WASHINGTON, D.C., July 12 – The Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), the leading advocate for women’s business enterprises (WBEs) as suppliers to the nation’s top corporations and government organizations, has bestowed its 2007 Applause Awards to Joan Kerr, executive director, Supplier Diversity Programs, AT&T; Rebecca Boenigk, chairman and CEO of Neutral Posture, Inc., and Heather Herndon Wright, senior director, Affiliate Relations, WBENC.
The Applause Awards were presented at the 2007 Women in Business Conference and Business Fair in Los Angeles, California, where over 2,500 corporations and women’s business leaders gathered to build skills and business over four days.
The Applause Awards recognize leaders whose significant accomplishments advance WBENC's work in leveling the playing field to enable women’s businesses and corporations to forge mutually successful business partnerships.
“The Applause Awards honor people who drive positive change for women’s business enterprises and the corporations that they serve. Each of these dynamic women have dedicated their careers to enabling innovation and growth, and their impact will be felt in our community for years to come,” said President Linda Denny.
Bios of the awardees follow:
Joan Kerr, Executive Director of AT&T’s Supplier Diversity Programs. Joan is currently vice chair of the WBENC Board and has served as WBENC board chair. She currently chairs the WBENC global committee. As an executive with SBC Communications, she one of the early supporters of WBENC when it was founded ten years ago.
Joining Pacific Bell in 1985, Joan served as legal counsel to Pacific Bell’s marketing and procurement organizations for many years. Before SBC Communications, Inc. completed the acquisition of AT&T Corporation, Joan was executive director of SBC’s Supplier Diversity Programs, playing a key role in the success of the company’s supplier diversity initiatives. Under her leadership, the former SBC’s supplier diversity programs received numerous prestigious recognitions in recent years, including one of America’s Top Corporations for Women’s Business Enterprises by the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC); Corporation of the Year from the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC), as well as local Minority Supplier Development Councils in Wisconsin, Oklahoma, St. Louis, Connecticut and Northern California; one of the Top 10 Companies for Supplier Diversity by DiversityInc and earning placement in the DiversityInc Hall of Fame; one of the 50 Top Employers for Minorities by Fortune; and one of the Top Corporations for Multicultural Business Opportunities by DiversityBusiness.com. Other supplier diversity honors received include the Patriot Partner Award (Association for Service Disabled Veterans) and the John K. Lopez Award (California DVBE Alliance).
Joan’s leadership in supplier diversity has been recognized through her receipt of the California DVBE Alliance's "Keeping the Promise” award and her three-time receipt of the NMSDC’s “MBE Corporate Coordinator of the Year” award. She was named one of America's Top Diversity Advocates by DiversityBusiness.com; and was recognized with the Corporate Leadership Award by Asians for Corporate and Community Action, an employee-initiated organization of the former SBC Communications.
Rebecca Boenigk, chairman and CEO of Neutral Posture, Inc. Rebecca heads up the company that became a driving force in the ergonomic seating industry and is the only woman-owned chair manufacturer in the United States. Neutral Posture became a certified WBE in May 1999; and Rebecca has continuously invested her time, talents and resources to support the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council.
She currently serves on the Board of Directors for WBENC and is the immediate past chair of the Women’s Enterprise Leadership Forum. WBENC has also benefited through her gift of organization as she chaired the Women In Business Silent Auction this year, for the second time.
In addition to her efforts through WBENC, Rebecca was appointed by Hector Barreto to serve on the National Women’s Business Council, which serves as advisors to the President, Congress and U.S. SBA. She is a national founding partner of Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP), Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturer’s Association (BIFMA) Board of Directors and the Texas Buildings & Procurement Commission Vendor Advisory Council and through 2006, and served on the Texas Governor’s Business Council and U.S. SBA National Advisory Council.
Rebecca’s commitment and passion has resulted in her receipt of numerous awards, speaking engagements as well as features in books and magazine articles. She supports the mission of WBENC and her leadership will be a driving force as the organization grows over its second decade.
