Support from the SBC Excelerator grant will enable National Urban League affiliates to work with experts to design the technology curriculum, evaluate the academies' success and develop a long-term sustainability plan. Members of the National Urban League's Technology Advisory Council will help affiliates prepare individuals for careers in the media production, computer programming and IT administration industries. According to the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics, technology-focused careers in the areas of computer programming and information technology administration will grow more than 30 percent through 2010.

"African Americans are underrepresented in today's technology-focused job categories," said Honey Reneau, president and CEO of the Urban League of Racine and Kenosha. "Computer literacy and access to technology are essential tools for success in today's job market. The SBC Excelerator funding will help us reach adults and youth across the Racine and Kenosha area with much-needed training."

SBC companies have an industry-leading record of supporting workforce and supplier diversity, and providing employment and leadership opportunities to employees and businesses owned by people of color. Based on that record, SBC Communications has been named one of Fortune magazine's 50 Best Companies for Minorities for six consecutive years and as one of the top 50 companies for diversity by DiversityInc.com.

"The National Urban League has a long history of working to secure education and economic empowerment for African Americans," said Forrest Miller, SBC group president of external affairs and planning and chairman of the SBC Foundation. "We applaud their work and are encouraged that the SBC Excelerator grant will help to provide underserved minorities with resources and curriculum that are critical to opportunities in technology-focused careers."

The $1 million SBC Excelerator grant program was announced in July at the 2004 National Urban League conference in Detroit, Mich. SBC Excelerator, the SBC Foundation's signature grant making initiative, funds projects that use technology to build stronger communities. The 2004 SBC Excelerator program will provide $8 million in national and competitive grants to help nonprofits fully integrate technology into their ongoing operations and community outreach.

The National Urban League grant award is one of three $1 million 2004 SBC Excelerator national grant recipients. The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) and the AMBER Alert program each received a $1 million SBC Excelerator grant earlier this year. In coming weeks, the SBC Foundation will announce additional regional nonprofit recipients benefiting from $5 million in competitive grants awarded throughout the SBC 13-state region. Since SBC Excelerator's inception in 2002, nearly $20 million in technology grants have been awarded to more than 1,000 nonprofit organizations.

The SBC Foundation celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2004. In the past two decades, SBC Communications and the SBC Foundation have contributed more than $1 billion to nonprofit organizations and affiliates across the country.

The National Urban League is the nation's oldest and largest community-based movement empowering African Americans to enter the economic and social mainstream. The National Urban League, headquartered in New York City, spearheads the nonprofit, nonpartisan movement, while Urban League affiliates operate in more than 100 cities in 34 states and the District of Columbia.

The SBC Foundation is the charitable giving arm of SBC Communications Inc. The SBC Foundation supports efforts that enrich and strengthen diverse communities nationwide, particularly those with an emphasis on education and technology and those that benefit underserved populations. SBC Foundation-backed programs are designed to increase access to information technologies, broaden technology training and professional skills development, and effectively integrate new technologies to enhance education and economic development. The Foundation Center has consistently ranked the SBC Foundation among the nation's top six corporate foundations. In 2002, the SBC Foundation launched SBC Excelerator, a multimillion dollar competitive grants program that funds nonprofit organizations in their efforts to digitally connect communities.

SBC Communications Inc. is a Fortune 50 company whose subsidiaries, operating under the SBC brand, provide a full range of voice, data, networking, e-business, directory publishing and advertising, and related services to businesses, consumers and other telecommunications providers. SBC holds a 60 percent ownership interest in Cingular Wireless, which serves more than 46 million wireless customers. SBC companies provide high-speed DSL Internet access lines to more American consumers than any other provider and are among the nation's leading providers of Internet services. SBC companies also now offer satellite TV service. Additional information about SBC and SBC products and services is available at www.sbc.com.