Emilio Gonzalez Named Vice President - Strategic Alliances for Verizon

NEW YORK - Emilio Gonzalez has been named vice president - strategic alliances for Verizon, effective November 1.

Gonzalez will head Verizon's Strategic Alliances Group, which is responsible for public policy development and outreach to civil rights groups, multicultural and education organizations, and senior citizen and disabled constituencies throughout the United States. He will assume the position previously held by B. Keith Fulton, who has been named state president - Verizon West Virginia.

"Emilio possesses more than fifteen years of Washington experience in the public and private sectors, extensive experience in telecommunications, Internet and broadcast media policy, and strong working relationships with key federal policy makers and with leading advocacy groups," said Kathryn Brown, senior vice president - public policy and corporate social responsibility for Verizon. "He is the ideal person for this position, and both Verizon and our stakeholder communities will benefit from his knowledge and thoughtful leadership."

Gonzalez joined Verizon in 2003 as director of strategic alliances. He has served as lead federal lobbyist for Hispanic-American members of Congress, managed key aspects of Hispanic, education and Asian-American affairs, and directed national advocacy campaigns in key policy areas impacting telecommunications.

Prior to joining Verizon, Gonzalez was a senior advisor with a Washington, D.C., government relations firm, Mickey Ibarra & Associates, where he developed Hispanic marketing campaigns and political strategy.  He also served as a senior associate at another Washington-based government relations firm, Cartwright & Riley.  Before that, he held positions at the U.S. departments of Education and Commerce and the U.S. Congress Office of Technology Assessment. He worked extensively on the federal government's programs on educational technology, the e-rate and global information society initiatives.

Gonzalez earned a bachelor's degree in liberal arts and a master's degree in government, both from Harvard University.  He also completed the Annenberg Washington Faculty Program in Communications Policy and Law and the Harvard Graduate School of Business Corporate Governance Program.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ), headquartered in New York, is a leader in delivering broadband and other wireline and wireless communication innovations to mass market, business, government and wholesale customers.  Verizon Wireless operates America's most reliable wireless network, serving more than 62 million customers nationwide.  Verizon's Wireline operations include Verizon Business, which delivers innovative and seamless business solutions to customers around the world, and Verizon Telecom, which brings customers the benefits of converged communications, information and entertainment services over the nation's most advanced fiber-optic network.  A Dow 30 company, Verizon has a diverse workforce of more than 238,000 and last year generated consolidated operating revenues of more than $88 billion.  For more information, visit www.verizon.com.

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