October 16, 1998
Miami — As part of a series of General Motors (NYSE: GM) sponsored events celebrating Hispanic Heritage during the month of October, the corporation today hosted a symposium in Miami, Flo-rida to address a variety of key issues involving GM and Hispanics.
Titled, "Driving Diversity — GM Hispanic Awareness Day," the symposium covered a number of GM diversity initiatives including:
* Marketing and Advertising to Hispanic Consumers
* Minority Education and Employment Programs
* Minority Supplier Development Initiatives
* Minority Dealer Development Opportunities
The daylong forum followed GM's previous day sponsorship celebrating the "Discovery of America day" in Miami's historic Bayfront Park.
According to Roderick Gillum, GM vice president for Public Policy & Diversity Initiatives, "Diversity is not simply an exercise in `feel-good' corporate policy-making. The bottom line is that embracing diversity is good for our business; GM's business must be committed to providing products and services for a wider array of people than ever before, and we must rely on a wider array of people to build those products and to provide those services than ever before."
Gillium stated that the goal of the first ever GM Hispanic Awareness Day was to begin to connect Hispanic issues and GM's business interests. He said that GM was working to establish an internal network of GM entities that have Hispanic business interests at heart.
"I want GM to be the company of choice for Hispanic employees, customers, and investors and I want college graduates to knock down our doors looking for jobs because I know that whoever has the most talent and uses it effectively, wins," said Gillum. In support of this belief, GM used the GM Hispanic Awareness Day venue to present a check in the amount of $200,000 to the Hispanic Scholarship Fund.
The Hispanic Scholarship Fund was established to help "bridge the higher educational gap" by providing financial resources to outstanding Hispanic American students in order that they may complete a college or graduate school education. Since 1975, the Hispanic Scholarship Fund has awarded over $28.9 million in scholarship monies to more than 28,000 Hispanic Scholarship Fund Scholars.
In 1997 alone, General Motors' general scholarship contribution to minorities and women totaled just under $2 million. As a part of that contribution, the corporation specifically awarded scholarships to 200 outstanding Hispanic men and women.
To underscore General Motors' active participation in national Hispanic Heritage month events, "Driving Diversity - GM Hispanic Awareness day" was held on Columbus Day —Monday, October 12, 1998— at downtown Miami's Intercontinental Hotel, across from the city's historic Bayfront Park.
This year, General Motors again is sponsoring a number of events during Miami's Hispanic Heritage Festival in October. These included: the Miss Hispanidad U.S.A. Pageant (August 16); GM Tapas `98 (October 2); the Hispanic Heritage Gala Presented by Cadillac (October 9); General Motors Discovery of America Day (October 11); Hispanic Heritage Festival Golf Tournament (October 20); Festival of the Americas Presented by Chevrolet (October 25); and Legacy of Excellence Awards Presented by General Motors (October 29).
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