Events

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Las Vegas Convention Center

DiversityNXT takes a look at the changing marketplace where competition and the Supply Chain have evolved with the consumer electronics field. Wireless applications are now phone, internet device, TV, Book, GPS – a constantly changing focus of wireless technology – the Swiss Army knife of our times. How does Supplier Diversity make an impact along with the new technology changes that are happening?

• 10:30 - 11:45 a.m. View from the Top Panel

  Room N256
  Executives from AT&T, Sprint and Verizon talk about how their company is driving this change and making Supplier Diversity a strategic solution to their Supply Chain for the changing business environment.

  Panel Speakers [view all]

  > Eugene Agee, Vice President – Procurement, Facilities and Corporate Security, Sprint

  Eugene Agee
  Vice President – Procurement, Facilities and Corporate Security
  Sprint

  Eugene Agee is the Vice President responsible for Procurement, Facilities and Corporate Security. The organization has approximately 233 associates. In this capacity, he manages $17B in spending and 20 million sq. ft. of commercial, retail and technical space. In addition, he manages Sprint's supplier diversity initiatives.

  Eugene has been employed with Sprint for 21 years. Throughout his tenure at Sprint, he has served in several key roles including: Vice President of Corporate Audit Services; Assistant Vice President of Strategic Sourcing and NIS Finance; Revenue Director for Minnesota, Nebraska, and Wyoming local telephone companies; and Manager of Regulatory Planning for Missouri and Minnesota local telephone companies.

  Eugene earned his Master of Business Administration from the University of Missouri at Kansas City, Missouri and has a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, Illinois. Eugene is a Certified Public Accountant and winner of the 2009 National Eagle Leadership Institute award for leadership.

  Eugene is married, and has four children. He resides in Leawood, Kansas.

  > Close Selection

  > Timothy S. Harden, President – Supply Chain and Fleet Operations, AT&T Services, Inc.

  Timothy S. Harden
  President – Supply Chain and Fleet Operations
  AT&T Services, Inc.

  Tim Harden is President-Supply Chain and Fleet Operations for AT&T Services, Inc. He is responsible for all related global functions, including strategic sourcing, purchasing, supplier quality and supplier diversity programs, supply chain logistics and distribution, and fleet management.

  His responsibilities cover all aspects of AT&T's business, including wireless, IP-based communications, high speed Internet access, local and long distance voice, directory publishing, marketing, and advertising services.

  Prior to his new assignment, Harden was president and CEO of AT&T West, where he oversaw nearly 40,000 employees who deliver traditional and Internet Protocol (IP)-based voice, broadband Internet, wireless, and video services to the company's California and Nevada customers.

  Previously, Harden served as president of network services for AT&T Southwest, responsible for all installation, repair, construction, and maintenance of the company's network infrastructure in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas. Under his leadership, AT&T deployed a new IP-based network in the Southwest, the technology platform underlying AT&T U-versesm—the company's next-generation television and high-speed Internet service that launched in June 2006.

  Harden also previously served as president of Enterprise Business Services—Data and Network Services for SBC Operations. He has gained broad telecommunications experience from a series of executive assignments within SBC and Pacific Telesis, including president of SBC Telecom, Inc. and senior vice president—network engineering and planning of SBC Data Services.

  Other prior assignments include vice president and general manager—SBC Industry Markets operations, responsible for service and support of network wholesale and local competition customers within SBC; vice president and chief operating officer of Pacific Bell's Broadband Deployment Advanced Communications Network; vice president and general manager of Pacific Bell Industry Markets; vice president and general manager of the Pacific Bell North Coast Regional Business Unit; and president and chief executive officer of Pacific Telesis Business Systems. Other assignments have included positions in operations, special services, customer services and switching in both Northern and Southern California.

  Harden joined Pacific Bell in 1982 from Caterpillar Tractor Company. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD with a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering and Operations Research. He also was an Associate Professor at the University of Utah and is a retired Captain in the US Navy.

