Board of Directors

President and CEO
National Minority Business Council

John F. Robinson has earned a number of public and private sector awards as the founder and current president and CEO of the National Minority Business Council (NMBC). He proudly displays personal tributes from New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the United States Department of Commerce’s Minority Business Development Agency. Founded in 1972, the NMBC has been a relentless advocate for MWBE enterprises. John has promoted supplier and workforce diversity by leading the NMBC in the development of programs for education and training, procurement, advocacy and international trade.

Vice President/Secretary
Carol and Company

Carol Daugherty Foster was the public relations coordinator at the American College of Education and former editor of MBN USA, a national award-winning publication in the supplier diversity arena. As an experienced writer, editor and communications specialist, Carol has passionately supported minority supplier diversity for almost two decades. She is the recipient of a Special Recognition Award from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for positively promoting NASA’s Small Business Program.

MBHF&M Board Treasurer
Pfizer (retired)

Two years after joining Pfizer in the early 1970s, Philip A. Duffy became program director of the newly formed Interracial Council for Business Opportunity in New York as an executive on loan. He became the first executive director of the newly formed National Minority Purchasing Council. Under his leadership half the Fortune 500 companies became corporate members of the new organization, committed to purchasing from and assisting in the growth and development of minority-owned businesses.

MBHF&M Executive Committee
Former Director
Global Multicultural Procurement & Sales Support
Hewlett-Packard

Jo-Ann Butler’s career in supplier diversity development spanned more than 40 years. She expanded HP’s diversity program to include all U.S. business units and internally. In addition to launching HP’s minority business program throughout Canada, the UK, France, Germany and South Africa, Butler created the first international minority business database that enabled those businesses to register with HP.

J. Fred Canady, a former vice president and director of supplier diversity at PepsiCo, holds an MBA and an undergraduate degree in social studies, both from Harvard University. He is now the president and CEO of CanadySource offering business advice and solutions to minority- and woman-owned businesses on how to do business with major corporations.

George C. Fraser founded FraserNet, Inc. more than some 20 years ago with the vision to lead a global networking movement that brings together diverse human resources to increase opportunities for people of African descent. He is considered by many to be a new voice for African Americans and one of the foremost authorities on economic development, networking and building effective relationships.

Alfred E. Osborne Jr. heads development, alumni relations, placement and career initiatives, and executive education at the UCLA Anderson School of Management. Osborne is also the founder and faculty director of the highly acclaimed Harold & Pauline Price Center for Entrepreneurial Studies and an associate professor of Global Economics and Management in the UCLA Anderson School.

Program Director
Global Supplier Diversity
IBM

As the leader of IBM’s Integrated Supply Chain, Robinson is responsible for leading IBM’s supplier diversity initiatives in the U.S., Latin America, Canada, Europe, Asia and South Africa. Robinson attended the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, received his bachelor’s of science degree from Cheyney University, Philadelphia and his MBA from Atlanta University, Atlanta.

Ralph Moore founded RGMA, a supplier diversity and minority business development consulting firm that has counseled numerous minority businesses, private-sector and public-sector entities. Prominent among his accomplishments is the presentation “Raising the Bar,” which is now today’s gold standard for supplier diversity practices. It consists of the 5 Levels of Performance necessary in developing effective and actionable strategies for implementing meaningful supplier diversity practices.

President
Minority Business Enterprise Legal Defense and Education Fund

Anthony W. Robinson serves as president of Minority Business Enterprise Legal Defense and Education Fund (MBELDEF) and at its helm has brought America ever closer to the ultimate goal of parity. Over the years, Robinson has acted as a litigant or Amicus for dozens of cases, including cases before the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of dozens of minority business enterprises.

Sharon Patterson is the president and CEO of the Billion Dollar Roundtable, a non-profit organization that comprises 28 corporations that each spend $1 billion or more annually on a Tier 1 basis with diverse suppliers. For almost two decades, Ms. Patterson led supplier diversity initiatives at Kraft Foods.