Roger Cheng

Senior Supplier Diversity Sourcing Manager
AT&T

Roger Cheng recently joined AT&T as a Sr. Supplier Diversity Sourcing Manager. Prior to AT&T, Roger spent the previous 14+ years with M/WBEs in the technology space leading business development through Supplier Diversity.

Roger, also known as “The Voice,” has served as emcee or VOG for a number of organizations across the country. In 2017, Roger was recognized as the #Hes4Shes Champion at the WBENC National Conference.

Trevor Boylston

Supplier Diversity Professional and LGBTQ+ Inclusive Workplace Speaker
Boston Scientific

Axel Adams

Manager - Supplier Diversity and Inclusion
Delta Air Lines

Axel D. Adams is employed with Delta Air Lines as a Manager in Supplier Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion where he and his colleagues are responsible for ensuring diverse businesses have an opportunity to secure contracts for business with Delta. Prior to Delta, he had a brief stint as National Director of African American Outreach with 2020 Presidential Candidate Tom Steyer’s Campaign. His overall responsibility keeping the campaign focused on AA voters, issues, concerns and what is most important to them.

Axel’s most noted employment was noted with the Rainbow PUSH Coalition (RPC) where the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr. is the Founder and President. Axel served in a many roles such as the Chief Operations Officer in the Chicago Headquarters managing all operations/departments of the organization. staff, finance, education, trade bureau, press, finding, national and regional conventions, and cooperate relationships, emerging markets, and regional offices to name a few. He also held the positions of Bureau Chief, and National Youth Director.

Prior to RPC, Axel was with Westinghouse Savannah River Company as a supervisor in the Nuclear Materials Processing Division. During his employment there, he was the first African American to receive the Community Service Award.

Axel is a recipient of many awards/honors such as the Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award from President Barack Obama; The Georgia Assembly passed House Bill 1984 for his dedication to the betterment of the citizens of the State of Georgia; South Carolina Senate recognized Axel Adams and passed Resolution 1118 for his significant contributions and outstanding achievements in the fields of politics, business, and community outreach. He is the author of “The Journey”, a book detailing his life experiences in politics, community service, and social activism. He is President of the Axel Adams Foundation (www.axeladamsfoundation.com), which is committed to making long-term improvements in education, health and wellness, and combating socioeconomic issues in the Central Savannah River Area. Axel has the honor of being the first African American elected to serve on City Council in New Ellenton South Carolina at the early age of 22 years old, serving two-four-year elected terms on city council. And he was Acting-Mayor and Police commissioner for three years, and the first African American to serve in this capacity as well.

He has a master’s in business administration, and bachelor’s degree in business management. Axel says that God is first and foremost in his life.

Antoine Hinton

Director, Supplier Diversity
Dollar General

Anita Ramdhani

Manager - Program Delivery and Analysis
JP Morgan Chase

In her role as Program Manager for the Office of Asian & Pacific Islander Affairs – a DEI Center of Excellence – Anita oversees programming for the team’s Business Growth and Entrepreneurship pillar and supports overall infrastructure and operations.

Since joining the firm in 2013, Anita has held multiple roles with the Consumer Bank’s Client & Employee Experience team and the Market Expansion Field Strategy & Support Program Management team, supporting Chase’s retail expansion into 25 new states. Anita served as chair of NextGen, the firm’s early career professional Business Resource Group, from 2020-2022 and currently serves as an advisor.

Anita is very closely tied to her Indo-Caribbean & South Asian roots and is actively involved in celebrating both communities in the Tampa Bay area, particularly through her involvement in Delta Phi Omega, a South Asian Interest Sorority.

Debra Quade

Supplier Diversity Manager
Kellanova

Debra Quade is the Supplier Diversity Manager at Kellogg Company. Prior to joining Kellogg, she served as Supplier Diversity Specialist at Toyota Boshoku America in Erlanger, Kentucky and Magna Donnelly in Holland, Michigan.

Debra serves on the Board of Directors for the Canadian Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce in addition to leading a MiDiCo module for supplier inclusion and opportunity. She represents Kellogg Company on the National Minority Supplier Development Council Working Group, and the Corporate Advisory Council for the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce in addition to participating on the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council Programs Committee, the Food Marketing Institute Group Supplier Diversity Committee, WEConnect International Agricultural Industry Group and the Food & Beverage Industry Group.

LeShaun Smedley

Manager of Diversity and Inclusion
Kroger

Itu Otu

Head, Global Supplier Diversity
Logitech

Itu Otu is the Global Supplier Diversity Lead at Logitech, responsible for developing, implementing and prioritizing a robust supplier diversity vision and strategy across the enterprise to meet the company’s business objectives.

