White House Chief of Staff Card to Keynote Chamber Gathering

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The United States Chamber of Commerce today announced that it will host senior government, business, and non-profit officials in a two-day conference to explore ways to advance civic, philanthropic, and development partnerships within the United States and abroad.

"The president issued a challenge in his State of the Union address for all of us to come together and better support our communities," said Greg Lebedev, Chamber chief operating officer and president of the Chamber's Center for Corporate Citizenship. "We are answering this challenge by coming together to explore how business can best work with the government and nonprofit groups to achieve our common goals."

The conference — "Promoting Civic Engagement and Development at Home and Abroad" — will begin on May 29 with a presentation by John Bridgeland, Advisor to the President and Director of USA Freedom Corps. White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card will deliver keynote remarks on May 30 and USAID Administrator Andrew Natsios will roll out his agency's Global Development Alliance Initiative the morning of May 30.

The program will also include panel discussions with business executives and non-profit leaders, including Alticor Chairman and CEO Steve Van Andel, and Robert Goodwin, the president of the Points of Light Foundation.

The goal of the Three-Sector Conference is to help government agencies, non-profit organizations and the business community develop strategies to support effective civic engagement and community development.

The Center for Corporate Citizenship expects over 250 participants for the event.

The preliminary agenda is available on the Chamber's Web site. To register for the event, the media should contact Chamber Media Relations at 202-463-5682. General public inquiries should be directed to 202-463-5517.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the world's largest business federation, representing more than three million businesses and organizations of every size, sector and region.

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