Corporate partners, Spelman trustees, students and distinguished guests.

I'm delighted to be here today, particularly as you celebrate the 10th Anniversary of this great program.

I'm joined by some key members of our Family Office and Falcons staff, and I hope you've had the chance to meet them. Through their various roles, each one of them is active in supporting the community.

One quick spotlight: Atiba Mbiwan, a program officer in our family foundation, has a daughter, Keisha, who is a sophomore here at Spelman.

When I was first approached about speaking with you today, we had a discussion about why the leaders at Spelman thought I would be an appropriate speaker for this event.

After all, this audience is filled with representatives of leading corporations, not just from Atlanta, but from across the country.

It's an impressive group — and they could have tapped into any of your organizations.

I don't think it's due to my ownership of the Atlanta Falcons.

This is an educational institute filled, I hope, with Falcons fans, but the closest sport being played here is soccer.

Many times, my experience in building Home Depot is a factor.

And other times, our Family Foundation's focus on our nation's youth is of interest.

There is one other possible link in this case — my friendship and business relationship with your former president, Johnnetta Cole.

Dr. Cole is an Atlanta Falcons board member, a former Home Depot director, and has been a good friend to me and my family for many years.

So, what was the draw?

If we were attending a class at Spelman today, taking a multiple choice test, the answer would be — all of the above.

The leadership at Spelman asked me to draw on each one of these experiences — and their interconnections — to reinforce the importance of partnerships in sustaining community and the long-term health of society.

It's fitting that the theme for this gathering is "Strengthening The Linkages."

As corporate partners of this great institution, you've made a commitment to strengthen the link between business and education, because it sparks new ideas.

First, as a business person, I know how important that is.

Great ideas — brought to fruition — turn into great products, great services and great returns on investment.

It happens when the right people connect with one another.

That was certainly true for Bernie Marcus and me when we took an idea we had off the paper napkin we wrote it on, and put it into action by building The Home Depot, one of the most successful retailers in the world.

We were successful because we connected —we linked — the interests of our associates, customers, shareholders and community.

For you, as Spelman's corporate partners, this is a great place to connect people with ideas.

Because great minds are nurtured here.

Spelman continues to be ranked among the top liberal arts colleges in the nation, and its students are impressive.

When you talk with them, you can hear it. When you walk the campus, you can see it.

The students here are committed to community service, something that is very important to me personally. Spelman women are known nationally as "women who serve."

They are also extremely hard-working.

Ninety percent of Spelman's Class of 2001 worked full or part-time while going to school.

That says something to me, because I know, first-hand, how hard it is to juggle school and work.

In college, I started a dry cleaning and landscaping business to help put myself through school. I cleaned other kids' clothes and trimmed lawns.

We all have stories about our personal business successes.

We worked hard, but we all also got help from someone along the way.

That's why helping our youth — including the students at Spelman — is so important.

As business people, we know what higher education can do for industry. It produces ideas. It's the source of new talent. It's the heartbeat of research.

But we also know, on a human level, that this is where the dreams of talented young people take flight.

Those dreams can also be grounded forever, if there are no resources to lift them up.

That's why, years after graduating from Babson College, I wanted to give something back to my school.

Blessed by the success of Home Depot, I wanted to create a program to support and encourage other young entrepreneurs.

So, we worked with Babson to develop a program that included scholarships and internships at Home Depot. Students had a chance to apply their talents in marketing, finance, in our stores, and many other areas.

A year ago, I was invited by Babson to speak in London to a gathering of business executives who are friends and supporters of the college — much like you are of Spelman.

London is one of my favorite cities, and my wife, Stephanie, and I had a chance to do some sightseeing before my talk.

Everywhere we went, I was struck by the famous sign you see on every London bus and on the "Tube."

The sign says, "Mind the Gap."

Now the "Gap" is kind of a danger zone. It's the gap between the ledge where you step off the Tube or bus and the place where your feet touch solid ground.

