Louisville Cardinal Basketball Stand Out Jude Schimmel to kick off the National UNITY Conference at the Portland Convention Center

PORTLAND, Ore. - (June 27, 2014) Louisville Cardinals senior guard Jude Schimmel will serve as the keynote speaker that will kick off the National UNITY Conference to be held at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, Oregon from June 28 – July 3, 2014.

Schimmel, a citizen of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Tribe helped lead the Louisville Cardinals to a 33-5 record last season while averaging 5.6 points and 3.5 assists per game. She was a Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Good Works team nominee and won the Elite 89 academic award in 2013 as the player with the highest grade-point average participating in the Final Four and most recently, in April Schimmel was named one of Glamor Magazine’s Top 10 College Women.

The college basketball stand out is scheduled to speak during the UNITY Opening Session on Saturday, June 28 at 6:00p.m. (PDT) at the Exhibit Hall of the Portland Convention Center.

The five-day National youth conference includes other notable Keynote Speakers such as the President of the National Congress of American Indians Brian Cladoosby, who is also Chairman of the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, the 1491s, featuring Migizi Pensoneau & Bobby Wilson, a Native American comedy group, renowned poet writer and filmmaker Sherman Alexie, Jr., and S. Amanda Marshall, U.S. Attorney, District of Oregon.

Nearly 1300 Native American Youth Leaders from throughout the U.S. are expected to attend the National UNITY Conference. For more than 30 years the National UNITY Conference has brought Native Youth Leaders to cities all across the United States to participate in a drug and alcohol free setting. The youth led conference includes a packed agenda including motivational messaging, team-building exercises, health and fitness activities, cultural exchanges, workshops, banquets and a closing commitment ceremony.

About UNITY, Inc.

United National Indian Tribal Youth, Inc. (UNITY) is a national 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to fostering the spiritual, mental, physical and social development of American Indian and Alaska Native youth and to help build a strong, unified, and self-reliant Native America through greater youth involvement. UNITY has impacted more than 150,000 Native Americans through its programs since 1976. For information about UNITY, Inc. please visit http://www.unityinc.org.