Helping Kids Get Jobs Should Be Priority, Panel Told

Networking to boost your own career is important, but gettingdisadvantaged kids into good jobs is imperative, ethnic leaders inChicago told a gathering of working women on Thursday.

"Our most important issue this year is how we as women of colorcan deal with issues of children. They're in trouble and it'sscary," said Francis I. Wilkins, who founded Networking Together inChicago in 1980. "We have a special responsibility to prepare themto move in our footsteps," she said.

The regional group's conference, "Rainbow of Color: JoiningTogether for Empowerment, Leadership & Survival," runs throughtomorrow at the Bismarck Hotel. The annual program started inChicago in …