Southport, CT / --DiversityBusiness.com latest event, the
sixteenth annual “National Summit” brought together people
from all over the United States. Once again, the diversity and
entrepreneurship world
came together under one roof, to network, to learn from one another, to
exchange ideas, approaches and strategies, and, in the case of some, to be
formally recognized for their hard work and commitment to multicultural
markets in the United States.
Participants took full advantage of the keynote and panel presentations -as
well as the social and networking
aspects of the summit. Produced for business owners and the corporations,
government agencies and academic institutions that utilize their services,
the DiversityBusiness.com summit offered a solid platform for the kind of
interactivity, exchange and networking that is usually missing from daily
business life, due to physical distance, busy work schedules and other
factors.
Perhaps the most valuable take-away for summit attendees were the keynote
presentations that touch upon topics which include: entrepreneurship,
marketing and branding, technology, social media, disability, and diversity.
Gene Waddy, Founder & CEO of DIVERSANT, started off the morning presenting
on the topic: Importance of entrepreneurship in driving our nation’s
economy. Being 1st generational college graduate; Gene shared his story of
how he overcame doubt from his family to CEO’s of one of the nation’s
largest MBE IT Staffing Services.
Resonating on the importance of mentorship, Gene shared how mentorship has
been a catalyst in DIVERSANT fostering over 1,000 consultants, 150 employees
and 10 offices today. He also honed in on how DIVERSANT’s focus in ensuring
people find jobs has resulted in robust veteran and STEM programs and over
1,000 jobs being created per year.
He concluded his presentation by encouraging the audience to also make a
personal commitment to community through mentorship and giving back. As
business owners, use your business as a ministry and lasting legacy. That is
more, than just the money but, the impact you make as entrepreneurs to those
all around you.
Other keynote presenters from the event include: Tiffany Pham, Founder & CEO
of MOGUL; Aisha Bowe, Co-Founder & CEO of STEMBoard;
Bill Evans, President of Current Staffing Solutions, LLC; Michelle Van Otten,
Founder and Managing Director of Profit Ventures, LLC and Ben-Saba Hasan,
SVP Chief Culture, Diversity & Inclusion Officer at Walmart.
The day rounded out with a chief diversity officer panel forum
discussion represented by brands : Time Warner Cable, MetLife, Metropolitan Transportation Authority,
MasterCard and NYC Department of Information Technology. Jennifer Brown,
Founder and CEO of Jennifer Brown Consulting served as moderator.
Companies formally honored at the summit were the winners of the Div50 and
the Div500 listings, which honor, respectively, the Fortune 500 companies
and government agencies most dedicated to supporting diversity and the
nation's top diversity-owned businesses.
"We're looking forward to another dynamic, successful year of multicultural
business," said Kenton Clarke, CEO of DiversityBusiness.com. "The U.S. is so
vast, and business moves so fasts, that were it not for events such as this
one, the key underpinning of lasting, rewarding business
relationships-face-to-face contact-would slowly fade into the background.
Each year we see new faces, and they bring fresh ideas, new perspectives,
strategies and of course new technologies and processes.
Sponsors
Major Sponsors for the event included: Wal-Mart, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon,
U.S. Postal Service, Colgate Palmolive,Time Warner,
Hilton, and Apple.
| Press Contact: Quantise Rodgers | Director of Communications |
DiversityBusiness.com | (203) 255-8966 |
Contact US | 200 Pequot Avenue | Southport, CT 06890 |
Source: DiversityBusiness.com
About DiversityBusiness.com
Launched in 1999, DiversityBusiness is the largest organization of privately
owned businesses throughout the United States that provide goods and
services to Fortune 1000 companies, government agencies, and colleges and
universities. DiversityBusiness provides research and data collection
services for diversity including the "Top 50 Organizations for Multicultural
Business Opportunities", "Top 500 Diversity Owned Companies in America ",
and others. Its research has been recognized and published by Forbes
Magazine, Business Week and thousands of other print and internet
publications. The site has gained national recognition and has won numerous
awards for its content and design. DiversityBusiness reaches more diverse
suppliers and communicates more information to them on a more frequent basis
then all other organizations combined. Our magazine reaches over 300,000
readers, a monthly e-newsletter that reaches 2.4 million, and website
visitors of 1.2 million a month. It is a leading provider of Supplier
Diversity management tools and has the most widely distributed Diversity
magazine in the United States.DiversityBusiness.com is produced by Computer
Consulting Associates International Inc. (CCAii.com) of Southport , CT.
Founded in 1980.
