Rabobank Sponsors 2007 Global Professional Women's Forum in Coachella Valley

COACHELLA VALLEY, Calif., Sept. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Rabobank will be the presenting sponsor of the 2007 The International Alliance of Women (TIAW) Global Partnership Forum, an annual conference that brings together women leaders, executives and entrepreneurs from around the world to focus on issues impacting today's professional women. Rabobank executive Ineke Bussemaker, head of Payment Services and Savings for Rabobank, the leading bank in the Netherlands, will be a featured speaker at the conference.

Each year the TIAW designs a forum to help its 55,000 members network with local, national and international professional women. This year's forum, themed "Inspiring Women Leaders: Global Collaboration," will take place in Indian Wells, CA, on November 8-10, and will be co-hosted by the Women Leaders Forum of the Coachella Valley. The forum will focus on the role and impact of women leaders in corporate direction, board governance, entrepreneurship and mentoring of future generations.

"As women increasingly occupy leadership positions and start their own businesses, organizations like TIAW play an important role at both the local and global levels," said Ben Scholten, Rabobank N.A. Regional President. "Rabobank shares that commitment to the advancement of women everywhere we do business around the world and in our own bank, where many women are in management roles. As a specialist in local business financing, we are ideally positioned to help support the growth and success of women owned- and operated-businesses here in California. Sponsoring the TIAW Global Partnership Forum is an opportunity to demonstrate our support and forge strong relationships with the community of professional women right here in the Coachella Valley region."

Rabobank provides full banking services to local businesses in communities throughout California, including an array of lending, depository, treasury management, payroll, leasing and merchant and check card services, delivered by professional bankers who are knowledgeable about the needs of local businesses. Rabobank also provides commercial real estate development financing, agricultural lending and retail banking services in California.

In conjunction with the forum sponsorship, Rabobank is hosting a series of "Women's Executive Luncheons" throughout the Coachella Valley for groups of professional women to discuss issues they face in leading or starting a business, and to strengthen professional and personal networks among local women leaders. The TIAW sponsorship and luncheon series are part of Rabobank's commitment to tap the expertise and experience of its own considerable cadre of women managers for the benefit of the bank's women-led and -owned business clientele.

Among that noteworthy group of women leaders at Rabobank is Ineke Bussemaker, whose international career in corporate and investment banking spans 23 years. Ineke is Executive Vice President at Rabobank Group, responsible for payment services and savings product development and operations for both consumer and corporate clients in the Netherlands. She has been an active member of TIAW since 1992, and is a member of the UK organization Women in Banking and Finance (a TIAW member organization). She served as a member and chair of Women in Banking and Finance in the Netherlands between 1988 and 1994, and was also awarded the annual SVN Women's Network prize in 1993.

Rabobank, N.A. (www.RabobankAmerica.com) is a California community bank that provides personalized service and a full array of quality products to individuals, businesses, commercial real estate developers and investors, and agricultural clients. With 79 retail offices and 14 financial service centers, we serve the needs of communities from Sacramento south to the Central Coast and the Imperial Valley through local decision-making and active community involvement by our employees.

Rabobank Group is a financial services leader providing retail and institutional banking and agricultural finance solutions in key markets around the world. From its century-old roots as a finance cooperative founded by Dutch farmers, Rabobank has grown into one of the 25 largest banks worldwide with approximately US $800 billion in assets and operations in over 35 countries. Rabobank is one of the few private banks in the world with the highest possible credit rating from both Standard & Poor's (AAA) and Moody's Investor Service (Aaa), and is ranked as the world's third safest bank by Global Finance magazine. In the Americas, Rabobank is a specialist in sophisticated, customer-driven solutions in the Global Financial Markets and Corporate Finance arenas and provides banking services to corporate food and agribusiness clients; retail and commercial banking services in California; leasing; and a full range of agricultural finance products to American agricultural producers.

TIAW is a global umbrella organization serving over 55,000 businesswomen and their associations globally. Since being founded as a not-for-profit organization in 1980, TIAW has evolved into a proactive women's organization that exists for a greater good. TIAW provides programs that foster the economic empowerment and advancement for women around the world. Along with the highly successful TIAW Microenterprise Development Program, TIAW also has the TIAW Women on Boards Program, the TIAW Entrepreneurs' Program, and the TIAW Daughters' Program. Each year TIAW holds international events, along with its annual Global Forum in North America (www.globalforum.tiaw.org), to bring together women from around the world to connect, discuss important issues and recognize women who have truly made a difference. As always, its mission is to offer thought-provoking and intellectually stimulating events that will edify, inspire and empower a broad base of influential domestic and international participants.