Verizon Communications' supplier diversity program serves as a benchmark for ambitious corporations. Verizon is a founding member of the Billion Dollar Round Table, a group of corporations that have direct spend of $1 billion or more with MWBEs. In 2007, Verizon purchased more than $3.14 billion dollars in goods and services from MWBEs. In addition to increasing spending with diverse suppliers, Delores Johnson-Cooper, Verizon's director of supplier diversity and quality, helps create new strategies to partner potential diverse suppliers and help them grow their businesses. With more than 3,000 MWBE suppliers in its database, Johnson-Cooper and her staff are constantly identifying new opportunities for both suppliers and buyers throughout the company. In addition, Johnson-Cooper enthusiastically promotes Verizon's second-tier program, in which the company works with prime suppliers to encourage them to extend their Verizon subcontracts to diverse suppliers. One challenge supplier diversity faces is ensuring the inclusion of more diverse spend in large-spend areas, such as Verizon Wireless and FiOS. To address this challenge, staff members participate on cross-functional teams that manage these product service streams. The inclusion of supplier diversity in such programs allows the company to ensure that all suppliers are being considered as we roll out strategic initiatives. Johnson-Cooper reiterates her commitment to innovation for all parties to achieve their best. It is about year over year improvement for Verizon and our suppliers.

"The quality, not the longevity, of one's life is what is important." - Martin Luther King, Jr.