Asian Indian Chamber of Commerce (AICC) Supplier Diversity Showcase concludes successfully

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The Asian Indian Chamber of Commerce (AICC.net) concluded its eight-part Supplier Diversity Breakfast event series June 1, with the “Supplier Diversity Showcase” Business Opportunity Exchange, which organizers said was a great success.

Highlights included engaging keynote speakers, enlightening MSP Forum sessions, productive Business Opportunity Exchanges, insightful Fireside Chats, interactive Breakout sessions, and a segment dedicated to Awards & Recognition, a press release June 5, from IACC said.

AICC President Rajeev Krishna, introduced his board and spoke about the unprecedented transformation he is seeing in the Chamber. He credited that to increased awareness of the Chamber’s programs and the many new corporate relationships that are being created because of that. He reiterated his board’s commitment to make AICC the voice and the most influential business advocacy organization for the Asian Indian business community in the nation.

Consul General of India in New York Randhir Jaiswal, was the  Chief Guest and talked about the “incredible” business potential between India and the United States and the important role AICC can play in that arena.

Len DeCandia, former Global Chief Procurement Officer of J&J, delivered the keynote speech focused on the future challenges of procurement in a global economy.

Sanofi received the Supplier Diversity Trailblazer award, and Bristol Myers Squibb was honored with the Supplier Diversity Champion Award. Recipients of the Minority Business of the Year awards were Innova Solutions (IT), CHUGH (Law) and A&J Consulting Engineering Services (Engineering).

The MSP Forum was led by Sundari Pai Luts, senior manager, Global Supplier Diversity at Bristol Myers Squibb, and featured panelists Chief Revenue Officer at Hiregenics Brian Soderholm, Brianna Zielinski, North America Category Buyer at Sanofi, Kristin Clewes, VP of Workforce Solutions at nextSource, and Tamara Rashid, senior vice president of the Enterprise Transformation Team at Agile One.

The lineup of speakers included, Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion at Diversified Maintenance Ciara Lilly, Director of Diversity and Business Development at NJEDA Jermaine Pharmes, Director of Procurement at Aquarion Water Company Michele Mehan, President of The Indus Entrepreneur (TiE) NJ Chapter Suresh Kumar, Executive Vice President and Global Head of Strategic Sales & Partnerships, at Innova Solutions, Punish Malhotra, and William Choi, director of Supplier Diversity at NYPA.

Rakhi Agarwal, Supplier Diversity leader at Sanofi, hosted the Fireside Chat which included a panel of experts. The panelists were Anne O’Malley, Sr. Supplier Diversity Specialist at NYPA; Anjali Sidhu, Global Head at Innova Solutions; Adam Wexebaum, Global Supplier Diversity at Lenovo; Gesny Val, Associate Procurement Manager Sustainability and Partnership at Unilever; Sweta Patel, Supplier Diversity Program Lead at Teva Pharma; Tiffany Keaton, Senior Manager, Business Diversity and Supply Chain Sustainability at TIAA; and Vivian Young, Global Head of Asian & Pacific Islander Affairs at JPMC.

Vice President of AICC Rekha Sarathy, delivered a vote of thanks. Rajiv Mohan was incharge of IT aspects of the event.

The event brought together a diverse group of suppliers, corporate executives, industry experts from MSPs, and others in a collaborative and inclusive environment, resulting in a resounding success, organizers said.

Rajeev Krishna, President of AICC, Rekha Sarathy, Vice President of AICC, and Komal Dangi, Director of Supplier Diversity at AICC, served as the event’s co-chairs. IIT WHEELS Foundation, Akshaya Patra and TiE New Jersey, were strategic partners for this event.