YMCA Names Sinan Kanatsiz National Outreach Chairman for California Youth and Government Program

SAN CLEMENTE, CA – January 9, 2009 – Sinan Kanatsiz, Chairman and CEO of KCOMM, has been appointed as the National Outreach Chairman for the YMCA’s Youth and Government program in California. As National Outreach Chairman, Kanatsiz will assist the YMCA in expanding the visibility and reach of this unique program designed to teach high school students about the American system of government and build leadership skills. The YMCA currently serves over 20 million members nationally, of which 30,000 delegates are part of the Youth and Government Program.

“Sinan’s close relationships with state and federal government, fortune 1000 businesses, media and next generation companies give our program an integrated reach to influencers that will change the lives of thousands of youth in our country.”

“I’ve always had a passion for connecting the next generation with political entities. The YMCA Youth and Government program changes the lives of thousands of kids every year,” said Kanatsiz. ”My goals with this position include the introduction of the Youth and Government program to the federal government, White House and businesses throughout the country through personal political and media relationships.

YMCAs across the nation serve thousands of U.S. communities, uniting 21 million children and adults of all ages, races, faiths, backgrounds, abilities, and income levels. At every stage of life, YMCAs are there to help children, families and individuals reach their full potential. The Youth and Government program uses a variety of activities to build, encourage and strengthen those life assets and character traits that will help high school youth become involved, responsible adults who are decent and respected citizens.

“The program teaches our youth the process of domestic and foreign politics, leadership skills and how to channel their energy toward positive directions,” Kanatsiz noted. “The intent is for the Youth and Government program to provide its participants with the life skills that they will need even if they decide to pursue a professional career outside of government.”

As Chairman and CEO of KCOMM, Sinan brings a dimension to clients that few can match. He is one of the leading innovators in tapping the new medium of the Internet to the marketing and promotional needs of consumer and business-to-business clients. He has shown clients how taking advantage of the new media can make their marketing, promotional and public relation efforts, not only exponentially more successful, but also dramatically more cost effective.

As a consummate entrepreneur and philanthropist, Kanatsiz takes his responsibilities to the community very seriously. In addition to mentoring high school and college students on his own time, he is often called upon to speak on entrepreneurism and the Internet and has held engagements at leading universities.

His belief in the power of entrepreneurism and politics led him to start Generation NeXt in 2004, a network of young business and community leaders committed to making a difference by empowering individuals and causes to provide long-term solutions that will better the next generation. In addition, he founded the Internet Marketing Associationeight years ago, a group that has grown rapidly to over 65,000 members worldwide. More information on IMA can be found here: www.imanetwork.org