Keynote Speaker:
Bruce S. Gordon,
Former President & Chief Executive Officer, NAACP
Retired President, Retail Markets Group, Verizon Communications Inc.

Bruce S. Gordon completed a 35-year career in the telecommunications industry in 2003, retiring as president of the Retail Markets Group for Verizon Communications Inc. As an employee of Bell Atlantic Corporation, he served as group president of the Enterprise Business Unit, president of Consumer Services, vice president of Marketing and Sales, vice president of Sales, and general manager of Marketing for Pennsylvania and Delaware. He joined Verizon in 1968. Mr. Gordon later became the first business executive to head the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and led the 500,000 member organization from 2005 to 2007. During his tenure, he worked to foster diversity and inclusion and to achieve greater economic equality for all Americans.

Mr. Gordon currently serves as lead director of Tyco International LTD, as a director of CBS Corporation and Northrup Grumman, and is a diversity consultant to Fortune 500 companies. He is also a trustee of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF, National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, and Newport Festivals Foundation, and is a member of the Advisory Boards for New York Urban League and Bishop John T. Walker School for Boys.