An organization the size of the USF System provides countless opportunities for businesses to provide goods and supplies, construction services and professional services.
A new program at USF will help ensure smaller businesses and those owned by minorities, women, and veterans have ample opportunity to compete for those same opportunities.
Terrie Daniel joined USF in April to build the Supplier Diversity Program, an effort that will offer purchasing opportunities to a wider range of business enterprises.
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As assistant vice president, Daniel is taking the lead on creating the program, working closely with the USF System purchasing agents, departmental buyers, and the Facilities Management Division to build a program that will implement and monitor small, minority, veteran and women-owned business participation at USF. She will also actively represent the USF System in the business community through involvement in associations and organizations that promote the economic development of diverse businesses.
“I’m excited to literally build from scratch a program that will impact supplier diversity across the USF System,” Daniel said.
She added that she was attracted to USF because she could see the same momentum that is eliminating achievement gaps among USF students is helping make the supplier diversity efforts succeed.
“There is great support from leadership for creating an effective, university-wide program that offers more robust ways to ensure increased diverse business inclusion in USF’s day-to-day business, as well as future growth,” she said. “This new program will provide a better and stronger bridge between our educational community and the business community.”
Daniel hit the ground running when she arrived in April, meeting key staff for purchasing, facilities, and planning and construction from across the USF System to help her see current processes and identify areas of opportunity.
“The heart of this program is about connecting diverse-owned businesses with the right departments so they can more actively compete,” Daniel said. “To do that, we’re aiming to streamline the tracking of diverse spending across the USF System and better identify those opportunities.”
Daniel is also building a team to handle the efforts that will take several years to fully implement.
Prior to joining USF, Daniel was deputy commissioner of the State of Indiana Department of Administration, where she implemented and led the State of Indiana’s Supplier Diversity initiatives. In that role, in addition to reporting to then-Governor Mike Pence, she worked closely with educational institutions across the state on issues of supplier diversity, offering her an inside look at the needs of universities for building and maintaining a strong supplier diversity effort.
Before that, she was deputy director for the City of Indianapolis’ mayor’s office, where she directed the Division of Minority and Women’s Business Development, which offered public education programs and resources for minority, women, and veteran business owners.
Daniel earned her bachelor’s degree in marketing from Ferris State University in Big Rapids, MI, and her master’s degree in contract compliance administration from Morgan State University in Baltimore, MD.
A comprehensive website is being developed for the Supplier Diversity Program. For more information about the USF Supplier Diversity Program, email osd@usf.edu
Photo by Ryan Noone, USF Communications and Marketing