PRESS EVENT

The Language Flagship & Language Flagship Group
Tuesday, March 2, 2010

First Amendment Lounge
National Press Club
529 14th Street NW, 13th Floor, Washington, D.C.

9:45 a.m. Registration and Coffee
10:00 a.m. Press Event

BUSINESS NEEDS LANGUAGE

Is speaking a foreign language an advantageous skill for U.S. workers? Isn’t English today’s lingua franca – the universal language? A new report, What Business Wants: Language Needs in the 21st Century, commissioned by The Language Flagship, an initiative of the National Security Education Program, provides answers to these questions and contains results that some Americans may find surprising.

The results provide evidence that employees with foreign language skills offer their organizations distinct advantages, and suggest that U.S. companies are hard-pressed to find sufficient numbers of American workers with bilingual skills. It also details some of the disadvantages experienced by U.S. enterprises that operate with a primarily monolingual workforce, not only when conducting international business but on the home front as well.

This first ever press event, Business Needs Language, will bring together top business leaders, education leaders, decision- and policy-makers and others from around the country to discuss the need for global language skills in business, the importance of learning a critical/non-traditional language, and the need for a Call to Action.

We look forward to seeing you there, The Language Flagship  and The Language Flagship Group

SPEAKERS

Donna N. Kimmel
Senior Vice President, Sensata Technologies

William Zollars
Chairman and CEO, YRC Worldwide

Michael T. Byrnes
Senior Advisor, Yuan Associates
 
Robert O. Slater
Director, National Security Education Program

Paul Ruppert
Founder and CEO, Global Viewpoint, Ltd.

BIOS

Donna N. Kimmel is the Senior Vice President, Worldwide Human Resources, for Sensata Technologies, a $1.2B technology and manufacturing organization that operates in over 20 countries around the world. Sensata Technologies, formerly the Sensors & Controls division of Texas Instruments, was divested in April 2006 and is now owned by Bain Capital.  Donna has focused on the creation of this new standalone company, inclusive of the rebuilding of the HR infrastructure, building the company brand and enhancing the global organizational structure and culture. Donna has 25 years of experience in the creation of global HR strategy as a lever for business strategy, led due diligence and integrations for numerous global acquisitions, has driven strategic business and organization changes, built programs to enhance international talent leadership capability, developed multi-directional communication strategies, implemented global teaming initiatives, as well as built successful strategies and programs for global talent sourcing and talent retention.  She received her Master’s of Science in Organization Development (MSOD) from Pepperdine University and a Bachelor of Arts in Organizational Communication from the University of Delaware. Donna is also a member of the Board of Directors at Sturdy Memorial Hospital and on the Board of Directors of the United Regional Chamber of Commerce, both in Attleboro, Massachusetts.

William D. Zollars is the Chairman and CEO of YRC Worldwide, one of the largest and most recognizable global transportation service providers. Mr. Zollars was named to his current position on Nov. 9, 1999. Prior to that, he was president of Yellow Transportation, Inc., a position he accepted on Sept. 6, 1996, as part of a major management transition for the company. From 1994 to 1996, Mr. Zollars was Senior Vice President of Ryder Integrated Logistics, a $1.5 billion division of Ryder System, Inc., based in Miami, Florida. Previously, he spent 24 years in executive positions at Eastman Kodak, including assignments in London, Toronto and Tokyo. Mr. Zollars holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the University of Minnesota and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He serves on the boards of ProLogis Trust, CIGNA Corporation, Cerner Corporation, The Business Roundtable, National Association of Manufacturers, United Way of Greater Kansas City, American Trucking Associations, and The Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota.

Michael T. Byrnes has more than two decades of direct experience in China. Until his retirement at the end of 2005, he served as President, Tyco International China. Prior to Tyco, Byrnes was Vice President China Operations for Rockwell Automation where his responsibilities included establishing Rockwell's Research and Development center, manufacturing facilities, a logistics center and the International Procurement office in Shanghai. Since January 2006, Byrnes has served as a U.S. based Senior Advisor with Yuan Associates, a professional government affairs consulting firm located in Beijing, People's Republic of China. In October 2007, he joined the Board of Directors for YRC Worldwide Inc., a Fortune 500 company and one of the largest transportation service providers in the world. Byrnes is a United States Army Retired Brigadier General and has served as the U.S. Defense Attaché, U.S. Embassy in Beijing and Ulaanbaatar and as the Military Attaché, U.S. Consulate Hong Kong. Byrnes is fluent in Mandarin Chinese. He holds a Master of Arts degree in strategy and operations from the Navy War College and a Master of Arts degree in Asian studies/international relations from the University of New Hampshire. He received his undergraduate degree in history from Providence College.

Robert O. Slater joined the National Security Education Program (NSEP) in 1992 and has served as its director since 1996. As director of NSEP he oversees the program’s aggressive efforts to expand opportunities for U.S. students to study in and about areas and languages of the world critical to national security. He is also the principal architect of The Language Flagship. Dr. Slater has also developed the concept for a new federal National Language Service Corps designed to address needs for language expertise throughout the federal sector.  Prior to joining NSEP, Dr. Slater directed a series of programs for the federal government designed to improve relationships between the higher education and federal sectors on issues related to the Third World. Dr. Slater has served as Chair of the national security community’s Foreign Language Committee and represented the federal government on numerous panels and commissions to address foreign language education issues in the United States. Dr. Slater earned a doctorate in international affairs from the School of International Service, The American University, in 1974 and a BA in English from St. Lawrence University. He has published numerous books and articles on international politics, specializing on issues related to globalization.

Paul Ruppert is the founder and CEO of Global Point View, Ltd., a management consulting firm. Mr. Ruppert’s expertise is in the global markets of the mobile telecommunications industry, where he has been developing strategy and driving results since 1996. His work has taken him around the world. Having visited 80 countries, he has extensive experience in Asia. Mr. Ruppert’s strong interest in Mandarin education stems from his extended residence in Beijing and his activism promoting Mandarin education nationally in the United States led him to the Flagship family. Mr. Ruppert holds an MPA from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and earned his undergraduate degree at Washington University in St. Louis. He is a member of the Institute of Directors in the UK and is the founder of The Mandarin in America Foundation. In addition to being a Business Champion for The Language Flagship, Mr. Ruppert is on the Board of Directors of The Language Flagship Group.

For more information or to RSVP, please contact Danielle Duran at 301.987.5495 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it