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Media Advisory:
September 27, 2008
For More information Contact:
Lisa Nkonoki, Nkonoki Entertainment Group,
Celebrity Connections, LLC (860) 517- 9861 Nkon8purpl@aol.com

Entertainment Entrepreneur and Community Advocate, Lisa Nkonoki Dedicates her "Spirit of Scouting Award" to Paul Newman In Hartford, Ct.

Lisa Nkonoki is known for her work with scores of Celebrities, but with Paul Newman the connection was profoundly forged through volunteerism And Philanthropy, some 20 years ago.

On Wednesday September, 24, 2008 in Hartford, Connecticut, just some 65 miles from Westport, Connecticut where Mr. Newman made his home, the Scout Reach, Boy Scouts of America program, and Connecticut Rivers Council, Whitney M Young Service Awards were being presented, that evening and one of the recipients, Lisa Nkonoki of Farmington, Ct., was en route to the gala, and on the phone with Roberta of Newman's Own, sharing the news via phone to pass on to Mr. Newman, that she will personally dedicate and share her award with him.

 What potentially was one of the last public acknowledgements/tributes of the enormous philanthropic contributions of the legendary actor, family man and longtime Connecticut resident right before his death on Friday.

Lisa shared with the other honorees, and dinner crowd, of her appreciation for the honor, her love and following her own family example of giving back, but also of how Paul Newman and the team at Newman's Own,( specifically, Ursula, A.E. Hotchner, Roberta, and Pam, served as catalysts that inspired her to take her volunteerism to another level.

Lisa's acceptance speech was whimsical, as she spoke of a chance meeting with then Newman's Own, CEO, Ursula Hotchner at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford, Ct., Lisa's first week on the job in the Hartford Schools back in 1989, and the daunting task of being behind in funds for the program, and short on volunteers (just 700) for the 25,000 plus students in the urban school district for which she was the new Director of The School Volunteer Program (SVP).

It was Lisa's spirit, enthusiasm, and focus that led her to think out of the box, reenergize the program, with personal visits to every Hartford School, corporate leaders, a new logo, mission, billboards on the highway, commercials to recruit new volunteers, shown during prime time, and to make her first donation request, not to the local corporations (whom she had heard were gun shy about the prospects of the program,  that had lagged in recent times) but a plea to Mr. Newman, (replete with race cars on the borders of the request letter and with no direct ties to Hartford) to lend a hand.

Albeit, she was told the request was to late in the funding process for 1989, it was a thrill to have the $5,000.00 check literally arrive in the mail weeks later, as the first signal of confidence in the gem of a program, which was in time transformed into a nationally award winning acknowledged jewel. Some of the funds were utilized to buy yarn so that seniors at the Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) could knit hats and mittens for the pre-school and kindergartners in Hartford, as an ongoing intergenerational project with SVP. Subsequently, Newman's Own doubled the donation, without her asking the following year, and other corporations, volunteers, including other Celebes were pitching in as well. Then a fever pitch highlight, when Paul Newman called to say he was coming to visit her and the leaders in the Hartford Schools to see what else could be done to potentially collaborate around Hartford youth and education.

From the 700 volunteers to over 2,800 in a mere 2 years, the cover of Business Week, as  an example of the best run School/ Business partnership initiative in the country, to the 658th Daily Point of Light awarded under former President George W. Bush, the Hartford School Volunteer program was a shining light of hope amidst negative perception of educational life in the city Getting then NBA player and former UCONN basketball standout Tate George involved with a public service announcement for the SVP program, was the next milestone, in her community service life.  Nkonoki, left the program, a few years later, and went on to start a marketing company with Tate George, as well as the creation of the Tate George Dream Shot Foundation in 1993. Her passion, evolved with an awe inspiring and cathartic prophecy with the "Dads DO Make A Difference" program, whose mission is "To increase the positive interactions of dads and their kids!"

Lisa testified in front of a Congressional Sub Committee Hearing in with then Congresswomen Nancy Johnson, for the Fatherhood Counts Act Bill of 1999, and the project became a national leader as to how to positively engage fathers, meeting them where they were at in their lives, and in many instances, reconnecting families.

She is regarded as the first single mom in the country to start, advocate and cheer on, a positive program for dads.

To date the program has provided direct service to more than 10,000 dads and families, in Connecticut and beyond, plus spawned awareness and a movement nationally.

Lisa is a founding member of Women in Fatherhood, and has served as a consultant for the Annie E. Casey Foundation for issues related to Fatherhood.

Newman's Own has also donated in kind product to the "Dads DO Make A Difference" project for dads and their families.