they will be leveraging our anniversary to honor the Network's founders and advance our mission." For a listing of regional events, visit www.newonline.org/events.

-- NEW Time Machine: Launching in early September, NEW's Time Machine website will be a portal to all anniversary content, including video histories from 27 NEW pioneers, video messages recorded at the NEW Leadership Summit, other Summit videos and photos, profiles, and links to Network publications. Enter the Time Machine after Sept. 9 at www.newonline.org/timemachine.

The Network of Executive Women is the consumer products and retail industry's largest diversity organization, with more than 4,000 members representing 400 industry companies.