TROY – The 2006 African-American Leadership Conference, co-hosted by the City of Troy and Troy University, will bring together a variety of speakers and topics focusing on the theme Celebrating Community Leadership: Religious, Civic, Fraternal and Social Organizations.

The conference – set to begin Friday, Feb. 3, at 6:30 p.m. in the Trojan Center Theatre -- will be highlighted by greetings from Troy Mayor Jimmy C. Lunsford and Chancellor Jack Hawkins Jr. State Sen. Jimmy Holley will also provide remarks from the State Senate.

The evening’s keynote address will be delivered by Dr. Ronald V. Myers, M.D., founder, president and medical director of the Myers Foundation Christian Family Health Centers in Tchula, Belzoni and Greenville, Miss.

Myers, a native of Chicago, Ill., earned his medical doctorate in 1985 at the University of Wisconsin and completed his residence at the Louisiana State University Medical Center. After completing community service requirements as part of the National Public Health Service, he moved his practice from Belzoni, Miss., to Tchula, Miss., one of the poorest cities in the nation with a 75 percent unemployment rate and no doctor or hospital.

Together with his wife, Sylvia Holmes-Myers, his service in Tchula has centered on indigent health care and community development through the Myerses’ Christian, holistic health ministry. Myers has been the founding president of a voters league, a Southern Christian Leadership Conference chapter, a community development commission, a Bible Fellowship Church and the three health centers in the Mississippi Delta. He is founder and chairman of the National Juneteenth Observance Foundation, founder and president of the American Pain Institute, founder and chairman of the University of Wisconsin African-American Alumni Foundation and is the artistic director of the Mississippi Jazz and Heritage Program – Black Arts Society.

An opening reception will follow Myers’ address.

Saturday morning presenters include:

• Mr. Desmond Wilson, grant writing instructor at H. Council Trehnolm Technical College, who will present “Grant Writing for Non-Profit Organizations,”
• Ms. Lottie Summerville, coordinator/instructor at Computer Works, who will present “Enhancing the Effectiveness of your Organization: Affordable Website Building and Accounting Software,”
• Mrs. Sylvia Davis, a loan manager at Region’s bank, will present “Financial Planning,”
• Ms. Ramadanah Salaam, an attorney in the Montgomery law firm of Thomas, Means, Gillis and Seay, will present “Legal Issues for Organizations and Churches,”
• Ms. Eleanor Lee, director of Instructional Support Services at Troy University, will present “Time Management for Organization Leaders,”
• Mrs. Buffie Edwards, coordinator of Troy University’s Student Support Services, will present “Transition from College to the Real World,”
• Mrs. Tamara Lee and Ms. Debbie Parnell, both of the Southern Development Council, will present “501C3 Incorporating,”
• Mr. Cameron Whitlow, assistant director of Student Involvement at Troy University, will present “Team Building,” and
• Ms. Karita Purnell, catering manager of Sodexho’s Troy University division, will present “Proper Etiquette.”

Each plenary session is 45 minutes in length and participants can attend one of three sessions during each time period beginning at 8 a.m. Feb. 4.

The closing general session will begin at 11 a.m. in the Trojan Center ballrooms, highlighted by the keynote address delivered by the Rev. Jamal-Harrison Bryant, pastor of Empowerment Temple in Baltimore, Md. His ministry focuses on empowering people spiritually, developing them educationally, exposing them culturally, activating them politically and strengthening them economically.

A dynamic motivational speaker, Bryant held the Stop the Violence, Start the Love Crusade and organized the Youth at Risk speaking tour. His work has been highlighted in Emerge, Sister To Sister, USA Today and The Source and he has appeared on BET, CNN, C-Span and Politically Incorrect. He has served as a panelist on the national town hall meeting The State of Black America and The State of the Black Church, hosted by Tavis Smiley.

Bryant, who dropped out of high school in the 11th grade, obtained a GED certificate and went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in political science and international studies from Morehouse College and a master of divinity degree from Duke University. He is currently pursuing a doctorate in theology at Oxford University in Great Britain.

Bryant was originally scheduled to provide the conference’s opening session address, but was shifted to Saturday due to a scheduling conflict.

Also included in the closing session will be the presentation of the conference’s Leadership Awards and greetings by State Sen. Wendell Mitchell and State Rep. Alan Boothe.