NOVEMBER 2021: FRONTPAGE DIRECTOR NOTE
As we go into this Holiday season and transition into a New Year, I am excited and looking forward to a fresh start. Together we will make 2022 a year of action and accountability. The past 18+ months have continued to challenge our ecosystems, supply chains, and our communities. Despite – or perhaps because of – these challenges, I am so proud of what we as anchor collaborative managed to achieve in 2021.
In 2021, together through PAGE we:
- Drove local business growth by initiating $13 million+ in contracts for local black-owned businesses
- Lowered barriers to business participation in institutional supply chains by: Raising $125,000 for the PAGE Hurdle Fund to provide grants that eliminate barriers to contracting. Click here for Case Study
- Forming the PAGE Real Estate & Construction committee to expand access to local Black and minority firms in the real estate and construction industry. Participated in Inaugural Construction Inclusion Week.
- Expanded our capacity for impact by:
- Raising $1 million in grant funding over the past 18 months – thanks to the Barra, Lenfest, and Bank of America Foundations as well as the Economic Development Agency for support.
- Expanding staff with business engagement manager Kenyatta James in 2021 and in the process of hiring a DEI Data Analyst
- Welcomed medical technology company Dräger US as our newest PAGE Anchor. We are looking forward to working with and learning from Rebecca Timme, Vicky Papageorgaki, and their team. Read more about how Dräger expanded its manufacturing to meet market demands during the pandemic. Read more here.
- Participated in the Economy League’s 2021 Greater Philadelphia Leadership Exchange, highlighting our work in front of 170 cross-sector leaders…
- Thank you to Caitrin Carickoff ( at CHOP), Chuck Stefanosky (Supplier Diversity Director at Independence Blue Cross), Patricia Claybrook (President and CEO of Jidan Cleaning, LLC), and Avis Yates Rivers (CEO of Technology Concepts Group International), for participating in a lively discussion about “Matching Local Supply and Demand with PAGE.”
- Continued to build and deepen our cross-sector network to drive change by engaging more than 100 leaders representing about 35 partner organizations to advance the PAGE mission
In short, we have come quite a long way since February 2020 when I came on board as the PAGE Director. I aim to make FrontPAGE a resource for sharing information, building community, elevating the work that you all do every day to advance the mission of localizing and diversifying your supply chains, and of course, benchmarking across institutions. I hope its contents are of value to you... please let me know, of course! We are already working on the 1st Issue of 2022, so please let me know if you have a story to share!
I cannot thank you all again for your continued support, and best wishes to you and yours for a safe and healthy 2022.
