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Chicago Sky and Bank of America Honor Women of Inspiration

July 18, 2008 - Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Chicago Sky News Release


CHICAGO, July 18, 2008 - For the second consecutive season, the Chicago Sky and Bank of America have partnered to honor Chicago's Women of Inspiration. Tonight they will announce the program's fourth honoree, Daniell Cortes DeVito, who will be presented with a game ball at center court by a Bank of America executive and Sky CEO Margaret Stender at halftime of the Sky game at UIC Pavilion.

The Women of Inspiration program has two elements, the first of which is a recognition program to select and honor five to seven inspiring women at Sky home games throughout the 2008 season. Sky fans can nominate Chicago-area women who inspire them - by their courage, their determination, their forgiveness, the way they use a talent or skill, their generosity, their patience, or whatever it is that makes them inspiring. Fans can fill out a nomination form at www.chicagosky.net or on the concourse at Sky home games.

"Bank of America is proud to support the Chicago Sky's Women of Inspiration program," said Bank of America Market Development Manager Julie Chavez. "We encourage Sky fans to take this opportunity to nominate outstanding women who help make Chicago one of the nation's truly great cities."

The fourth honoree selected by Bank of America, Danielle Cortes DeVito is a Chicago Fire Department paramedic, who was nominated by her husband Marco DeVito. After working a demanding 24 hour shift, DeVito still manages to find time to teach CPR and first aid in her community as well as volunteer as an American Heart Association Stroke Ambassador where she speaks and motivates African Americans on the campaign, "The Power to End Stroke." She is also an advocate for research on women's heart disease while still finding time to teach her daughter to be passionate about who she is and what she does in life.

The second element of the program is Bank of America's Women of Inspiration Night, which was held on June 26 at the Sky v. Phoenix Mercury game at UIC Pavilion. The evening began with a private pre-game reception for Chicago's women business leaders and the young women they mentor. A panel of women who are involved in Chicago's bid for the 2016 Olympic Games gave guests an inside look at the city's effort to win the games, including:

§ Cassandra Francis, director of village development for Chicago 2016

§ Linda Mastandrea, vice president of sport for Chicago 2016 and a Paralympics gold medalist

§ Jessica Fairchild, general counsel for Chicago 2016.

The Sky's own Sylvia Fowles, who will play for the US Women's Olympic Basketball Team in Beijing in August, also participated in the panel discussion. Bank of America's guests then watched the Sky take on the reigning WNBA Champion Mercury and their two Olympians, Diana Taurasi and Cappie Pondexter.

The Sky is one of seven independently-owned teams in the WNBA, the world's longest-running women's professional sports league. The Sky celebrated its inaugural season in 2006, and finished a successful sophomore season with a 14-20 record and guard Armintie Price named WNBA Rookie of the Year. The team chose 6'6" LSU star Sylvia Fowles with the number two pick in the 2008 WNBA Draft. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.chicagosky.net.

Bank of America is one of the world's largest financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small and middle market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk-management products and services. The company provides unmatched convenience in the United States, serving more than 59 million consumer and small business relationships with more than 6,100 retail banking offices, nearly 18,500 ATMs and award-winning online banking with nearly 25 million active users. Bank of America is the No. 1 overall Small Business Administration (SBA) lender in the United States and the No. 1 SBA lender to minority-owned small businesses. The company serves clients in more than 150 countries and has relationships with 99 percent of the U.S. Fortune 500 companies and 83 percent of the Fortune Global 500. Bank of America Corporation stock (NYSE: BAC) is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

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