Speaker - December 2007

tune 500 companies, inner-city public schools and in Washington, DC, at the White House. In 2006, he spoke to the National Speaker’s Association Youth Program in Orlando, Fla. He is co-author of the book Forty Voices: Stories of Hope from Our Generation.

Josh graduated in 2006 with a degree in business from the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va., and is currently pursuing a master’s in communications from the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School.

The Nido Qubein Scholarship

The Nido Qubein

Scholarship was awarded to Damon

Waring, a senior at

Oglethorpe University in Atlanta, Ga., where he is earning a bachelor of arts degree in communications theory. Born in Charleston, S.C., at age 19 Damon moved to New York City. Through an arranged meeting he met and studied under the tutelage of

Dr. Bill Cosby on the sets of Kaufman Astoria studios where The Cosby Show was taped.

Damon is an experienced actor, model, writer, public speaker, mentor and tutor. He has made his social concerns and life experiences the core of his passionate public presentations, which include topics on mental health, challenges and ethics, AIDS/HIV awareness, domestic violence, child advocacy and civil/human rights.

The Bill Gove Scholarship Cynthia Gardner is the recipient of the Bill Gove Scholarship. A graduate student at Wichita State University in Kansas, Cynthia says determination and perseverance are the driving forces behind her successes. Graduating from high school in three and half years and earning a bachelor of science in aviation technology from the University of Central Missouri (formerly Central Missouri State University) are two of her greatest accomplishments. She refused to allow a learning disability and speech impediment keep her from achieving her goals.

Two areas of personal interest to Cynthia are domestic violence and mental illness. As a survivor of domestic violence, she is one of the 30 percent that has successfully broken the cycle of abuse. As someone with bipolar disease, she serves as a role model for individuals living with mental illness and their families.

Audrey O’Neal, executive assistant, has been on staff at NSA for the past seven years. She is responsible for overseeing the scholarship process, as well as several other Foundation programs. Contact Audrey at audrey@nsaspeaker.org.

The NSA Foundation is our collective vehicle to do something that comes naturally in the speaking profession: help others. The Foundation serves NSA members and the public through: