TRAVERSE CITY, MI. - August 8, 2008 - The Utopia Foundation announced today the creation of its inaugural initiative, the first annual Corporate Leadership and Sustainability Summit (CLASS), a two-day event which will take place at Hagerty Center, Traverse City, Michigan on October 23-24, 2008. The Utopia Foundation is partnering with Northwestern Michigan College and the Traverse City, Area Chamber of Commerce to offer two days of seminars and workshops to help business leaders and social entrepreneurs learn practical methods for transforming their good ideas and intentions into profitable solutions that support both corporate values and global charitable initiatives.

"We believe the first annual Utopia Foundation CLASS will set the stage for decades of profitable and humanitarian collaboration, investment ideas, opportunities and charitable activities," said Paul Sutherland, Utopia Foundation Chairman. "This seminar will be profitable for corporate and social leaders who want to ensure that they have their fingers on the pulse of opportunities that yield both profit and humanitarian good.

The first annual CLASS will lead off with Chris Laszlo, Ph.D, a partner with Sustainable Value Partners, Inc., a consulting firm that works with companies to create value for shareholders. Laszlo's topic is "Sustainable Value: How the World's Leading Companies Are Doing Well by Doing Good!" Other presenters include James C. Hunter, the author of the international bestseller The Servant: A Simple Story About the True Essence of Leadership, which has been translated into 12 languages and sold more than 2.5 million copies worldwide. Other notable speakers include Chandran Nair, CEO of Global Institute for Tomorrow (GIFT), and a leading international environmentalist; Matthew Neagle, the Community Affairs Lead at Google; and Evan Thomas, NASA Aerospace Engineer and founder of the Engineers Without Borders - Johnson Space Center chapter.

CLASS is designed to bring to the forefront a number of leading humanitarian and corporate endeavors being sponsored by the Utopia Foundation and to encourage collaboration among Michigan companies interested in elevating their investment and business opportunities to a global level. The Summit will also offer in-depth marketing information concerning the wants, needs and values of Generation Y and creative ways for shaping efforts to effectively reach this demographic.

"We believe that building education and knowledge is critical, and we support the use of creative tools as effective mechanisms to connect people, especially children, with their compassionate positive emotions so they can have a healthy, positive and inspirational effect on their friends, family, community, nation and world," continued Mr. Sutherland.
For more information about the Utopia Foundation and the first annual Corporate Leadership and Sustainability Summit (CLASS), or to speak with Paul Sutherland, please contact Carol Graumann at (973) 732-3521 or carol@jcpublicrelations.com. You can also visit www.utopiafound.org.

About the Utopia Foundation
The Utopia Foundation has a mission of helping people turn their good intentions into actions by supporting international projects and initiatives that make a deep, long-term and sustainable impact. Based in Traverse City, the Foundation’s international approach is to partner with individuals, businesses and communities to implement global initiatives to benefit those most in need.

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FIM Group

FIM Group is a global investment manager managing assets in excess of $450 million. FIM Group seeks long-term positive total return, independent of the market environment. All investments made by FIM Group are made in socially responsible companies, while focusing on economically responsibility and the duty as fiduciaries.

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