Page 3 - Florida Sentinel 10-20-17

Feature
Fight For Diversity At USF Is Put On Fast Track, Thanks To Actions By Its Board Of Trustees, TOBA And SMBG
BY KENYA WOODARD Sentinel Feature Writer
`The University of South Florida System’s, Supplier Di- versity Program got a major boost at last Thursday’s Board of Trustees committee meeting.
Board Chair, Brian Lamb said he’ll partner with Terrie Daniel – the Assistant Vice President for the Office of Sup- plier Diversity – to develop and implement a strategic plan for the coming year.
The plan – presented by Daniel during a conference of the USF System’s Strategic Ini- tiatives Committee – should outline how the university will actually spend funds to utilize “diverse businesses in the pro- curement of goods, services, and construction contracts.” It will be “part of a cultural change at USF” that “starts with this Board,” Lamb said.
Lamb, a USF alum and bank executive, said he expected “immediate action” on the de- velopment of the plan and stated that he and Daniel will work to- gether to present a plan at the committee’s December meeting
BRIAN LAMB ...USF Board of Trustees Chair
far not enough has been done to effect serious changes,” he said. Based upon the data, USF
historically spends approxi- mately 99% of its funds ($335 million dollars) with white- owned companies leaving the remaining 1% for minority- owned businesses to split in competition. Our reality is that African American owned com- panies are only paid .0023% of those funds.
Ransom further stated, “as a result of the abysmal spending, we are recommending that Pres. Genshaft’s contract in- clude numerical, measurable, accountable and transparent performance goals to achieve significant increases in USF Sys- tem spending demographically by race and gender. These same conditions should cascade to all USF staff authorized to spend USF System funding.”
Ransom also said, “TOBA and the SMBG generally ap- proaches these type situations by first gathering ill refutable data and facts, meeting with key decision makers and uses civil diplomacy to make the case for reasonable changes. Our ulti-
mate goal is to attack issues to- ward the pursuit of equity, fair- ness and the economic inclusion of African Americans without di- rectly attacking people. We are doing our part, in conjunction with other like minds in the community, to represent the special interest of African Amer- icans.”
During his remarks, Lamb applauded Daniel’s effort, but noted the plan requires some significant changes before it can be ratified fully by the Board of Trustees.
Most notably is the lack of any external supplier diversity experts on Supplier Diversity Advisory Council and the ab- sence of a concrete marketing and communications strategy “woven” into the plan.
Also, the metrics suggested to track progress need some tweaking, Lamb said.
“I think there are some strategic practices we can pro- pose that are beyond percent- ages,” he said. “We need to give some thought to that.”
(TOBA and SMBG P.R. was used as contributing data for this article.)
JUDY GENSHAFT ...USF President
that “can get the support of the Board.”
Lamb also implored univer- sity president, Judy Genshaft to prioritize supplier diversity.
“I’m expecting the President to drive progress in this area,” he said. “Our president has agreed to meet quarterly with community leaders on this very topic.”
James Ransom, Board Member and Chairman of the Joint Economic Development Committee for the Tampa Or- ganization for Black Affairs (TOBA) and Saturday Morning Breakfast Group (SMBG) said, “the latest action by Mr. Lamb and the USF board is a move in the right direction and that the negotiating team (Roland
JAMES RANSOM ...spokesman for TOBA and SMBG
Daniels, Warren Dawson, Dr. Larry Shannon, Dr. Glenn Cherry, Kevin Dees, Bryce Bowden and Ralph Smith) from TOBA and the SMBG worked long and hard to see some progress realized, at this stage in the process.”
For the last six years, the Joint Economic Development Committee from TOBA and SMBG have urged the USF Sys- tem Administration to signifi- cantly increase USF System spending with African-Ameri- can-owned businesses, among others.
“While there have been some steps toward progress – includ- ing Daniel’s hire, earlier this year, and the on-going develop- ment of strategic initiatives – so
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