2000 MLK Community Service Awards: Panel Discussion

Panel Discussion with Business, Health Care and Community Leaders

During the Awards Ceremony at 4:00 PM on January 20, 2000 in the Goizueta Business School Auditorium, leading health care and business professionals engaged in a panel discussion on issues of diversity. They discussed how diverse groups of people can come together to strive toward important change and hopeful visions, working to address important contemporary issues such as health care and economic renewal. The panelists included:

Paula Lawton Bevington
Bill Jenkins

Sharon Parker
Sam Zamarripa

Paula Lawton Bevington

Paula is chairman of Servidyne Systems, Inc. Servidyne Systems enhances building performance through engineering services that increase the quality and efficiency of building operations while lowering the operating costs.

Paula is a graduate of Saint Mary's College, Notre Dame and of the Yale Law School. She has been active in alumni work with both institutions. She was a Fulbright scholar in Venezuela and is a member of the State Bar of Georgia. She has been president or chair of the Junior League of Atlanta (1980), the Atlanta Legal Aid Society (1984), the Atlanta chapter of the American Red Cross (1986), the Village of St. Joseph (1984-86), the Georgia Council for International Visitors (1989), the National Conference of Christians and Jews, Georgia Region (1989), UNICEF-Atlanta (1994-96) and the Yale Club of Georgia (1996). From 1990 to February, 1998, she chaired the statewide Georgia Human Relations Commission. She is currently president of the Rotary Club of Atlanta (the first woman to hold that office) and president of the Justice Center of Atlanta. She is a member of Omicron Delta Kappa, the Society of International Business Fellows, the YWCA Academy of Women Achievers and Leadership Atlanta Alumni.

Bill Jenkins

Dr. Jenkins works for the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia as Supervisory Epidemiologist in the National Center for HIV, STD and TB Prevention. He serves as an expert on minority issues in disease transmission and manages the Participants Health Benefit Program. He also instructs medical, graduate and undergraduate students in biostatistics, epidemiology and public health. He consults on development of cooperative activities between the CDC and institutions of the Atlanta University Center; including Morehouse School of Medicine, Morehouse College, Spelman College, Clark Atlanta University and Morris Brown College. He currently serves as chair of the advisory committees to the Master of Public Health Program at the Morehouse School of Medicine and the Public Health Sciences Institute at Morehouse College.

Sharon Parker

Ms. Parker was appointed President of the American Institute for Managing Diversity, Inc. (AIMD) in March 1997. Her selection to lead this 13-year old nonprofit organization was based upon her combined expertise in the nonprofit sector and career work on issues of diversity. Prior to joining AIMD, Ms. Parker served as the Director of Social Responsibility Programs for The Union Institute, a national, progressive university. In the capacity she was charged with developing initiatives which promote social responsibility in the higher education community. Previous to The Union Institute, Ms. Parker was Senior Associate Provost and Director of the Stanford University Office for Multicultural Development. In addition, she lectured publicly on the topic of multi-racial, multi-ethnic, multi-cultural community and institutional change. Sharon received her BA in Slavic Studies at UCLA and MA in Bi-Lingual Education at Antioch College.

From 1977 to 1990, Ms. Parker enjoyed a career in public policy advocacy in Washington, D.C., focusing on issues of educational and economic equity. Among the organizations she served were the National Commission on Working Women (NCWW), the National Institute for Women of Color (NIWC), the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV), Girls Incorporated (formerly Girls Clubs of America, Inc.), the Women's Legal Defense Fund (WLDF), Women for Meaningful Summits (WMS), National Association for Women in Education (NAWE), and the American Council on Education's Office for Women and the Mary Robertson Smith Scholars Council. In pursuit of equity goals, Ms. Parker also served on various local boards.

Sam Zamarripa

In his role as Senior Vice President of the Community Development Department of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, Sam Zamarripa works closely with Metro Chamber President Sam Williams to create partnerships between businesses and economic development organizations to foster regional cooperation on issues important to the Chamber's business constituency. The mission of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce is to serve these members through advocacy for quality jobs, a high quality of life, and balanced growth in the metro Atlanta area.

Before coming to the Chamber of Commerce, Sam was the Vice President of Marketing for Diaz-Verson Capital Investments, Inc. and Intellitech Industries, and prior to that served as the Director of Fund Raising for Andrew Young's 1990 campaign for Governor of Georgia. Sam received his Masters of Public Administration from Syracuse University's Maxwell School.

Sam has dedicated himself to a leadership role in organizations throughout Atlanta and currently serves on the Executive Boards of Directors for The Latin American Association and the Georgia Institute for Community Business Development. In addition, he serves on the Boards of Directors for United Americas Bank, The Regional Leadership Foundation, Leadership Atlanta, Clayton State University, and Homeward Inc. Past affiliations include the National Association of Securities Professionals, The Mexican Center, and the Arts & Business Council of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce.

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