Forging my own path to make a greater impact

Choosing your own path in your career can lead to unexpected and rewarding outcomes. My journey, filled with twists and turns, led me to a position where I can make an impact for clients and business owners across the country with a focus on business diversity.

Early in my career, I joined a large conglomerate's finance organization, where I found my true calling in supply chain and procurement. Throughout that time, I saw many smaller, diverse businesses working at a disadvantage, with more difficulty scaling, advertising, and shipping their products. I saw the impact I could make as a consultant, helping businesses be effective and make tangible impacts on the communities they serve. After joining Deloitte as a consultant, I grew my career, eventually becoming the leader of Deloitte's Office of Business Diversity.

Unfortunately, diverse suppliers sometimes face challenges in areas like access to capital and networking opportunities. This motivated me to accept the challenge of leading our Office of Business Diversity with the mission to support diverse suppliers. In the US, this includes women, disabled, LGBTQIA+, veteran, small-businesses, and racially and ethnically diverse-owned businesses.

My purpose to help diverse-owned and diverse-led businesses make an impact on a larger scale hasn't changed much since I started my consulting career 20 years ago, so I feel it is a privilege for me to be in a position every day to use my skills and experience to strategically help drive change.

I'm proud Deloitte is making a difference by intentionally including diverse suppliers across the organization. We outlined our commitment to spend at least $1 billion per year with diverse suppliers by 2025, with a particular focus on Black-owned and Black-led businesses in our Transparency Report. Commitments like this can help generate more economic opportunities for these communities and also help create to a more diverse business ecosystem.

If my journey taught me anything, it's the importance of being the change you wish to see, even when it presents challenges to you along the way. It could mean breaking away from conventional paths to success to forge your own route. It comes with challenges, but I can say that working through the unknown and following my purpose has made it all worth it to me.