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Building the skills of tomorrow's business leaders is the focus of the Andersen Consulting Leadership Seminar, taking place at the University of Colorado at Boulder, July 15-19.

During the seminar, 26 minority graduate students from 12 universities will enhance their critical thinking, leadership, teamwork and networking skills.

Co-sponsored by Andersen Consulting and the CU-Boulder College of Business and Administration, the seminar includes team-building and problem-solving exercises, a group case-study project, and presentations by local business leaders including Denver City Councilwoman Allegra "Happy" Haynes.

Haynes' speech will be held at 11:15 a.m. Saturday, July 18 on the lawn of the business college. Participants will also hear from Andersen Consulting executives, including Andrew Jackson -- an Andersen Consulting partner in Cleveland -- and will tour Anderson's Denver office. Andersen Consulting and CU-Boulder have sponsored the seminar since 1992.

"We're thrilled to host a conference that rewards both leadership and diversity," said Diana Marinaro, CU-Boulder's MBA program director.

"The skills that the seminar develops closely align with the skills that our organization values and that our clients demand," said Nellie Gonzalez,

Andersen Consulting's American Director of Diversity Recruiting.

"Leadership, critical thinking, working as a team -- these skills are crucial in today's diverse and constantly changing business world," she said.

For one portion of the seminar, the group will divide into six teams to tackle a Harvard Business School case study, written by CU-Boulder professor Ramiro Montealegre. The case examines the de-escalation of commitment to the automated baggage system at Denver International Airport. The teams will present case solutions on Saturday afternoon, July 18.

Twenty-six participants were selected by program directors and Andersen Consulting professionals. The students participating represent 12 universities: CU-Boulder, Duke, Ohio State, Arizona, UC-Berkeley, UCLA, Florida, Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Minnesota, UNC-Chapel Hill, UT-Austin and Wisconsin-Madison.

CU-Boulder student participants include Bill Cheung, George Chang, John Min and Karen Gilmer.

A leader in graduate management education, the CU-Boulder MBA program has an internationally renowned faculty, a cutting-edge curriculum and a top-notch student body, said Marinaro. Hosting the Andersen Leadership Seminar helps the college carry out its mission of educating the leaders of tomorrow.

CU-Boulder MBAs can specialize in entrepreneurship, finance, technology and innovation management, marketing, organization management, real estate, law and telecommunications.

Andersen Consulting is a leading global management and technology consulting firm whose mission is to help its clients change to be more successful. The firm works with clients from a wide-range of industries to bring about far-reaching change by aligning people, processes and technology with strategy.