It's time to announce the Corporate Member of the Month! A series dedicated to highlighting the Corporate Members going above and beyond to serve the women-owned businesses in their communities.
Here at the Women's Business Council - Southwest, we are honored to work with over 80 Corporate Members in order to ensure our shared vision of lifting up women-owned businesses to positively impact the community through inclusive and prosperous partnerships for all. Each corporation brings a unique set of benefits to the WBEs that are a part of our network, and each month we are going to shine a light on all they are doing across its region!
Introducing our January 2024 Corporate Member of the Month:
“Supporting women-owned businesses is a critical part of our organizational efforts in Supplier Diversity. Women are such a pillar of our households, our communities, and certainly our businesses as well, so we are very intentional about our engagement with WBEs and how we support their success. Our program is constantly coming up with new ways to be impactful in the diverse business community, and engaging with WBEs is an important part of that.” – Alexis Dennard, AVP, Mass Markets and Supply Chain.
In what ways has AT&T gone above and beyond to engage women-owned businesses in our region?
Making connections within the WBE community is both an asset and a passion of our Supplier Diversity team. Our strategic outreach participation involves connecting with diverse firms at WBCS events to share trending information, conduct matchmaking sessions, and mentoring WBEs through the Women of Color cohorts.
Beyond our attendance and feedback provided to WBEs at WBCS events, our team continues our exclusive advocacy efforts ranging from working with WBEs in pitch review sessions to better communicate their capabilities to an executive audience or simply helping them to get certified. Facilitating supplier showcase sessions allows our team to spotlight diverse suppliers we have connected with and offer a focused setting for the WBE to present their offering to Prime Suppliers and our internal Sourcing Management colleagues.
These vital connections made through our WBCS membership provide an invaluable opportunity to the WBCS attendees and enables our Supplier Diversity team to coach and further develop WBEs, so they are more poised to highlight their capabilities when the time comes. The goal is for WBEs to have the opportunity for RFP inclusion and have success in winning an award in our supply chain.
AT&T leadership represents and proudly serves on the WBENC National Board as well as multiple Regional WBENC affiliates across the US. Our participation through volunteerism efforts to serve on various committees displays our intent to stay connected and support the WBE community.
Year after year, our team has a large presence in our engagement at the WBENC National Conferences. We have met with dozens of WBEs who pitched their services and sought meaningful advice on how to improve their business prospects with AT&T.
What successes has AT&T had this year while advocating for women-owned businesses?
WBE spend continues to be a major area of focus for our Supplier Diversity Program. Our WBE spend has increased by $375M+ and has shown a positive economic impact in the communities we serve. As of 2023, our total procurement spend has supported over 437,000 diverse jobs with our suppliers and their subcontractors, including 190,000 jobs for people of color and 220,000 jobs for women.
We will continue to be an industry leader in reporting our diverse job impact through procurement spend. Our Supplier Diversity program goes beyond reporting spend with diverse suppliers but also focuses on the correlation between diverse individuals gaining employment because of our commitment to the economic impact in the community at large.
In addition, our Supplier Diversity program is steered by strong leadership, with an emphasis on relationships and financial prudence, to contribute to the success of women-owned businesses. By doing so, we place a high value on relationships, which can lead to strong networks, customer loyalty, and high-quality partnerships.
What focuses on initiatives should we be on the lookout for AT&T?
With a solid foundation already in place, we have two strategic focal points which we will continue to build upon for continuous improvement. Our Supplier Diversity spend grew to over $16B in diverse spend and our team will continue to focus intense efforts to increase Tier 2 subcontracting opportunities with our Prime Suppliers. Focus continues not only on dollars spent, but also to increase the number of diverse suppliers utilized in our supply chain and growing these businesses to have a positive impact in the community through job creation, training programs, and small business wages.
Many of our Primes have fostered and developed diverse suppliers by crafting innovative solutions utilizing women owned companies for key project implementation. Mentoring diverse suppliers through Tier 2 utilization has led to diverse suppliers gaining a direct contract with our supply chain and has expanded the capacity of their business.
Where should WBEs start if they want to participate in anything upcoming with AT&T?
Over the years, AT&T Supplier Diversity has engaged diverse suppliers to help with the evolution and success of our Global Supply Chain. We connect with approximately 1,000 prospective suppliers who register annually on our supplier portal.
We continue to look for certified diverse suppliers who can provide the technology and innovative products and services for AT&T to compete globally and at the next level. There are many business units across our company and finding the right suppliers to fulfill the demand of our operations is important to delivering value to our customers. We hold ourselves and our vendors to the highest standards of excellence.
To start engagement with our team, visit www.attsupplierdiversity.com
to learn more about our program. The first step is to register their company’s profile on the AT&T supplier portal, www.attsuppliers.com.
Our Supplier Diversity Sourcing Managers review diverse supplier profiles and may schedule a 30-minute introductory meeting to discuss capabilities and value proposition with registered suppliers. When applicable, our team will continue advocacy efforts to position qualified diverse businesses with an AT&T Sourcing Manager, Business Unit and/or Prime Suppliers for consideration of future opportunities.