Itu is a 25-year veteran of supplier diversity. He joined Logitech in November 2020 after a five-year career at Wyndham Destinations as the senior manager for supplier diversity, seven years at Mars Chocolate North America as the manager for supplier diversity. Prior to joining Mars, he had a lengthy career at the Walt Disney World Resort where he progressed through several roles from Merchandising to Minority Business Relations. He was instrumental in positioning Walt Disney World Resort as a choice destination for multicultural convention businesses.

Naina Patel

Head of Supplier Management
MassMutual

Naina Patel has over 20 years of experience as a leader in all areas of global procurement within pharma and insurance industries. Leading operations strategic sourcing, Category, and supplier management as well as manufacturing and supply chain strategy. Naina is results-driven and drives maximum value by leading change, creating vision, collaboration, inclusive approach, and inspiring people to achieve goals. Throughout her career Naina has focused on driving simplicity, process improvement, operational excellence, relationship management and organizational transformation.

In her current Executive leadership role at MassMutual life Insurance company as Head of Supplier Management Naina is focused on aligning and working closely with MassMutual leadership and cross-functional stakeholders across all business units to ensure that the management of MassMutual suppliers is executed consistently and efficiently across all levels while driving diversity and inclusion within the process and with supplier partners

Naina is an Avid runner, loves cooking and traveling.

Saima Cardwell

Supplier Diversity Specialist
SAS Institute

Saima has had a lifelong passion for helping others for the past 8 years and is the supplier diversity specialist. Her current role allows her to use this passion and energy by engaging with diverse business owners, and SAS to increase utilization of minority, women, veteran, LGBTQ and disabled-owned businesses. Currently she serves on the ISM-Carolina Virginia-Triangle Chapter- President, HarmonyNC - Board of Directors. Disability-IN-NC- Board of Directors.

Saima has held various positions in her 24+ years at SAS, Finance, Licensing & Contracts, Strategic Sourcing & Procurement. Her experience has given her an in-depth knowledge of business development, contracts and sourcing & procurement. She has a Bachelor's from Campbell University.

Dennis Thurston

Supplier Diversity Manager
Southern California Edison

Dennis J. Thurston, a 36-year employee of Southern California Edison (SCE), beginning in August of 1987 serving in his current capacity as a Supplier Diversity Program Manager for 25 years assisting small and diverse businesses understand the Company’s general procurement practices and procedures.

Prior to SCE, Mr. Thurston worked at Consolidated Edison in New York bringing 12 years of experience with him.

In 2021, Dennis received the 2021 Corporate Advocate of the Year Award from the Southern California Minority Development Council.

In 2018, Dennis received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Native American Indian Chamber of Commerce of California for outstanding work within the Native American business community and tribal leaders.

The U.S. Small Business Administration, Santa Ana District Office selected Dennis as the 2017 Veteran Small Business Champion of the Year for his devotion to the success and advancement of Veterans in business in his professional capacity at SCE and his personal life.

During the 2017 Inaugural Veterans In Business (VIB) Network National Conference, Dennis Thurston received the Above & Beyond Bravo Zulu Award recognizing Veteran Business Advocates that go Above & Beyond to help the Veteran business community grow and succeed.

In 2016 Dennis was nominated for the State Agency Recognition Awards (SARA) given by the Department of General Services.

In recognition of his contributions as a role model of Edison International’s values and guiding behaviors of integrity, continuous growth and improvement, excellence, respect, and teamwork, Dennis was awarded the Chairman’s Award, now the Edison Award in 2009. Edison selects only 40 employees out of over 15,000 for the first of the prestigious award.

Mr. Thurston still volunteers for many community activities geared toward mentorship and guidance of small and diverse businesses in the areas of career, jobs, and starting businesses.

For the past 27 years, served as an off-ice official for the National Hockey League (NHL) assigned to the Anaheim Ducks and Dennis represented the NHL at the first ever game played outside North America in Japan, Helsinki, and Berlin.

Lissa Miller

SVP, Head of Supplier Diversity
Truist

Pafoua Xiong

Procurement Supplier Diversity Specialist
U.S. Bank

Pafoua Xiong joined the Supplier Diversity team at U.S. Bank in 2021 as the Procurement Supplier Diversity Specialist, where her work is focused on enhancing the Supplier Diversity program by actively working to grow relationships with diverse-owned businesses and partners. Shortly after joining the Bank, Pafoua became a board member for the Asian Heritage Business Resource Group (BRG).

Pafoua founded her way into this industry after working as a Merchandiser Assistant at The Scoular Company managing the inventory of pet food ingredients. She later moved on to support the non-retail side of supply chain at Target for 3 years.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Minnesota where she majored in Journalism and Communication Studies.

Outside of the office, you can find her hiking around state parks with her Pitbull, listening to supernatural podcasts, and spending time with her family.

