The intensive two-week program, conducted at the UCLA Anderson School of Management in Los Angeles, was developed in 1991 in order to strengthen the management skills of Head Start directors. Noted child development experts and members of Congress have heralded UCLA Anderson's Head Start- Johnson & Johnson Management Fellows Program as one of the finest examples of an effective public-private partnership.

The 2005 Head Start-Johnson & Johnson Management Fellows attended the program in mid-July at UCLA Anderson School of Management that concluded with a graduation ceremony on July 21 at the Riviera Country Club, in Pacific Palisades, California. More than 150 guests attended the graduation, including local dignitaries and top executives from Johnson & Johnson and Neutrogena. They later attended a reception honoring all graduates on July 22 at Neutrogena Corporation.

Head Start programs exist to provide comprehensive developmental services to low-income, preschool children and their families. Since healthy development goes beyond the classroom, Head Start grantees and delegate agencies also provide a range of individualized services in the areas of medical and dental care, mental health, nutrition, and parent involvement. Program directors supervise nearly 50,000 classrooms nationwide and manage at the local level with the assistance of more than 211,000 paid staff and 1,353,000 volunteers. In 2004, the Head Start program enrolled more than 905,000 children, making a total of more than 23 million since it inception in 1965.

"We firmly believe that the strong and fruitful communities of tomorrow can be built on the education, health services and support programs we give to children and families today," said Alfred T. Mays, vice president, Corporate Contributions and Community Relations at Johnson & Johnson.

The UCLA Anderson School of Management is recognized as one of America's premier graduate business schools. Its preeminent position is based on internationally acclaimed research, an innovative and distinguished faculty and exceptionally bright, highly motivated students chosen from one of the largest and finest application pools in the nation.

"Johnson & Johnson is the corporate leader in supporting Head Start," said Professor Alfred E. Osborne Jr., faculty director of the Program. "Over the years, the Company has invested over $6 million in the management of more than 700 agencies, and has left its mark on Head Start classrooms throughout the United States."

Johnson & Johnson is the world's most comprehensive and broadly based manufacturer of health care products, as well as a provider of related services, for the consumer, pharmaceutical and medical devices and diagnostics markets. The more than 200 Johnson & Johnson operating companies employ approximately 113,800 men and woman in 57 countries and sell products throughout the world. The Company is headquartered New Brunswick, NJ where it was founded more than a century ago.