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2007 Defendant/Offender Workforce Development Conference Keynote Speakers

Frank Abagnale, Pat Nolan, Kim White and Jedd Medefind will provide the
keynote addresses at the 2007 Defendant/Offender Workforce Development
Conference March 5-7 in Charlotte, NC. More information is available at
http://www.ncwp.uscourts.gov/owdconf/
                                                                            
 Frank Abagnale's life was the subject of the best selling book Catch Me If
 You Can, which was later made into the Steven Spielberg feature movie.     
 After dropping out of the 10th grade at age 16, he soon became the         
 country's most notorious con man. Using an airline uniform, he posed as an
 pilot and passed bad checks in all 50 states and 26 countries. He also     
 assumed other identities, including as a physician. Abagnale was employed  
 as a resident supervisor, overseeing physicians for nearly a year.         
                                                                            
                                                                            
 Frank fabricated a transcript of a law degree from Harvard. This           
 transcript was accepted by the state, allowing Frank to take the Bar exam.
 He passed on his third attempt and was hired as an assistant in the        
 Attorney General's office. Frank also secured a teaching position at       
 Brigham Young University. He later moved to France, where, after passing   
 $2.5 million dollars in fraudulent checks the previous five years, he was  
 apprehended at the age of 21. After serving time in French, Swiss, and     
 American prisons, Frank was released in 1974.                              
                                                                            
                                                                            


                                                                            
 The most astonishing part of Frank's life is what happened after his       
 release from prison. In fact Steven Spielberg said in 2004, "I did not     
 make this film about Frank Abagnale because of what he did, but because of
 what he has done with his life the past thirty years." After being         
 paroled, Frank's story turns from one of fraud to one of redemption. He    
 initially struggled when given his freedom, securing only low-wage and     
 temporary positions. Frank eventually taught officials at various banks    
 how to fight and identify fraud. This led to the founding of his own       
 highly successful company, Abagnale and Associates. He works for numerous  
 major companies throughout the world and is viewed as the foremost expert  
 in fraud detection and avoidance. Frank developed new procedures and       
 created new manuals utilized by over 14,000 financial institutions, law    
 enforcement agencies and corporations. He also has instructed and assisted
 FBI officials for free since his release. He has authored four books.      
 Frank is also recognized as one of the world's best public speakers. Tom   
 Hanks wrote, "Abagnale's lecture may be the best one man show you will     
 ever see."                                                                 
                                                                            
 ____________                                                               
                                                                            
 Pat Nolan is the President of Justice Fellowship, the criminal justice     
 reform arm of Chuck Colson's Prison Fellowship Ministries. Justice         
 Fellowship works to reform the criminal justice system based on the        
 principles of restorative justice found in the Bible. They work with       
 government officials to find practical ways to apply restorative justice   
 to help victims, reform the hearts of offenders and restore a sense of     
 community to neighborhoods long plagued by crime. A major focus of Justice
 Fellowship's efforts is on insuring that offenders are better prepared to  
 live healthy, productive, law abiding lives upon their release.            
                                                                            
 Pat brings a unique background to Justice Fellowship. He served for 15     
 years in the California State Assembly, four of those as the Assembly      
 Republican Leader. He was a leader on crime issues, particularly on behalf
 of victims' rights. Pat was one of the original sponsors of the Victims'   
 Bill of Rights (Proposition 15) and was awarded the "Victims Advocate      
 Award" by Parents of Murdered Children. He was named Legislator of the     
 Year by many groups, including the Amvets for his work on behalf of        
 Vietnam veterans.                                                          
                                                                            
 Pat was targeted for prosecution for a campaign contribution he accepted.  
 The contribution turned out to be part of an FBI sting. He pled guilty to  
 one count of racketeering. He served 29 months in federal custody.         
                                                                            
 Pat is the author of When Prisoners Return, which describes the important  
 role the Church can play in helping prisoners get back on their feet after
 they are released. His opinion pieces have appeared in numerous            
 periodicals, including the Los Angeles Times, the National Law Journal and
 the Washington Times. He has coauthored articles for the Notre Dame Law    
 School Journal of Law, Ethics and Public Policy and the Regent Law School  
 Law Review. He is a frequent guest on talk shows, including Hannity and    
 Colmes, Fox Network News, Michael Reagan, Montel Williams and Ollie North.
                                                                            
 Pat is a much sought after speaker on issues of justice and faith. He was  
 selected by Governor Geringer of Wyoming to be the speaker at his annual   
 prayer breakfast in 2002 and has testified on several occasions before     
 Congressional committees on prison work programs, juvenile justice and     
 religious freedom. He has also lectured at judicial conferences and legal  
 conventions.                                                               
                                                                            
 Pat serves on the nine-member U.S. Prison Rape Elimination Commission,     
 appointed by the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dennis    
 Hastert. He also serves on the National Commission on Safety and Abuse in  
 America's Prisons, co-chaired by former Attorney General Nicholas          
 Katzenbach and former Chief Judge of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals,   
 John Gibbons.                                                              
                                                                            
 ___________________                                                        
                                                                            
 Kim White serves as the Regional Director for the Mid-Atlantic Region of   
 the Bureau of Prisons. She joined the Bureau in 1984 and has since held a  
 variety of positions at nine Bureau locations around the country. She      
 began her career as a Case Management Intern at the Federal Correctional   
 Institution (FCI), Milan, MI and Butner, NC. From 1986 until 1988, while   
 at Butner, she served in Correctional Officer and Case Manager positions.  
 She achieved positions of increasing responsibility, including Case        
 Management Coordinator at the Federal Prison Camp Pensacola, FL; Unit      
 Manager at FCI Marianna, FL; and Regional Central Inmate Monitoring        
 Coordinator, Assistant Correctional Programs Administrator, and Regional   
 Correctional Programs Administrator, all at the South Central Regional     
 office in Dallas, TX.                                                      
                                                                            
 She joined the institution leadership team at FCI El Reno, OK and then     
 became the first Administrator of the District of Columbia Offender        
 Branch. She was promoted to Warden at FCI Danbury, CT in 1999 and was      
 subsequently transferred as Warden to FCI Fairton, NJ in 2001, where she   
 served until her promotion to Regional Director in May 2003.               
                                                                            
 Mrs. White received a Bachelor of Science in 1983 and a Master of Arts in  
 1992 from Kent State University. She is a member of the American           
 Correctional Association and National Association of Blacks in Criminal    
 Justice. She received her Senior Executive Service in June 2002 and has    
 received various awards during her tenure.                                 
                                                                            
 _________________                                                          
                                                                            
 Jedd Medefind serves as Director for the Center for Faith-Based and        
 Community Initiatives at the U.S. Department of Labor. Prior to his        
 current role, he filled a range of posts in the California State           
 Legislature, most recently as Chief of Staff to Assemblyman Tim Leslie.    
                                                                            
 In 2000, Mr. Medefind worked to establish and lead the California          
 Community Renewal Project, which provides vital resources and training to  
 organizations serving California's most challenged communities.            
                                                                            
 Mr. Medefind has spent time in more than twenty-five countries and has     
 served with development organizations in Guatemala, Bangladesh, the        
 Kingdom of Lesotho and other countries. He also worked for                 
 Price-Waterhouse in Moscow.                                                
                                                                            
 The book Four Souls, which he wrote with three close friends, explores     
 questions of faith, poverty, and community amidst a journey around the     
 globe. His most recent book, The Revolutionary Communicator, examines the  
 grace and greatness of Jesus' approach to communication and leadership.    
                                                                            

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About Scott

Social Science Research Analyst for NIC's Offender Workforce Development Division