Dale Shintani

Senior Vice President
Wells Fargo

Dale Shintani is a Senior Vice President at Wells Fargo. In addition to being a strategy and planning leader in her day job, she also serves as the strategy chair for Wells Fargo’s internal women’s employee resource network with over 25K members. She has also focused on supporting small businesses for much of her career through various leadership roles including head of Customer Experience, Digital Strategy, and business manager of a business line of credit portfolio all while continuing to be a Diversity Equity and Inclusion champion.

Passionate about mentoring emerging leaders, Dale regularly delivers talks on women’s empowerment in business and was a frequent leadership speaker in an Asian American Pacific Islander Diverse Leaders program. Dale lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband Mark and daughters Claire and Katie.

Jerome Flores

Senior Consultant - Diversity & Inclusion
Wells Fargo

Jerome Flores is a Senior Diversity & Inclusion consultant focused on enhancing the employee resource network program to grow leadership capabilities, bench strength and serve as a diverse resource to influence business outcomes. Jerome has always been passionate about diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging helping to stand up the Washington, DC chapter of Pride Connections, and forming relationships through community outreach and engagement.

As a highly skilled and experienced professional, Jerome has spent 19+ years working in the financial services industry. With a proven track record of success. Jerome is become known for their thought leadership, creativity, problem-solving, and attention to detail. Jerome has a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Certificate from University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business, Office of Executive Education, and a Bachelor of Science Degree from the Pennsylvania State University and is committed to staying up to date with the latest industry trends and best practices.

And is based in Washington, DC

Debra Quade

Supplier Diversity Manager
Kellanova

Jackie LaJoie

Retired Diversity Supplier Manager
USPAACC

Jackie LaJoie joined Ingersoll Rand in September 2012. She has overall leadership responsibility for Supplier Diversity and Supplier Sustainability at Ingersoll Rand. In this role, she is responsible for building world class programs and driving results around supplier diversity strategy throughout the enterprise as well as supplier sustainability in areas such as conflict minerals and environmental initiatives.

In her supplier diversity leadership role, Jackie created a strategic plan for Ingersoll Rand based on NMSDC Best Practices to ensure a successful and sustainable program that creates jobs for supplier partners, economic growth for local communities, and customers for life for Ingersoll Rand. Specifically, to ensure sustainability and future growth of the program, she created a robust program and various supplier development initiatives to equip 41 direct and indirect commodity teams to identify and document supplier requirements and opportunities.

Under Jackie’s leadership, Ingersoll Rand spend with minority-owned businesses has increased 228% over the past three years. Jackie’s work also resulted in a $50,000 grant from the Ingersoll Rand Foundation to support an NMSDC Center of Excellence with the TriState MSDC, which launched in August 2016. As a result, 10 corporations and 20+ minority-owned businesses are spending 18 months working together to improve the corporations’ supplier diversity programs, and build capacity and increase business opportunities for the MBEs.

Prior to joining Ingersoll Rand, she served as vice president of the Carolinas-Virginia Minority Supplier Development Council, director of Supplier Diversity at Merck and manager of Supplier Diversity at legacy AT&T.

Jackie is also the co-founder of Diversity Alliance for Science in 2007, a non-profit organization focused on supplier diversity in the life science and healthcare industries. Under the leadership of Jackie and Leah Brown, her co-founder, the organization unites healthcare, pharmaceutical, academic and government entities with industry diversity leaders, such as NMSDC, to promote economic growth of small and diverse companies.

Jackie has been recognized nationally for her leadership and service in the Supplier Diversity field with multiple awards and recognitions across her 28-year career, including:

· Co-founder and past president of Diversity Alliance for Science

· Best of the Decade and Women Who Mean Business – Minority Business News

· Top 25 Women of Power Impacting Diversity – Diversity Plus Magazine

· Supplier Diversity Advocate of the Year – U.S. Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce

· Chairman’s Award – PA-NJ-DE Minority Supplier Development Council (MSDC)

· YWCA Tribute to Women and Industry Award – YWCA of Central New Jersey

· First Ladies of Supplier Diversity – MBNUSA and Women Business Enterprise USA Magazine

· Champions of Supplier Diversity – Diversity Plus Magazine

· Women Who Mean Business – MBNUSA

· First Ladies of Supplier Diversity – MBNUSA / WEUSA

· Supplier Diversity Advocate – AT&T CEO

· El Paso Trade Conference – Keys to City of El Paso

· AT&T Creating Excellence Award

She has a B.S. in Accounting and Business Administration and a B.S. in Economics from High Point University and an MBA from Wake Forest University. She and Ed, her husband, reside in Mooresville, N.C. Jackie enjoys spending time with her son and daughter and spoiling Franklin, her first grandchild and pride and joy.