Heather Herndon Wright, senior director, Affiliate Relations, WBENC. Heather Herndon Wright brings an unmatched range of experience and perspective to her role as senior director of Affiliate Relations for WBENC. Heather has served as an executive director of one of the original founding partner organizations, a corporate member who for six years served on the Executive Committee of WBENC's Board of Directors, a certified women’s business enterprise (WBE) and now as a key staff member.
Ten years ago when WBENC was founded, Heather chaired the committee that wrote the original certification standards for WBEs and later chaired the Certification Committee. Now, as the organization is poised to expand beyond U.S. borders, Heather has brought her talent to bear once again by both updating the certification standards and drafting the standards to be used internationally. In her current position Heather oversees certification and staffs the Certification Committee and the National Appeals committee.
Prior to her joining WBENC, Heather Herndon Wright was president and chief executive officer of Herndon-Wright Enterprises, a certified WBE business management consulting firm with an emphasis on the growth and development of Diversity companies and Corporate Diversity Initiatives. Herndon-Wright Enterprises represented a portfolio of corporations, as well as minority, women and service disabled veteran owned businesses and served as publisher of Women’s Enterprise (WE) Magazine.
Before starting her own company, Heather served as the national director of Supply Chain Diversity for Lucent Technologies and Fujitsu Network Communications where she was responsible for the initial and ongoing development, promotion, and oversight of a national strategy and architecture to increase the inclusion of Minority/Women/Disabled Veteran Business Enterprises across the supply chain from suppliers to channel partners. She was also the founding executive director of the North Texas Women’s Business Council (now known as the Women’s Business Council Southwest), a non-profit organization and founding partner organization of WBENC, formed by Dallas based corporations to provide WBE Certification and procurement assistance to women owned businesses. In addition, she was the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) Liaison for the Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) International Airport Board where she performed outreach and contract compliance functions on federal contracts.
She has been honored with the Dare to Risk Award given by the North Texas Women’s Business Council, the American Indian of the Year Award from the American Indian Chambers of Commerce of Texas, the M Company Catalyst Award from Minority Business News, USA and was most recently named Texas Best Mom by the Native Texan Hall of Fame. Heather recently served as an executive board member and certification chair for the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) and on the Executive Board of Dallas/Fort Worth International. She has also served as president of the Richardson Boys & Girls Club Board of Directors and as chair of the Diversity Summit at SUPERCOMM, the premier telecommunications industry conference.
About the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC):
- Founded in 1997, WBENC is the nation’s leading third-party certifier of businesses owned and operated by women, and the leading advocate of women’s business enterprises (WBEs) as suppliers to corporate America.
- The average WBENC certified company has revenues of $7.7M, 45 employees and 14 years of experience.
- Approximately 50 WBE firms have revenues in excess of $100M, and six certified WBE companies have revenues in excess of $1 billion.
- 240 U.S. corporations are active members of WBENC and representatives of 36 corporations sit on the WBENC Board of Directors, along with nine representatives of its partner organizations and nine WBEs.
- WBENC certification is accepted by over 1000 corporations, representing America’s most prestigious brands, as well as government entities at the state, local and Federal levels.
- WBENC also has developed several highly regarded initiatives for recognizing excellence in corporate supplier diversity targeting WBEs (America’s Top Corporations for Women’s Business Enterprises, The WBENC Applause Awards) and women’s business enterprises (WBENC’s Woman-Owned Business Stars).
- WEBuy is an online marketplace tool that corporations and government agencies, as well as WBEs, can use to post RFPs, sources sought, and RFIs.
- WBENC is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that seeks and accepts donations from corporations, foundations and individuals that support its mission and programs.
- WBENCLink is an Internet database, accessed by WBENC corporate members and certified women's business enterprises (WBEs), which contains information on certified women's businesses for purchasing managers nationwide.