“Working Together Works, Prosperity through Minority Empowerment” Conference Held in Columbia

COLUMBIA, SC – The South Carolina Commission for Minority Affairs is sponsoring the “Working Together Works—Prosperity through Minority Empowerment” Conference at the Columbia Marriott and University of South Carolina’s McKissick Museum on Friday, April 3, 2015 from 8:00am until 9:00pm. The Public is invited to attend this event. Registration is required. For more information and to register, please contact Ms. Lori Brock at [email protected] or (803) 333-9621 x. 8.

The Presenters will utilize the theme, “Working Together Works—Prosperity through Minority Empowerment,” to highlight promising practices in community and economic development for minority and underserved communities. The Conference will feature several keynote speakers, legislators, and panelists discussing a variety of topics including: ways to create partnerships between non-profit, faith-based and private businesses, youth engagement, breaking down barriers through policy change, economic development through art, culture, and history, and more.

Speakers from around our state and region will serve as panelists to provide positive insight on best practices, collaboration models and the role of minority economic impact in SC in addition to concerns regarding advancing economic development within their communities/sectors. Our Keynote Speaker is Mr. Michael Dames from the Aha! Process. A special message from Governor Niki Haley and youth scholarship presentations will also be highlighted during this event.

Following the conference, attendees will get a taste of our State’s culture and history with free tours of McKissick Museum’s Exhibits in conjunction with the “Traditions, Change and Celebration: Native Artists of the Southeast” exhibit. As part of ongoing public programming for this exhibit, the McKissick Museum, in partnership with the SC Commission for Minority Affairs, SC Arts Commission and Word of Mouth Productions, will present “Native and Now: An Evening with Dark Water Rising” at 7:30pm in the Booker T. Washington Auditorium. This event is free with conference registration.

The State’s minority populations contribute much to the State’s social and economic well-being. The number of minority students attending college is on the rise, the number of minority owned businesses is increasing, and the buying power of minorities is at an all-time high. However, many persons of minority descent are not experiencing the level of economic success desirable or achievable. Oftentimes, economic success does not benefit all citizens of the State equally. When that is the case, minorities are less likely to share equally in the State’s economic prosperity although they play a major role in bringing about that prosperity.

This conference will explore strategies and initiatives designed to move members of minority populations out of poverty to pathways of prosperity. To accomplish this, there must be state and local partnerships and collaboration of public and private agencies, businesses and non-profit corporations, faith and community based organizations, and tribal entities.

The South Carolina Commission for Minority Affairs is the official government agency responsible for working with the State’s diverse communities of color. Its mission is to study the causes and effects of poverty and deprivation in the State and to work to alleviate them. To that end, the Commission collaborates with both public and private agencies to ensure the holistic well-being of the State’s minority populations.