`The important thing is not to stop questioning." Albert Einstein's quote is one of Gladys Lopez's favorite, and as manager in the Corporate Supplier Diversity and Business Development group at American Express, it's also an apt one. Lopez has built her career on never settling for the status quo. To be successful, Lopez knows that AmEx needs to create a strong internal support system to complement its external outreach strategy. Even with limited resources, her department has leveraged relationships to build an infrastructure with business partners who have become strong program advocates. For the past 4 years, she has enhanced and strengthened the supplier diversity program at AmEx, and as a result of her leadership, this year the company participated in an industry-wide effort to create greater alignment on information captured from MWBEs as part of the reporting process. Lopez has found that investing additional resources in reporting procedures creates greater transparency and is strengthening AmEx's relationships with MWBEs. The company has also launched "Supplier Diversity Awareness Days," mobilizing supplier diversity champions across the company for "interactive sessions where members of the procurement team learn key supplier diversity concepts they can apply in their roles. A Georgetown University graduate, Lopez is also an active member of the National Minority Supplier Development Council, and served on the board of the Grand Canyon Minority Supplier Development Council.

Favorite Quote

"The important thing is not to stop questioning." - Albert Einstein