West Palm Beach Business Women Mentor Teen Girls in Entrepreneurship at Girls Going Places(R) Conference

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., Nov. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Nearly 100 teen girls from West Palm Beach area schools will attend the Girls Going Places® Entrepreneurship Conference this week, presented by The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America (Guardian), in partnership with Sondra Goldstein, Financial Advisor at National Planning Corporation, and Palm Beach Community College.

During the event, West Palm Beach women business leaders will mentor girls ages 12 through 18 about entrepreneurship, using the conference as a platform for inspiring and encouraging them to pursue their own entrepreneurial endeavors. "This is an excellent opportunity for young women to learn about the challenges and rewards of being a business owner from successful women," said Kathy Readinger, national manager of Guardian's Girls Going Places® program. "By showing young women the potential of embarking on entrepreneurial career paths, we can educate, mentor, and inspire the next generation of women business leaders."

During the interactive conference, local business women will guide the girls through various activities such as "Hot Company®," an entrepreneurial board game that introduces girls to the advantages and challenges of owning one's own business. They will also team up for an exercise called "Product-in-a-Box®," in which they will have the opportunity to design a product and present a marketing plan. The mentors will share their experiences as successful women in business.

Sondra Goldstein of National Planning Corporation views the conference as a unique opportunity for girls to connect with local business women:

"We are excited to have such successful women share their wisdom and experiences with our local girls," said Goldstein. "With the current unemployment challenges facing Florida, teaching financial independence and the value of education to young women in the West Palm Beach area has never been more important."

The conference concludes Guardian's 2009 Girls Going Places® conference program year. Since 1999, Guardian has hosted 80 Girls Going Places® Entrepreneurship Conferences across the country. Created ten years ago as part of Guardian's Women's Initiative, the national Girls Going Places® Entrepreneurship Program is composed of 1-day conferences and an annual Award program. Guardian annually grants $30,000 in cash prizes to 15 teen girls who demonstrate outstanding entrepreneurial abilities and service in the community.

For more information about the program, its awards and conferences, please visit www.GirlsGoingPlaces.com. Information is also available on MySpace, Facebook and YouTube; keyword Girls Going Places.

About National Planning Corporation
National Planning Corporation, a leading comprehensive financial services firm with over 55 years of experience, specializes in designing and providing integrated financial strategies and solutions to individuals, families and business owners in order to meet their unique financial objectives in a complex and changing world. For more information, visit: www.NPCFinancial.com

About Guardian
A mutual insurer founded nearly 150 years ago, The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America and its subsidiaries are committed to protecting individuals, business owners and their employees with life, long term care insurance, disability income, group medical and dental insurance products, and offer 401(k), annuities and other financial products. Guardian operates one of the largest dental networks in the United States, and protects more than six million employees and their families at 120,000 companies. The company has more than 5,400 employees in the United States and a network of over 3,000 financial representatives in more than 80 agencies nationwide.

For more information about Guardian, please visit: www.GuardianLife.com