NAMIC and WICT Partner to Relaunch Mentoring Program

NAMIC and WICT Partner to Relaunch Mentoring Program

NEW YORK, Sept. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- NAMIC (National Association for Multi- ethnicity in Communications) and Women in Cable & Telecommunications (WICT) today announced a partnership to expand NAMIC's L. Patrick Mellon Mentoring Program to WICT members. This program will facilitate diversity in the industry by making mentors available to members of WICT and NAMIC to assist them with their career advancement strategies. Building on NAMIC's 12-year expertise in facilitating a formalized mentoring program, NAMIC and WICT will collaborate in the recruitment of mentors and mentees from their respective memberships in order to reduce duplicity of efforts; leverage the strength of NAMIC's L. Patrick Mellon Mentoring Program; and achieve economies of scale in marketing.

Prospective mentees must be members of either WICT or NAMIC; mentors are not required to be a member of either organization. The call for applications will come in early October and the first joint program will kick off in January 2006 with 50 mentor/mentee pairs from each organization. Two more mentoring cycles occur in June 2006 and September 2006.

"By joining forces with NAMIC, WICT will be able to provide its members with access to the successful L. Patrick Mellon Mentoring Program," said Benita Fitzgerald Mosley, WICT President & CEO. "NAMIC's expertise in this area will allow our members to focus on professional development at a very specific and personal level."

"We are pleased to partner with WICT in this important industry initiative," said Kathy Johnson, NAMIC Executive Vice President. "Our joint efforts will provide a much needed resource to a broader audience across the entire country."

About the L. Patrick Mellon Mentoring Program

NAMIC's mentoring program was initially established in 1993, and renamed in 1997 in honor of the late L. Patrick Mellon, one of NAMIC's founding members. The goal of the L. Patrick Mellon Mentorship Program is to facilitate diversity in the cable and telecommunications industry by making mentors available to NAMIC members to assist them with their career advancement strategies.

Committed, top-level industry professionals are recruited to serve as mentors to NAMIC members for a nine-month period. In these one-to-one sessions, mentors provide support, guidance and career advice on an "as- needed" basis. A time commitment of up to two hours per month over a nine- month period is expected of mentors.

About WICT

For over twenty-five years, Women in Cable & Telecommunications (WICT) has partnered with cable and telecommunications leaders to provide leadership programs and services, and create professional advancement opportunities for women. WICT is the oldest and largest professional association advocating for women in the cable and telecommunications industry, with 21 local chapters and satellites serving 5,000 members across the country. WICT develops women leaders who transform our industry through highly regarded professional events, educational programming and networking opportunities. Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications, Turner Broadcasting System, MTV Networks and Charter Communications, members of the 2005 WICT Leadership Circle, provide the highest level of financial support for WICT programs, services and advocacy. For more information, visit http://www.wict.org/.

About NAMIC

Founded 25 years ago as a non-profit trade association and comprised of 2,000 industry professionals, the National Association for Multi-ethnicity in Communications has developed programs to help educate, empower and advocate for multi-ethnic diversity in the telecommunications industry through 17 nationwide chapters. Such initiatives are achieved through the Annual NAMIC Conference, a cornerstone of Cable Diversity Week, the East and West Coast Creative Summits, L. Patrick Mellon Mentorship Program, The Leadership Seminar for managers and supervisors, and the Executive Leadership Development Program (ELDP) at the UCLA Anderson Graduate School of Business. For more information, visit http://www.namic.com/

Source: National Association for Multi-ethnicity in Communications

CONTACT: Melissa Northern of WICT, +1-703-234-9812, mnorthern@wict.org; or Beatrice Robbio of NAMIC, +1-212-594-5985, beatrice.robbio@namic.com

Web site: http://www.wict.org/ http://www.namic.com/

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