Meet Tiffany Carter | Executive Director

We had the good fortune of connecting with Tiffany Carter and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Tiffany, what do you attribute your success to?
My success in business and in life are relationships. The human connections gained in the twenty-two years in working in various industries have been the key to my success. As a Supply Diversity expert, building relationships have allowed me to advance clients in marketplaces and launch sustainable equity initiatives. The relationships have built bridges to what’s possible in public and private industries.  It’s very true that people will work with who they know, and the success I’ve celebrated is rooted in connecting people so they can build together.

What should our readers know about your business?
Currently, I serve as an Executive Director of a national program designed to support women of color entrepreneurs. Daily we work to assist business owners launch new businesses and help “seasoned” businesses grow and expand capacity.

This supplier-diversity role was a pivot away from my nearly 18 years in private and public sector procurements and contracting. For decades, I lead efforts to award contracts to majority prime contractors, often as the only black woman in the most rooms. Yes, I’ve silenced the off-putting jokes and the looks, but I knew that my presence meant small businesses would also have a voice in decision making spaces. It was a responsibility that I remain proud of and celebrate!

That responsibility has now led me to a role that I can now guide entrepreneurs to business growth, approaches, and contract awards. I love teaching the “playbook” to successful procurements, thus changing those rooms I’ve sat in before.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I’m a huge sports fan! I love all live sports and the amazing (and sometimes greasy) stadium or arena foods! I love putting on my blue jeans, great shoes and screaming for my teams! I love the energy of competition in the board rooms and on the fields!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I have been supported by incredible mentors, all responsible for different paths of my journey. One of my earliest examples is Mrs. Marilyn Lundy, former co-owner of Lundy Enterprises/Pizza Hut in New Orleans, Louisiana. I was 23 when I accepted a Marketing Assistant role.  Marilyn was the epitome of everything desired. She was smart, strong, graceful, and commanded each room she walked into. She led with the perfect edge to get all things done. She was a wife and mother and made it all look incredibly balanced.

There’s no doubt that working for a minority-owned business earlier in my career, planted seeds of what’s possible and I’m very fortunate to advance small businesses still, over twenty years later.

Website: www.EnterprisingWOC.org

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tiffany-carter-42701478/