  Harden is active in organizations that promote economic development, educational and youth activities. He is Vice Chairman on the QuEST Forum Executive Board, and is a member of World /Supply Chain 50, which represents a group of the top 50 Fortune 500 Procurement professionals from around the world. He is also a member of the Bay Area Council Executive Committee and was Co-Chair of the Southern California Leadership Council. Harden also served on the board of trustees for the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the board of directors of the Mt. Diablo Silverado Council of the Boy Scouts of America, the board of directors for Special Olympics Northern California, and the national advisory board of the AT&T Veterans Organization. Harden is also on the Board of Directors of The San Antonio Bowl Association and a member of the CAPS Research Board of Trustees.

  Harden was inducted as a scholar athlete to the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame, and was later named a Distinguished American by this organization for his efforts in support of the mission to promote and develop the qualities of leadership, sportsmanship, competitive zeal and the drive for academic excellence in America's young people.

  A native Californian, Harden and his wife, Laurie, have four grown children, and currently reside in San Antonio, Texas.

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  > Mariano Legaz, Vice President – Strategic Sourcing and Purchasing to Pay Systems, Verizon

  Mariano Legaz
  Vice President – Strategic Sourcing and Purchasing to Pay Systems
  Verizon

  Appointed to his current position in August 2009, Mariano Legaz manages U.S. and limited international sourcing activities for all of Verizon, totaling more than $35 billion annually, and leads a team that is transforming end-to-end processes for procurement across the enterprise focusing on delivering sourcing savings and improving Verizon's overall cost structure.

  Prior to his current position, Legaz was director of Capital Planning and Analysis with Verizon Communications. In this role, Legaz had responsibility developing and implementing the capital investment strategy for the corporation, managing an annual program of $17 billion with focus on supporting growth, developing strategic programs, and delivering short-term improvements in operating income.

  Legaz has an Executive Master's Degree in Business Administration from the Cox School of Business at SMU and a telecommunication postgraduate and E/E Engineering degree both from the Catholic University of Cordoba.

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  Panel Moderator

  > Duane D. Knecht, Vice President – Sales and Marketing, CTDI

  Duane D. Knecht
  Vice President – Sales and Marketing
  CTDI

  Duane Knecht graduated from Widener University with an Engineering Degree in 1981 and became a Design Engineer with GAI-Tronics Corporation in 1981. While there, he developed and designed mechanical packaging for Key/PBX telephone systems from conception to production. He also established a format for computerized estimating procedures for standard and special equipment. After leaving GAI-Tronics, Duane advanced quickly with Unisys Corporation in various management positions and continued designing numerous systems within the Manufacturing and Operations Departments, resulting in significant cost savings in several areas of the corporation. While at Unisys, Duane piloted extensive efforts related to the production and cost-reductive design and end-to-end manufacturing of printed circuit board manufacturing.

  Duane started with CTDI in September of 1989 as Director of Quality, resulting in a complete overhaul and upgrade of CTDI's Quality System. Under Duane's leadership, CTDI has received many awards from our client base in the areas of Quality and Cost Services. He embarked upon and achieved ISO 9001 registration from Bellcore. He has actively participated in several industry forums including QuEST, RQM's Standards, NESAC, TRAC-F and several MWBE committees.

  As Vice President of Sales & Marketing for CTDI since 1997, Duane's responsibilities include total customer relationship management and overall business growth through the development and execution of strategic marketing plans, the expansion of existing relationships, and the development of new strategic relationships with industry leading carriers and OEMs. To this end, one of Duane's primary objectives has been to develop repair and logistics relationships to better serve our end-user customers. Over the past ten years, CTDI has transitioned several major forward and reverse logistics programs to support our global customer base, positioning CTDI as a global leader in the telecom industry for high volume, time-critical global repair, and logistics services.

  Duane is an active volunteer for various community events and is a leadership contributor to the United Way of Chester County. Each year, Duane and his wife, Patty, organize the Holiday Hope Chest, a charity store that opens its doors once a year at the Chester County Intermediate Unit for local residents to shop, free of charge, for new and unused clothing, toys, accessories, and electronics. Duane is currently enrolled in the Chester County Leadership Connection board development program.

