President Clinton Presents Ronald H. Brown Foundation 1999 Corporate Bridge Builder Award to U S WEST`s Sol Trujillo - Trujillo Honored for Creating Opportunities for Women and Minorities
November 12, 1999

WASHINGTON, Nov. 10 /PRNewswire/ via NewsEdge Corporation -- President Clinton presented the prestigious Ronald H. Brown Foundation 1999 Corporate Bridge Builder Award to U S WEST (NYSE: USW) chairman, president and CEO Solomon D. Trujillo tonight. The award is named after the late U.S. Commerce Secretary and was established to honor leaders who carry on Brown's vision of achievement through opportunity for all people.

Trujillo was honored for his commitment to providing economic and educational opportunities for women and minorities and his groundbreaking achievements connecting communities to the Internet.

"It is such a tremendous honor to receive this prestigious award," said Trujillo. "I have benefited from people I never met, those who planted the seeds of opportunity years ago. Because of where I came from and what I believed in, I decided the only way to live my life was to live the life of a catalyst for change."

Trujillo became the third recipient, and the first from the business community, to receive the award. Previous recipients were First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Clinton received the award for her international community service, Tutu for his peace-making efforts in South Africa.

Michael Brown, president and chief executive officer of the Ronald H. Brown Foundation, spoke of his father's legacy. "My father spent his life building bridges to make it easier for others to achieve success, regardless of skin color, gender or ethnicity. It is fitting that we honor someone today who has achieved extraordinary personal success against long odds, and is also devoting so much of his life so that others might do the same."

Trujillo has worked to bring about change both within U S WEST and in communities throughout the country. Under Trujillo's leadership, U S WEST was an early and enthusiastic supporter of minority chambers of commerce. He participated directly in the formation of Hispanic, African-American and American Indian chambers in Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado. He has been a strong advocate of policies that support diversity in hiring, and the company recently announced that it broke a record in the first half of 1999 by spending nearly a quarter billion dollars with minority-and women-owned businesses.

Fifteen years ago, Trujillo helped establish the first Spanish speaking customer service operation in the industry, called El Centro. He worked with the Urban League of Metro Denver to create a program called Project: Connect, which identifies and trains inner-city African American youths for high-tech jobs at U S WEST. Two years ago Trujillo helped revive the Latin American Education Foundation, which provides scholarships and mentoring to Hispanic youths. Trujillo currently is on the boards of Dayton Hudson Corporation and Bank of America, is governor of the World Economic Forum for the information technology industry, and is a member of the National Security Telecommunications Council.