ABOUT THE VALUE MANAGEMENT CONSULTANT-cum-EDUCATOR ABATE O. KASSA is President of AOK Consulting & Education, established in 1973 and headquartered in New York. Mr. Kassa specializes in Purchasing & Supply Management, Value Management, Change Management, and Association Management. He is a former Purchasing Manager of Ethiopian Airlines where he served for 19 years during which time, inter alia, he introduced a corporate-wide value improvement process. As an international management consultant and educator in procurement and supply management, he assists his clients to optimize the value of their procurement function and also provides a comprehensive professional development program in procurement and supply management. In the summers of 1994-96, he advised the International Trade Centre/UNCTAD/WTO/United Naions on a $1 billion import procurement project in Africa. In 1999, he served as ITC consultant in the Pacific Forum Island Countries of Samoa, Kiribati, Tonga, Niue, Tuvalu, and Fiji. In October 2000, he conducted seminars on New Trends in Purchasing and Joint Purchasing at Nadi, Fiji Islands. He is a regular speaker at the affiliates of the Institute for Supply Management and the American Management Association seminars in the United States. He was retained as Executive Director of the National Association of Purchasing Management-New York for 19 years. Mr. Kassa is a recipient of NAPM-New York's 1992 J. H. Leonard Award for his contributions in institutional capacity building of NAPM-New York as a center of excellence in purchasing and supply management. Mr. Kassa is a Certified Purchasing Manager (C.P.M.) by the Institute for Supply Management. He holds a bachelor's degree (with distinction) in economics from Addis Abeba University and a master's degree in government and politics from St. Johns University, New York. Here are some typical testimonials from participating organizations at Mr. Kassa's seminars: "343 of our people have attended Mr. Abate Kassa's Value Analysis seminars. One of the airline's departments alone reported first year savings of $339,346.00 in VA projects." Ethiopian Airlines "Abate Kassa has been added to AMA's list of outstanding course leaders on the subject of Purchasing & Supply Management. His enthusiasm for the subject shows in the classroom, and he makes the subject come alive for both Purchasing newcomers as well as the seasoned Purchasing Manager."American Management Association "As ITC consultant on procurement and logistics management, Mr. Abate Kassa of AOK Consulting has completed successful assignments in Africa and the South Pacific. We wish to express our deep appreciation for Mr. Kassa's excellent quality of consulting work and highly effective Value-Minded Management and Procurement Management seminars." International Trade Centre/UNCTAD/WTO/United Nations "Mr. Abate Kassa of AOK Consulting has been a regular instructor of the Value Analysis and Fundamentals of Purchasing Management seminars for the National Association of Purchasing Management-New York for more than ten years. The seminar attendees representing various U.S. firms from different industries consistently rated Mr. Kassa's presentations as Excellent." National Association of Purchasing Management-New York Sign up to perform Better, Faster, and Leaner. Contact us at (718)658-1136 or via e-mail AOK Consulting & Education Page 5 of 5