AT&T Celebrates 50 Years of its Supplier Diversity Program
AT&T* is celebrating a milestone – the 50th Anniversary of our Supplier Diversity program. Since 1968, our goal has been simple: to connect certified diverse businesses with opportunities to provide products and services to AT&T around the world.
"We started out with a very small opportunity. With the successful execution of that, we were able to get larger opportunities with AT&T," said Gregg Ontiveros, Chief Executive Officer, Group O. "AT&T truly walks the walk when it comes to diversity. And it's not just a Group O story. It spans across the hundreds of diverse suppliers who will say the same thing. They give people a chance, and that's all we really need, is a chance to prove what we can do."
Over the past 50 years, AT&T has spent over $158 billion with minority, woman, service-disabled veteran, and LGBT businesses. We understand that working with these businesses adds value to our company through innovation and fresh ideas.
But even great programs must evolve and this year, we're focusing our efforts on making meaningful and measurable contributions to the economic growth of diverse companies and communities. By stimulating job growth, improving opportunities for technical development and acting as a catalyst for new diverse business opportunities, AT&T's Supplier Diversity program will improve the livelihoods for diverse individuals across the country. Our renewed approach includes:
- Working with suppliers who also value employee diversity in their own businesses. We'll start by benchmarking our suppliers' Diversity & Inclusion workforce performance;
- Tracking supplier involvement in fostering educational initiatives and job placement for diverse candidates; and
- Driving increased Tier 2 business opportunities for diverse suppliers.
Because of our continuing innovation, AT&T was recently named the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC) 2018 Corporation of the Year. This prestigious award was given in recognition of AT&T’s exemplary achievements in the inclusion of Asian, Black, Hispanic and Native American-owned providers in its supply chain.
“Our program, like our business, continues to grow and evolve and we remain committed to advocating for diverse businesses who support our values and deliver quality products and services across the globe,” said Susan Johnson, Executive Vice President – Global Connections and Supply Chain, AT&T Communications, LLC.
Learn more about AT&T’s Supplier Diversity program at attsupplierdiversity.com.