News Release 1.25.2008 -
AT&T Selected as the No. 1 Organization for Multicural Business Opportunities
Overview
AT&T Supplier Diversity Programs are designed to promote, increase and improve the quality of the overall participation of small, minority, women and disabled veteran business enterprises (M/WBE and DVBEs) in our supply chain. Our goal is to procure 21.5 percent of our products and services from M/WBE and DVBEs. Specifically, our diversity goals are:
| 15% |
Minority Business Enterprises (MBE) |
| 5% |
Women Business Enterprises (WBE) |
| 1.5% |
Disabled Veteran Business Enterprises (DVBE) |
Together, we look for opportunities to work with diversity suppliers in all aspects of our business -- from advertising to central office engineering, computers, outside plant construction and network provisioning.
AT&T is a national leader in supplier diversity. For more than 40 years, we’ve built a proud history of working with small, minority, women and disabled veteran owned businesses. We’ve achieved these world-class results through the strong support our employees have given to the AT&T Supplier Diversity Programs.
The AT&T Supplier Diversity Programs are an integral part of our strategic advantage in an increasingly competitive marketplace. Diversity suppliers help us meet the needs of our diverse customer base and maintain our competitive edge by providing quality products and services that meet specific requirements. Promoting the participation of a diverse supplier base not only provides better business solutions, it also cultivates greater customer loyalty, bidding advantages, and public policy support in the communities AT&T serves.
Providing opportunities for M/WBE and DVBEs makes good business sense, and these suppliers are among the core strategic partners that have helped AT&T become one of the most respected telecommunications companies in the world.
Supplier Diversity Business Development
Supplier Diversity Programs staff at AT&T assists current and potential diversity suppliers in identifying and developing business opportunities with the company. They work with suppliers to ensure requirements and standards are clearly communicated so that diversity suppliers are successful in our complex and ever-evolving telecommunications supply chain.
The Supplier Diversity team offers supplier diversity expertise to AT&T Cross Functional Sourcing Teams (CFSTs) and supports the Strategic Sourcing Managers in ensuring that M/WBEs and DVBEs are given the opportunity to fully participate in the company’s business. Supplier Diversity Managers assist CFST teams to develop supplier diversity solutions and help them meet supplier diversity spending targets.
AT&T ranked No. 3 among DiversityInc's 2007 "Top 50 Companies for Diversity", No. 1 among the Top 10 Companies for African Americans and No. 3 among the Top 10 Companies for Recruitment and Retention.
AT&T was named one of the "2006 Top Companies for Minorities" by The Diversity Network - as seen in Fortune Magazine.
AT&T is a co-chair of the Women's Business Enterprise National Council's 8th Annual National Conference and Business Fair to increase contracting opportunities for women-owned businesses.
AT&T is also a co-chair of the 2007 DiversityNEXT conference, part of the larger NXTcomm, which helps increase awareness of next-generation opportunities for diversity-owned businesses.
