Houston, TX September 1, 2004 -- Medard Gabel, author, educator, and consultant to multinational corporations, will speak at the 40th anniversary celebration of Literacy Advance of Houston, September 8, also the observance of International Literacy Day. President of BigPicture Consulting and a former student of the late American designer and inventor Buckminster Fuller, Gabel is author of Global Inc: An Atlas of The Multinational Corporation and the upcoming Seven Billion Billionaires. His speaking engagement is sponsored by Houston Museum of Natural Science, Houston Community College and Foundation, and Literacy Advance of Houston, a not-for-profit organization founded in 1964 and devoted to teaching Houston-area adults to read, write and communicate in English, Gabel will present โ€œGlobal Literacy: Seven Billion Billionaires.โ€ He will discuss the importance of worldwide literacy and its impact on the development and advancement of emerging markets abroad.
A sought-after speaker, Gabel has been a consultant to the U.S. State Department, U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Energy and the governments of many foreign countries. He has lectured and given workshops in more than 100 universities and currently serves as a consultant on global policy to 35 Fortune 500 corporations.
Celebrated annually on September 8 since 1966, International Literacy Day calls attention to the global effort to promote literacy and education as a central United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) mission. Across the world, the need to improve literacy remains critical. According to the UNESCO-sponsored Education for All 2000 Assessment, more than 113 million children around the world have no access to primary education. In addition, 880 million adults, the majority of whom are women, are illiterate.
For more information about Medard Gabel's visit, contact Literacy Advance of Houston, 713-266-8777.
To arrange an interview with Medard Gabel, please contact Dusty Gilbert, 713-266-8777, dusty.gilbert@literacyadvancehouston.org.