INROADS, Inc., the nation's largest non-profit source of salaried corporate internships for high performing Black, Hispanic/Latino and Native American Indian college students, will host its 7th annual "Best of Class" conference Feb. 22 - 23 in Chantilly, Va., to share best practices in talent sourcing and recruitment of multiethnic college students with its leading corporate clients. This year, Bethesda-based Lockheed Martin Corporation is not only a participant in the conference but also the host.

The INROADS Best of Class Conference is a two-day conference designed to provide top INROADS National Corporate Clients a forum to share best practices, network among their peers, and gain valuable information to help optimize their INROADS partnerships. Attendance in the conference is reserved for those corporations that have demonstrated a commitment to the development of exceptional students from diverse ethnic heritage. More than 150 executives representing more than 50 corporations will attend professional workshops and discuss various topics including: measuring intern contributions; the importance of recruiting younger students and mentoring today's youth; and tools to improve the total internship experience.

A key element of the conference will be an awards ceremony for INROADS corporate clients on the evening of Feb. 22, featuring keynote speaker Margaret Regan, President of The FutureWork Institute. Ms. Regan has spent the last 15 years working with clients on the design and implementation of people strategies and human resource systems to address work today and in the future. She has appeared on NBC-TV's Today Show, CBS This Morning, NBC Nightly News, CNN, and WNYC-TV to comment on emerging workforce trends. She has been frequently quoted in Fortune, The Wall Street Journal, Miami Herald and The Washington Post.

"Our annual Best of Class conference gives us the opportunity to honor INROADS corporate clients who recognize that strategic sourcing and leadership development combined with embracing diversity, will ensure their success in the coming years," says Charles I. Story, President and CEO of INROADS, Inc. "We are pleased to recognize those outstanding corporations that not only see diversity as a strategic means to remain competitive, but actively work to share with other industries best practices that have helped them attract and retain a talented and diverse workforce."

"We are honored to be the host for the Best of Class Conference this year," said Lockheed Martin President and CEO, Bob Stevens. "INROADS is a tremendous resource in helping provide us and corporate America with an exceptional talent pool of students and we are eager to learn more about how we can work with our INROADS and industry colleagues to develop innovative talent-sourcing techniques that will help create the most inclusive workforce possible."

Founded in 1970, INROADS, Inc. is the nation's largest non-profit source of salaried corporate Internships for high performing Black, Hispanic/Latino and Native American Indian college students. The intensive INROADS Leadership Training Process has helped more than 38,000 of these young men and women develop professional skills and competencies to be successful in careers in business and industry. With more than 50 offices throughout the U.S., Mexico, Canada and South Africa, INROADS trains and places nearly 6,000 young men and women each year in salaried corporate Internships. On average, 86% of INROADS Interns who are offered a full-time position with their INROADS corporate sponsors accept. Since 1993, The Princeton Review has consistently named INROADS one of "America's Top 10 Internships" along with The Supreme Court, The White House, and The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. INROADS remains the only minority organization to ever receive this honor. Today, INROADS graduates have gone on to become leaders in industry, academia and government. INROADS top corporate benefactors include Pfizer, PricewaterhouseCoopers, GE Foundation, UTC, Deloitte, MetLife, Kraft Foods, Liberty Mutual, IBM, Bank of America, BE&K, Kaiser Permanente, and Procter & Gamble. To learn more about INROADS, visit http://www.inroads.org/.

SOURCE: INROADS, Inc.