Citizens Funds, America’s largest family of socially and environmentally responsible no-load mutual funds, will present Corporate Citizenship awards to 12 companies that are members of the Citizens Indexä at a breakfast press conference on April 19, 2000 at the Four Seasons in Manhattan. The awards ceremony is being held in celebration of the fifth anniversary of the Citizens Index Fund.

The companies receiving awards at the event are all members the of Citizens Index Fund, and will be recognized for their high standards of corporate responsibility in the following areas:

Environment
Tellabs
Apple Computer

Community
Cox Communications
Nextel Communications
Starbucks Corporation

Diversity
BellSouth
American Express
Avon Products

Employee Relations
Southwest Airlines

Education
BJ’s Wholesale Clubs
The McGraw-Hill Companies

Human Rights
Liz Claiborne

The Citizens Index Fund is a passively managed mutual fund invested in the Citizens Indexä , a proprietary index created by Citizens Advisers, Inc, investment adviser to Citizens Funds. The Citizens Index was designed to serve as the benchmark for socially responsible investing in much the way the S&P 500 Index is meant to be a barometer of the large-cap market as a whole. Constructed through a strict process of financial, social and environmental screening, the Citizens Index consists of 300, mostly large-cap, companies, approximately 200 of which are also included in the S&P 500 Index.

The awards ceremony will take place from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. at the Four Seasons, 57 E. 57th Street in Manhattan. A satellite feed will feature Citizens Funds and company executives making specific comments about the Citizens Index Fund and the Corporate Citizenship Awards.

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American Express Company

American Express Company

American Express Company (www.americanexpress.com) is a leading global payments, network and travel company founded in 1850.

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