ASI® President Timothy M. Andrews Joins Board of The Johnnetta B. Cole Global Diversity & Inclusion Institute at Bennett College

TREVOSE, PA – Nov. 21, 2006 – Advertising Specialty Institute®, the largest media and marketing organization serving the ad specialty industry, announced today that president Timothy M. Andrews has been named to the board of directors for The Johnnetta B. Cole Global Diversity & Inclusion Institute (The JBC Institute).

The JBC Institute is based in Greensboro, N.C., on the campus of Bennett College, and was launched in March 2004.  Its mission is to create, communicate and continuously support the compelling case for diversity and inclusion in the workplace, through education, training, research and publications.  The JBC Institute is named in honor of Dr. Johnnetta Cole, the retiring president of Bennett College and former president of Spelman College.  Bennett and Spelman are the only two colleges in the U.S. that historically serve African-American women.   

“I am proud to join the board and assist in furthering The JBC Institute’s mission,” said Andrews.  “The Institute’s goal of educating employers about inclusion in the workplace is very important.  Having a more diverse staff provides different perspectives that contribute directly to the bottom line for any employer, regardless of size or industry, and is particularly timely as our work environments become even more global.” 

Andrews explained that the Institute has high-quality educational resources.  “One of the core initiatives of the Institute is the Chief Diversity Officers Forum – an annual event attended by representatives from Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, academic institutions and non-profits.  The Institute also educates through lectures, a newsletter and special camps focused on leadership development for young women.”

Dr. Cole, founder of the Institute, welcomed Andrews to the board and expressed her pleasure regarding his service.

“Having Tim’s business and leadership expertise on this board is important, but having him as a leader who understands the issues of diversity and inclusion that expand beyond race and gender, is extremely important,” said Cole.  “I think the organizations that he has supported in the past are very indicative of his understanding of the ‘worldplace’ issues that critically impact the global marketplace.  He has a tremendous mind and that will be valuable – the good thing for The JBC Institute is that his heart happens to be in the right place too.”

In addition to his involvement as a board member of The JBC Institute, Andrews actively serves in leadership roles with several other mission-driven organizations.  He was named a National Red Cross Circle of Humanitarians award winner to recognize his achievements in philanthropy and is an advocate for raising awareness to address homelessness, recently hosting a benefit event for the Mercer Alliance to End Homelessness, in Mercer County, New Jersey.  He also serves on the board of a Philadelphia-area chapter of the American Red Cross and on the advisory board of the Princeton Arts Council, in Princeton, New Jersey.

For more information about ASI, visit www.dev-asicentral.com.  For more information about The Johnnetta B. Cole Global Diversity & Inclusion Institute at Bennett College, visit www.jbcinstitute.org.

About ASI
Advertising Specialty Institute is the largest media and marketing organization serving the advertising specialty industry, with a membership of 22,000 distributor firms (sellers) and supplier firms (manufacturers) of advertising specialties.  Supplier firms use ASI print and electronic resources to market products to more than 19,000 ASI distributor firms.  Distributor firms use ASI print and electronic resources, which contain more than 750,000 ad specialties, to locate supplier firms and to market services to buyers.  ASI provides catalogs, informational directories, newsletters, magazines, websites and databases, and offers interactive e-commerce, marketing and selling tools.  Visit www.dev-asicentral.com.