American Water held its first Supplier Diversity Summit May 8, 2019, marking an important turning point in the proactive drive to engage more diverse suppliers in the utilities industry. The Summit included the participation of company senior leaders and Diversity & Inclusion experts. As the largest and most geographically diverse publicly traded water and wastewater utility company in the U.S., American Water's first Summit is an important milestone in spreading the word that Supplier Diversity applies to every industry and that diverse suppliers are crucial to business success.

The Supplier Diversity Summit bought together a variety of diverse suppliers, including minority-owned, women-owned, veteran-owned, disability-owned, and disadvantaged and HUBZone businesses to learn from diversity advocacy experts and engage with American Water key decision-makers. The Summit was about generating real business growth by sharing best practices and opportunities for diverse business growth. Also included on the agenda was a Supplier Diversity Awards and Recognition event.

An impressive group of diverse speakers and advocacy organization representatives participated in the Supplier Diversity Summit. Keynote speakers were Todd Cohen, CSP and author, and Corey Smith, Senior Director of Strategic Sourcing and Supplier Diversity. Diverse organizations participating in presentations, panel discussions, and networking events includ-ed the Eastern Minority Supplier Development Council, the Women's Business Enterprise National Council, the African American Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey, the Supplier Diversity Development Council, B2GNow, the National Veteran Business Development Council, and the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce.

The matchmaking sessions connected diverse business representatives with American Water procurement specialists. This gave the business representatives the opportunity to meet one-on-one with buying professionals. The event was held at the American Water Headquarters in Camden, NJ and was recognized as important to bringing innovative and successful diverse suppliers into the effort to maintain high quality and cost-effective standards for water delivery excellence. We look forward to the second annual event in 2020!