On April 10th, over 350 WBEs, Sustaining (Corporate) Members, and industry leaders came together for a day of networking and connections at the inaugural 2019 Connections to Contracts event!

Click here for photos from Connections to Contracts

Connections to Contracts

After a grab and go breakfast, the day started with 5 corporate roundtable sessions. These were hosted by over 30 of our Sustaining (Corporate) Members, and gave WBEs the opportunity to meet with supplier diversity professionals in a small group setting. 

Corporate Roundtable Sessions

This year's recipients of the Women Working Together Award were then announced during the luncheon; congratulations to Indu Sanka of FIRST SIGNS Graphic Solutions and Susie Carter of Mixed Media Creations! Read more about their Done Deal.

Women Working Together Award Winners

This was followed by a panel of city representatives from throughout the DFW metroplex on the economic outlook for the region, and upcoming opportunities for women-owned businesses.  Thank you to all of the participants!

  • Susan Alanis, Assistant City Manager, City of Fort Worth
  • Robin Bentley, Assistant Director - Office of Economic Development, City of Dallas
  • Beth Bowman, President & CEO, Irving-Las Colinas Chamber of Commerce and Irving Economic Development Partnership
  • Stephen Clayton, Director of Community Engagement, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas
  • Mark Israelson, Senior Deputy City Manager, City of Plano
WBE Roundtable

For the afternoon session we introduced a new feature - Prime Time Sessions. These featured supplier diversity professionals from Fluor, Shell Oil Company, DFW Airport, and Toyota, alongside representatives from their prime (tier 1) suppliers, on how to become part of their supply chain.  

Shell Prime Time Session

The day wrapped with a networking reception and remarks from WBCS board members Cheryl Stevens and Terri Quinton on the upcoming Lillie Knox Investment Awards (stay tuned for information on when to submit an application!). 

Closing Reception

Click here for additional photos from this event. 

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