The idea for Detroit Venture Partners was conceived as Josh Linkner, Dan Gilbert, and Brian Hermelin spent months thinking of ways to foster talent in the region.

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As for leadership, Barbara Adachi of Deloitte called for more accountability to drive change, explaining that it was a business imperative to foster Asian talent.

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Mr. Bloomberg's administration has made the expansion of the city's tech sector a priority during the mayor's third term, with a push to attract more companies and plans to open a new applied-science school that will foster the talent sought by both start-ups and established companies such as Facebook.

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Those factors foster an environment for talent.

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So how can organizations recognize and foster this untapped pool of talent?

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There is such a wealth of talent and strengths when you cultivate and foster a community that is inclusive.

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Those fabled light-heavies of yesteryear - Ezzard Charles, Billy Conn and Bob Foster - hadn't been so profligate with their talent, they noted.

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In the early 1990s they had devised a way for businesses and other organizations to measure nonfinancial performance--customer perception, for example, or a company's ability to foster knowledge within its work force--and measure talent it wanted to keep or promote.

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