Dallas, Texas, November 21, 2011
Continuing its long-standing commitment to supplier diversity, AT&T* had a major presence at the National Minority Supplier Diversity Council (NMSDC) Annual Conference earlier this month in Atlanta.
At the event, Marianne Strobel, Executive Director, AT&T Global Supplier Diversity, was named NMSDC’s Leader of the Year. Strobel received the Leader of the Year award in recognition of exemplary development programs for minority business owners, as well as exceptional leadership and impact throughout corporate America.
“Marianne Strobel is a phenomenal leader and a great asset to AT&T,” said Tim Harden, President of Supply Chain and Fleet Operations, AT&T. “As a result of her hard work, AT&T continues to excel in meeting its supplier diversity goals. She is well-deserving of the title of Leader of the Year, and we congratulate her on this great honor.”
AT&T’s Harden was a featured panel speaker at the AT&T-sponsored event, discussing real-world supply chain management for an audience of minority business owners. AT&T was also one of five finalists for NMSDC’s 2011 Corporation of the Year, and won the honor in 2010.
With more than 40 years of experience, AT&T is a pioneer of including diversity owned businesses—minority, women and disabled veterans – in its supply chain. In 2010, AT&T spent $9.2 billion with diverse suppliers, representing 18.8 percent of the company’s total spend. Supplier diversity is supported company-wide, with programs including:
- AT&T Prime Supplier Program: AT&T’s Prime Supplier Program is one of the most essential efforts within AT&T’s Supplier Diversity program. Since 1989, the program has helped AT&T’s prime suppliers increase the utilization of diverse businesses in its supply chain through subcontracting and value-added reseller arrangements.
- Women’s Entrepreneur Forum: AT&T launched the Women’s Entrepreneur Forum in 2010 to serve emerging communications technology needs and ensure U.S. women-owned businesses continue to innovate and grow.
- AT&T Meet-the-Primes Matchmaker Events: Last year, AT&T began holding Meet-the-Primes matchmaker events to create real contract opportunity meetings with prospective suppliers with AT&T’s most strategic prime suppliers. In 2010, AT&T produced three matchmaker events, working with the NMSDC regional councils in San Ramon, Calif., Washington, D.C., and Chicago. The three events produced 177 diverse suppliers meeting with 21 Fortune 500 prime suppliers.
- Educational Programs: In 2010, The AT&T Executive Education Program provided nine scholarships for minority business enterprise suppliers to attend educational programs at leading graduate schools. These graduate-level executive management training programs assist diverse businesses in their pursuit of operational excellence and provide expert coaching and tangible business benefits to incumbent and prospective diverse suppliers.
*AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc.
About AT&T
AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T, news, filings) is a premier communications holding company and one of the most honored companies in the world. Its subsidiaries and affiliates – AT&T operating companies – are the providers of AT&T services in the United States and around the world. With a powerful array of network resources that includes the nation’s fastest mobile broadband network, AT&T is a leading provider of wireless, Wi-Fi, high speed Internet, voice and cloud-based services. A leader in mobile broadband and emerging 4G capabilities, AT&T also offers the best wireless coverage worldwide of any U.S. carrier, offering the most wireless phones that work in the most countries. It also offers advanced TV services under the AT&T U-verse® and AT&T | DIRECTV brands. The company’s suite of IP-based business communications services is one of the most advanced in the world. In domestic markets, AT&T Advertising Solutions and AT&T Interactive are known for their leadership in local search and advertising.
Additional information about AT&T Inc. and the products and services provided by AT&T subsidiaries and affiliates is available at http://www.att.com. This AT&T news release and other announcements are available at http://www.att.com/newsroom and as part of an RSS feed at www.att.com/rss. Or follow our news on Twitter at @ATT.
About NMSDC
Providing a direct link between corporate America and minority-owned businesses is the primary objective of the National Minority Supplier Development Council, one of the country’s leading business membership organizations. It was chartered in 1972 to provide increased procurement and business opportunities for minority businesses of all sizes. The NMSDC Network includes a national office in New York and 37 Regional Councils across the country. There are 3,500 corporate members throughout the network, including America’s top publicly-owned, privately-owned and foreign-owned companies as well as universities, hospitals and other buying institutions. The Regional Councils certify and match more than 16,000 minority-owned businesses with member corporations that want to purchase their goods and services.
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