Suzanne DuBose Receives Ovations Award

Suzanne DuBose Receives Ovations Award

Magazine Cites Bell Atlantic Foundation President for
Community Service

February 2, 2000

NEW YORK -- Suzanne DuBose, president of the Bell Atlantic
Foundation, recently was named as the first recipient of an Ovations
Award for community service.

Co-sponsored by CMP Media's tele.com magazine and ComNet 2000 -- a
major technology conference and exhibition held each year in
Washington, D.C. -- the Ovations Awards honor achievement and
innovation by executives working in the converging networking and

Bell Atlantic Chairman and CEO Ivan Seidenberg was named
"Innovator 2000" in recognition of outstanding strategic and
business leadership, vision and innovation in 1999.

"While large companies such as Bell Atlantic are sometimes
expected to be generous, Ms. DuBose's group's efforts are
accomplishments by any measure, with an emphasis on new technology
applications in education, health and human services, the arts and
humanities, and civic development in the communities served by Bell
Atlantic," said Laurel Nelson-Rowe, publisher of tele.com
magazine, during awards ceremonies in Washington.

DuBose views herself and her staff at the foundation as "venture
philanthropists" who are investing dollars in the nonprofit
community for vital technology infrastructure, Nelson-Rowe noted.
Helping to bridge the so-called "digital divide" by bringing
technology to distressed urban and rural communities is a priority for
DuBose.

The Bell Atlantic Foundation has focused on aiding educational
institutions and nonprofit organizations that serve these communities.
DuBose has reached out to national and regional organizations serving
traditionally underserved communities to forge partnerships around
technology initiatives ranging from community technology centers to
interactive Web sites and overall technology infrastructure development.

During 1999, major financial and technical support from the Bell Atlantic
Foundation:

• Enabled the National Urban League to complete establishment of five
  community technology centers in Binghamton and White Plains, N.Y.;
  Baltimore, Md.; Boston, Mass.; and Newark, N.J. These centers provide
  underserved communities with a direct on-ramp to the information
  superhighway. In some cases, they also provide a safe haven for children
  in inner-city communities - where they can study, learn and explore in
  nurturing environments.

• Fostered the creation of numerous Web sites designed to help combat
  cyberhate and promote tolerance and understanding among and across
  various ethnic, racial and religious communities. Last year, DuBose was
  instrumental in forging a new partnership between the Asian American
  Legal Defense and Education Fund, the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and
  Education Fund, and the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund. A
  collaborative civil rights Web site will be launched this year as a result of
  the partnership.

• Enabled the New York-based Hispanic Federation to develop an
  interactive Web site designed to provide its nonprofit network of more
  than 60 member agencies with a host of powerful online tools.

• Served as the catalyst behind the Asian American Federation of New
  York's plans to launch a technology hub for the Asian Pacific nonprofit
  community. With the aid of a $100,000 grant, the federation will become
  an Internet service provider and will build the technology infrastructure
  for community-based organizations, extending the power of the Internet
  and computer networking to 34-member health and human service
  agencies throughout the New York metropolitan area.

• Provided the impetus behind the NAACP's plans to improve its Internet-
  based communications system. A Bell Atlantic Foundation $500,000
  challenge grant was a catalyst behind the civil rights organization's
  decision to upgrade its systems and build capacity.

DuBose has been president of the Bell Atlantic Foundation since its
inception in 1997.
Prior to the merger of Bell Atlantic and NYNEX that year, she held a
similar position with NYNEX.

A political and civic activist, DuBose has held top positions in several
major political campaigns. She currently chairs the National Black
Leadership Commission on AIDS' development committee and serves on
the Leadership Conference for Civil Rights' technology committee, the
National Urban League's Corporate Committee, the NAACP Special
Contributions Board, the New York City Executive Committee for the
National Urban League, and the board of directors of Madison Square
Park in Manhattan.

The Bell Atlantic Foundation supports a variety of projects domestically
and internationally, with an emphasis on new technology applications in
education, health and human services, the arts and humanities, and civic
development in the communities served by Bell Atlantic. For more
information, visit www.bellatlanticfoundation.com on the Internet.

Bell Atlantic is at the forefront of the new communications and information
industry. With nearly 44 million telephone access lines and 12 million wireless
customers worldwide, Bell Atlantic companies are premier providers of advanced
wireline voice and data services, market leaders in wireless services and the
world's largest publishers of directory information. Bell Atlantic companies are
also among the world's largest investors in high-growth global communications
markets, with operations and investments in 23 countries.