PRESS RELEASE
Beacon Award Winners 2006
6 WINNERS PRESENTED WITH AWARDS
CELEBRATING DIVERSITY IN
GREATER ORLANDO'S WORKFORCE
ORLANDO, Fla. (February 27, 2006)
Six leaders in workplace diversity practices have received recognition as 2006 winners of The Beacon Awards: Celebrating Diversity in Greater Orlando's Workforce. During a first-ever event on February 23, 2006, awards were presented in the following categories:
Nonprofit Organization
Orange County Regional History Center
Small Business
Bryan W. Crews and Associates, P.A.
Medium Business
WELBRO Building Corporation
Large Business
Lockheed Martin Corporation, with Rosen Hotels & Resorts receiving a Special Mention
Individual Advocate
Al Sandoval, Office Depot
Corporate Advocate
WKMG-TV Local 6
The awards were presented by the Orlando Chapter of National Association of Women Business Owners (www.nawboOrlando.org), The YaYa Network (www.theyayanetwork.com), Orlando Business Journal (www.bizjournals.com/orlando), and the OBJ/Diversity Works team of Walt Disney World, Darden Restaurants, Orlando Utilities Commission and the Metro Orlando Economic Development Commission.
"As women business owners, many of us in traditionally male fields, we appreciate individuals, companies and organizations that embrace diversity on all levels," says Therese Smyntek, 2005-06 president of NAWBO Orlando. "We sought to partner this year with groups that share this way of doing business."
This year's event was held at the Coronado Springs Resort at Walt Disney World featuring keynote speaker Dr. E. Lance McCarthy, president and CEO of the Metropolitan Orlando Urban League. It followed the daylong 4th Annual YaYa Network Conference for professional women.
"The YaYa Network believes in promoting diversity in all aspects of business," says Pam Carman, founder of the YaYa Network. "We can learn from each other if we embrace our differences as well as our similarities."
About the Beacon Awards
The Beacon Awards: Celebrating Diversity in Greater Orlando's Workforce will annually spotlight workplaces in Orange, Seminole, Osceola, Volusia and Lake counties that practice inclusion in areas of race, ethnicity, gender, age, physical and mental ability, religion, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status and family status.