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by Dan Perkins
from Time
Warner Release
In
a release issued September 12, 2006, Rick
Yeager, senior vice president of finance at
Time
Warner announced that Greta Davis had been
promoted to executive director of supplier
diversity.
Prior to the
promotion, Davis had served as Time Warner's
national director of supplier diversity, a
position she has held since 2002.
Under Davis’ leadership,
the Time Warner supplier diversity team has
launched numerous new initiatives that have
significantly advanced supplier diversity within the
organization. Many of the initiatives have been firsts
for the media giant.
In the release announcing
the promotion, Yeager praised Davis’ leadership on
numerous fronts, including the development of a robust
website and a database of the company's diverse
suppliers. Yeager also credited Davis for expanding
Time Warner’s outreach to diverse businesses and
furthering the integration of supplier diversity within
the company’s collaborative procurement process.
The success of these
initiatives can be attributed to a combination of
factors including Davis’ leadership, a highly
experienced supplier diversity team and support from
senior management. On the Time Warner website, Davis
credits Time Warner’s chairman and CEO Richard (Dick)
Parsons for emphasizing diversity as a “business
imperative.”
Senior management has
embraced Davis’ leadership in establishing an
enterprise-wide training and education program that has
helped to incorporate supplier diversity within the
company’s culture.
Education and inclusion
are real passions for Davis who is quoted on the
company's website as having said, “The emphasis of our
program is to educate internally about supplier
diversity and to include more diverse companies in the
procurement process. I am passionate about making this
happen.”
In addition to overseeing
a supplier diversity task force comprised of
representatives from each of Time Warner's eleven
divisions, Davis serves as Time Warner’s primary liaison
with diverse communities. She maintains significant
involvement with two national organizations that promote
diverse suppliers, the National Minority Supplier
Development Council (NMSDC), and Women’s Business
Enterprise National Council (WBENC).
Davis' activities in
advocating for minority business development have
garnered her recognition by many publications and
organizations. In the release announcing her promotion,
Yeager said, “… Greta has done an outstanding job in
developing and implementing a national supplier
diversity program, and in expanding the company’s
business opportunities and strengthening corporate
partnerships with minority- and women-owned business
enterprises (MWBEs).”
Although Davis' external
activities are considerable, she remains steadfast in
her quest to elevate supplier diversity at Time Warner
to world-class status. She is currently involved
with launching a formal national second-tier program,
which will extend supplier diversity down-and-through
Time Warner’s supply chain. In the release, Yeager
noted that Time Warner intends to pursue second-tier
only where the initiative is appropriate. Second-tier
programs encourage prime suppliers to utilize diverse
suppliers for targeted portions of their contract with
major customers, such as Time Warner.
Davis began her career at
Time Warner in 1989 with TBS, in Atlanta.
There, she was responsible for developing the supplier
diversity initiative for the company and its
subsidiaries, including the Atlanta Braves.
Over the last four years,
Davis has been based both in Atlanta and New York.
The End
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