What: Luncheon with Alma J. Powell, national chair of America's Promise Alliance,

the largest partnership network working to improve the lives of America's young people

You are invited the luncheon at the Press Club on Wednesday, April 1, 2009.

Come to this luncheon on to meet and hear this dynamic executive and innovator.

When: Wednesday, April 1, 2009, 12:30-2:00 p.m.

Schedule:
--Lunch from 12:30-1:00 p.m.
--1:00 - 2:00 p.m.: The speaker's remarks and Q&A from the audience.

Please call Alan Schlaifer at 301-365-8999 if you'd to be able to attend the reception (if there is one) from 12-1230 pm with the speaker. (No guarantee, but early sign up helps).

Where: National Press Club, Ballroom, 13th Floor, 14th & F Streets, N.W., just two blocks from Metro Center

Metro, Parking: Metro Center; several private garages within a few blocks.

Attire: Business

Reservations: $28 for current Wharton Club members and their guests only. You must reserve in advance on our site. We have only a limited number of seats.

Click here to reserve your seat(s) for the luncheon.

More About Alma J. Powell and America's Promise:

Alma J. Powell, national chair of America's Promise Alliance, the largest partnership network working to improve the lives of America's young people, will speak at a National Press Club luncheon on April 1, 2009 to discuss the challenges facing the nation's youth and remedies to reverse the high school dropout crisis.

Mrs. Powell will cite newly released data on high school graduation rates of the nation's largest cities and the adverse impact low graduation rates have on the nation's economic and national security. She will also discuss the important role that service plays in helping young people and reflect on how she and her husband General Colin Powell have spent decades working to engage every sector of society to improve the lives of youth.

Meet ALMA J. POWELL
Chair, America's Promise Alliance

Alma Powell sits on the boards of several educational, cultural, charitable and civic organizations. She is the chairman of the board of America's Promise Alliance, whose mission is to mobilize people from every sector of American life to build the character and competence of youth. Mrs. Powell also chairs the advisory board for the Pew Center for Civic Change.

From 1989 to 2000, she served as the chairman of the National Council of the Best Friends Foundation, an organization dedicated to improving the lives of young girls.

Mrs. Powell is the recipient of an Honorary Doctor of Human Letters from Emerson College, an Honorary Doctor of Humanities from Shenandoah University, and the Civic Change Award from the Pew Partnership for Civic Change. She has also been honored by Washingtonian magazine as Washingtonian of the Year and is the recipient of the Leadership Award from the Women's Center in Virginia.

In addition to her many service-minded activities, Mrs. Powell has added "author" to her list of credits. In 2003, her two children's books, My Little Wagon and America's Promise, were launched with great success.

Mrs. Powell was born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama. She graduated from Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, and went on to study speech pathology and audiology at Emerson College in Boston. She worked as the staff audiologist for the Boston Guild for the Hard of Hearing.

Alma and Colin Powell were married in 1962. Mrs. Powell spent the next 33 years raising a family and accompanying her husband on his various military assignments in the United States and overseas. While her husband was stationed at the Pentagon, she served as the Army liaison to the National Red Cross as part of a team of volunteer consultants from the military services. During General Powell's tenure as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, she was the Advisor to the Red Cross of the Military District of Washington. Most recently, during her husband's tenure as the 65th Secretary of State, Mrs. Powell served as the honorary president of the Associates of the American Foreign Service Worldwide. She also sat on the advisory board of the Hospitality and Information Service and was an honorary member of the Department of State Fine Arts Committee.

Reserve promptly!