It's the point of danger where you can fall.

"Mind the Gap."

Think about that.

Mind the gap — because that's where people stumble.

Mind the gap — because that's where societies stumble, too.

We stumble when there are gaps in our thinking — as managers, administrators, teachers, or, as we see today, as world leaders. Those gaps, and the gaps between us as people, can be dangerous places indeed.

So we need to connect with others who can help us over the gaps.

Connecting our ideas makes us smarter — and stronger — than we are alone.

It's all about sharing the wisdom of many, rather than depending solely on the wisdom of one.

There's a sense of competition in each of us. I'm one of the most competitive guys you'd ever meet.

But I understand that in key areas of many businesses today -- including the NFL -- collaboration -- not competition -- is the new critical path to success, especially in an environment of diminishing resources.

In fact, this is one of the key attributes that sets the NFL apart from other professional sports businesses. The clubs in the NFL are highly competitive on the football field, but we have a "sharing philosophy" off the field.

As a group, we're able to make far better decisions for the league than as individual owners of a franchise.

Today, no individual sector — business, government, academia, or philanthropy — can do its job alone.

Our own Family Foundation is making it a priority to connect strengths among our nonprofit partners as a way to create change.

We're working to "strengthen linkages" in our own way, through partnerships and joint ventures that can have a positive impact on society.

Let me give you two examples.

We've launched an Environmental Program to help preserve green space in the heart of Atlanta. Our Foundation will invest at least $20 million in this effort, but that's just a drop in the bucket of need.

So we've "strengthened linkages" — partnerships — with other groups, to save land — The City of Atlanta, DeKalb County, the Vine City Civic Association, the Trust for Public Land, and many others.

Different sectors. Common purpose.

There's another example I'm pretty excited about, because it's brand new.

Our Foundation is linking with the United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta to launch a new Summer Youth Internship program with an innovative twist.

Starting in June, the program will create full and part-time internships for 90 high school students at 50 nonprofit agencies in DeKalb and Fulton Counties.

It's a team effort with The Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta and Georgia State University all playing a role in planning.

Young interns with a passion for making a difference will receive a stipend, transportation assistance and ongoing training. Most importantly, they will learn how to use their talents to help others.

Is there any interest? More than 300 students applied for the 90 available slots.

There are lots of internship opportunities for high school students in business and government. But this is the first program of its kind in Atlanta's nonprofit sector.

It will introduce high school students to possible careers in serving their neighbors -- something I, my family and my foundation staff are passionate about.

Fittingly, the idea grew out of our partnership with the Metro Atlanta United Way Johnnetta B. Cole Society.

Today, Spelman is blessed to have the visionary leadership of Dr. Beverly Tatum, an extraordinary champion of excellence and service.

Dr. Tatum, you've written about "tapping the moral potential of students," and we hope the United Way program I've just talked about will be a good model of just that.

One final thought.

Partnerships are based on a purpose.

You are Spelman Corporate Partners for a variety of reasons.

You have different goals for your partnerships because you have different goals for your businesses.

Your companies offer customers many different products and services, like insurance, or computers, or cars or cosmetics.

Mine offers sports entertainment.

So why should we, as business people, be concerned with the fate of education, and the students of Spelman?

The truth is, if we're going to be at the center of helping our own businesses grow, and if we want to be at the center of meaningful social change — doing the right thing — we had better keep putting young people — the future of our community — at the center of our efforts.

As we walk around this campus, we should think of these students as the ultimate customers we must serve because the long-term success of our businesses, and our society, depends on their success.

Your support of Spelman as Corporate Partners is a critical investment in developing young women — young leaders —with a passion and commitment to serving society.

For partnership with a purpose, I can't think of any better reason for us to be here today.

Thank you for the opportunity to meet you and to share these thoughts with you. I hope your time spent here, today and tomorrow, is stimulating, productive and collaborative.