Habitat for Humanity, Heal the Bay, Tree People and Glamour Gals Named 'Service Day Partners' for the Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership 2010 World Leadership Congress

LOS ANGELES, June 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Habitat for Humanity, Heal the Bay, Tree People and Glamour Gals have been selected as the "Service Day partners" for the Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership 2010 World Leadership Congress. The congress will be held at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) July 23-30.

Now in its 42nd year, the 2010 World Leadership Congress is expected to attract 400 youth ambassadors from the United States and at least 15 different countries including Korea, Nigeria, Hong Kong, Germany, Canada, Mexico, Ireland, the United Kingdom and others. Attendees will engage in leadership learning and hands-on community service projects in support of its Service Day partners. Collectively these students will contribute more than 3,200 hours of service to the four not-for-profit organizations.

"The World Leadership Congress is designed to empower high school students from around the world to make meaningful contributions to their communities," says Javier LaFianza, president and chief executive officer of HOBY. "Our Service Day partners all share this dedication, and we're thrilled to be working with them in bringing the importance of community service to our participants and the individuals they serve."

The Service Day partners are:

• Habitat for Humanity ─ Dedicated to the cause of eliminating poverty housing. Since its founding in 1976, Habitat has built, rehabilitated, repaired or improved more than 350,000 houses worldwide, providing simple, decent and affordable shelter for more than 1.75 million people.
• Heal the Bay ─ Dedicated to making Southern California coastal waters and watersheds, including Santa Monica Bay, safe, healthy and clean.
• TreePeople ─ Uniting the power of trees, people and technology to grow a sustainable future for Los Angeles. Its mission is to inspire, engage and support people to take personal responsibility for the urban environment, making it safe, healthy, fun and sustainable and to share the process as a model for the world.
• GlamourGals ─ Inspiring and organizing teens to provide ongoing complimentary beauty makeovers and companionship to elderly women living in senior homes. It's founder and CEO Rachel Mara Doyle is a HOBY alumni.

Service Day is only one component of the World Leadership Congress' week-long activities. The 400 high school sophomores who attend will be exposed to a distinguished group of leaders from various sectors in business, government, international affairs, science and technology, medicine, media, and education. The week includes educational sessions, interactive workshops, training exercises, focus groups and individualized trainings leaving its participants "more mature individuals, more aware of the world around them, and more empowered to make a difference in that world," said LaFianza.  

For more than 50 years, Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership has helped to cultivate tomorrow's leaders by inspiring a global community of youth and volunteers to a life dedicated to leadership, service and innovation. Widely considered the country's top not-for-profit youth leadership development organization, HOBY programs annually provide nearly 10,000 local and international high school students the opportunity to participate in unique leadership training, service learning and motivation-building experiences. HOBY also provides adults the opportunity to make a significant impact on the lives of youth by volunteering, and today more than 4,000 volunteers and over 375,000 alumni proudly make up the HOBY family. Further information may be obtained at www.hoby.org.

SOURCE Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership