let's give our friend george lambert another round of applause, thank you so much.ause] acknowledge our state of black america launch event presenting sponsor, venture, global. and now, i would also like to invite our legislative policy conference presenting sponsor to the podium. please welcome from johnson & johnson, the head of government affairs, courtney billington. good morning, and thank you, rhonda. it's a pleasure see all of you year. i had the good fortune of being here last year for the national conference. and there's so much more work to do and i reflect on rhonda's words, as well as george's about what we need to do as we think about this year's conference. we are here as part of johnson & johnson, to partner with you and recognize thek that you do as national urban leagues. we're working together to make sure that we are fighting the good fight. we're working to make sure that we're advancing social justice and inspiring all of us to go beyond what we feel is possible. you know, and i think about t l conference as it being like the super bowl. you kno