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Let's Talk Small Business

Month: August 2015

Spotlight on Tier II Supplier Diversity

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Ralph Moore / Ralph G. Moore & Associates

Ralph G. Moore, CPA, is president of Ralph G. Moore & Associates (RGMA) and is recognized as one of the world’s foremost thought-leaders in the area of supplier diversity and minority business development. A former accountant at Arthur Andersen & Co., Mr. Moore was Vice President of Chicago Community Ventures, a Minority Enterprise Small Business Investment Company (MESBIC) and Controller for Parker House Sausage Company before establishing RGMA in 1979.

Mr. Moore has been the lead trainer for the National Minority Supplier Development Council for over 20 years. During that period Mr. Moore has conducted over 100 seminars for the National office as well as 22 of the Regional Councils which has resulted in RGMA having trained more supplier diversity professionals than any other firm worldwide. Companies and institutions such as Walmart, The Walt Disney Company, the University of Chicago, Major League Baseball and the Federal Reserve Board of Governors have engaged the services of RGMA.

Mr. Moore is the author of the RGMA Five Levels of Supplier Diversity which has been embraced as the gold standard for benchmarking supplier diversity initiatives. His global assignments include conducting seminars in South Africa, France, United Kingdom and Canada. Mr. Moore is also a member of the Procter and Gamble and Macy’s Supplier Diversity Advisory Councils.

Mr. Moore has received numerous awards and recognitions during his distinguished career including the Ron Brown Award from the Chicago Minority Business Development Council and the prestigious National Minority Supplier Development Council Leadership Award which is the organization’s highest honor awarded to a CEO of a minority business enterprise. In recognition of a lifetime of contributions to minority business development, Mr. Moore was inducted into the Minority Business Hall of Fame at the University of Washington in April of this year.

Karmetria Burton / Delta Air Lines

Karmetria Dunham Burton is general manager, supplier diversity for Delta Air Lines. In this position she is responsible for developing a Supplier Diversity program while enhancing the processes to assist the company to achieve its vision of being an industry leader of making minority and women owned business (MWBEs) a natural and integral part of the way the company does business. Karmetria has worked in strategic sourcing at Xerox and AT&T. Before Delta, Karmetria was supplier diversity manager for IHG (Intercontinental Hotels Group).

Karmetria was the 2005 recipient of the Trailblazer Award presented by the Black Business Professionals and Entrepreneurs organization and is a Who’s Who of Black Atlanta in 2010. She is a contributing writer for MBE magazine that focuses on minority business development.

Karmetria holds a bachelor’s degree in Marketing from Southern University-Baton Rouge, La., and a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Nebraska. Mrs. Burton has instructed business, procurement and diversity related courses at Kennesaw State University as well as Shorter College, Strayer University, Georgia State University and Monroe Community College in Rochester, N.Y.

 

 

 

 

Dr. Robert Wright with SENTEL Corporation

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With almost 50 years of experience in government, business, finance, politics and project management, Dr. Wright is one of the most highly-respected and well-regarded business leaders of his generation. He presently serves as Chairman and CEO of FE Holdings, Inc., a firm dedicated to the investment and growth of private and public sector companies. He is also the Chairman Emeritus of SENTEL Corporation, a government contracting company headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, and serves as a current member of its Senior Advisory Board.

Prior to his most recent leadership roles, Dr. Wright founded Dimensions International, Inc. (DI), a provider of technology solutions to the government and private sectors. DI conducted organizational and direct support maintenance on a variety of Army, Navy, and Marine Corps equipment, and also worked with the Department of the Army to develop new logistics innovation concepts, as well as policy and doctrine. In addition, DI provided depot-level repair and logistics support services for Navy/Marine Corps Aviation Support Equipment at selected CONUS sites.

Dr. Wright later served as Chairman of Flight Explorer (FE), which he purchased from DI prior to the Honeywell acquisition. FE is a global flight tracking, information technology and communications solutions provider to the business, aviation and traveler community. He also maintained a vested interest in Sentel Corporation, another wholly-owned subsidiary of DI that was acquired before the Honeywell acquisition. Dr. Wright sold FE to Sabre Technologies in 2008, but remains Chairman Emeritus of Sentel Corporation. He later created FE Holdings, Inc., a private investment company, and continues to serve as Chairman and CEO.

Prior to becoming an entrepreneur, Dr. Wright was appointed by President Reagan to the position of Associate Administrator for Minority Small Business at the U.S. Small Business Administration, where he managed the office of Minority Small Business/Capital Ownership Development (MSB/COD) to foster business ownership and to promote competitive viability of eligible socially and economically disadvantaged businesses.

Dr. Wright also served three consecutive terms as a member of the Columbus, Georgia City Council. He was directly responsible for Council District 2, with a population of approximately 50,000 people. He developed and supported legislation related to housing, recreation, employment, industrial development, and street and highway improvements.