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• 12:00 - 2:00 p.m. Luncheon, Speaker & Awards

  Room N262
  With all the change in business and technology, how has this affected Supplier Diversity? Our speaker will be Clifton Taulbert, President and Founder of the Freemount Corporation. Mr. Taulbert is an internationally acclaimed author, lecturer and thought leader on the critical issue of building community within all the places of our living. Registration for the luncheon is required. (The luncheon is now closed.)

  Presentation of the Fourth Annual DiversityNXT Awards

  Corporation: The DiversityNXTGen Corporation Award will be awarded to a corporation who has been innovative in the way it has used a diverse supplier in its Supply Chain to provide a solution to a business problem or opportunity in the next generation technologies of the telecommunications industry.

  Supplier: The DiversityNXTSolution Supplier Award will be awarded to the minority-, woman- or disabled veteran-owned business that has delivered innovative solutions to its customers using next generation telecommunications technologies.

  Luncheon Speaker

  > Clifton L. Taulbert, President and Founder, Freemount Corporation

  Clifton L. Taulbert
  President and Founder
  Freemount Corporation

  Taulbert's ability to connect with diverse individuals across a broad professional spectrum has introduced him to audiences from members of the United States Supreme Court; as a personal guest of Sandra Day O'Connor, to CEOs of Fortune 500 Companies as well as educators around the world. Over the last fifteen years, Taulbert's insights on the "Power of Community" to ensure "Organizational Effectiveness" in 21st Century work and learning places, have impacted organizations such as: Bank of America, Lockheed Martin, the United States Department of Justice, the Office of the Secretary of Defense, American Water Works Association, National League of Cities and Pacific Coast Gas. Taulbert is especially known for his work with leaders and emerging leaders; helping them to embrace "Building Community" as a necessary force-multiplier for their organizations and understand their critical role in "Diversity Leadership" for the 21st century.

  Taulbert grew up and was educated in the Mississippi Delta during the era of legal segregation and surprisingly, it was during those dire times of his young life that he experienced "Community"...the power of intentional unselfishness. It changed his life! The world was introduced to his small community in his internationally acclaimed memoir, Once Upon a Time When We Were Colored. Taulbert's keen insights have been shaped by the world that shaped him.

  As a guest professor, Taulbert has lectured at the following institutions of higher learning: Harvard University, Darden School of Business, The University of Chicago, the University of Tulsa and the United States Air Force Academy. As a Pulitzer-Nominated author and journalist, Taulbert has written for major newspapers across the country including the New York Times and the Atlanta Constitution. His internationally embraced book, Eight Habits of the Heart, outlines principles he believes to be crucial to ensuring a work and learning place where productivity is valued and mutual respect is a way of life. Taulbert has authored eight additional books as well as being a major contributor to the Brussels' published Human Resource Development and Information Technology. Taulbert, a member of Phi Beta Kappa and a Trustee for the University of Tulsa (Tulsa, Oklahoma) has been recognized by Time Magazine as one of the nations' outstanding entrepreneurs. Taulbert was a member of the initial team that introduced Stair Master Exercise Systems to the world. He is also a former banker and advisory board member for Bank-One, now J. P. Morgan Chase, and currently serves as a Board member for ONB Bank and Trust in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

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• 2:00 - 4:00 p.m. Matchmaking Session & Reception

  Room N263
  The DiversityNXT Matchmaker meetings provide one-on-one networking time for diverse suppliers and corporations. Registration is required. All diverse suppliers are welcome to attend the reception to network with TIG members.

  If you are a certified diverse supplier and would like to attend the lunch and/or participate in the Matchmaker, send your name, company name, phone number and email to diversitynxt@diversitynxt.org. An email confirming your registration will be sent to you. Note: Once registrations for the Luncheon and Matchmaker are full, no additional attendees will be added.