IMPRESSIVE SPEAKER LIST HIGHLIGHTS COMPA CONFERENCE

PITTSBURGH, March 8 -- Douglas K. Walker, director of communications for the Democratic National Committee, will join an impressive list of speakers at the 28th Annual National Conference of Minority Public Administrators (COMPA), March 10 - 14, at the Westin William Penn Hotel.

Hosted by the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh and the H. John Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management at Carnegie Mellon University, the conference also will feature:

• Thurman Davis, deputy administrator of the General Services Administration;

• Theodore Carter, US deputy Treasury secretary;

• Cheryl Mayes-Owens, assistant secretary of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development;

• Alfred Holton, regional administrator of the US Department of Labor; and

• Walter Jones, deputy director, National Institutes of Health

Private sector participants include Arthur Dial, director, Standard & Poor's New York, who will discuss the bond rating process and municipal debt, and Monique Jackson, communications and marketing director, Pittsburgh division of National Consulting and Business Systems, Inc., who will address minority entrepreneurship and economic development.

Also scheduled is a forum on the future of cities and towns including Mayor William Johnson of Rochester, NY; Mayor Tom Murphy of Pittsburgh; Mayor Clarence Anthony of South Bay, FL, and Pittsburgh City Councilwoman Valerie McDonald.

Additionally, two speakers highlight the conference: Mona Lake Jones, Seattle poet-laureate, who has written The Color of Culture and The Color of Culture II, and Harvey Coleman, a motivational speaker and consultant who has authored Empowering Yourself.

Also involved in presenting the conference are representatives from the City of Pittsburgh, Allegheny County and other area governments.

COMPA is affiliated with the American Society for Public Administration and has a diverse membership that includes African Americans, women, Asians, Hispanics and other professionals supportive of the organization's goal of building a more inclusive public service. Its members are from across the United States and several countries in Africa and the Caribbean.

To register for the conference or for more information about it or COMPA, contact Harvey L. White at 412-648-2650 or Jerome McKinney at

412-648-7629.

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