The success of Christina Santiago, Communications & Engagement Advisor, Supplier Diversity at BP, began earlier in her career supporting grants for early education programming with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The programs designed STEM curricula for underserved Chicago elementary and high school students. Later in corporate America, Christina has witnessed some of those underserved students become STEM professionals. And today, Christina creates development opportunities for certified diverse businesses to grow and scale. She oversees a portfolio of 15+ supplier diversity partnerships regionally and globally. Since 2017 and alongside the oil and gas majors, Christina co-led the WBENC Energy Executive Program, an interactive energy development initiative for WBEs, and over the past five years, has built development programming at BP for over 500 MWBEs.
As a communications and engagement specialist, Christina champions supplier diversity through storytelling, marketing, and partnering. She describes her most important roles as being an advocate for certified diverse businesses wanting to do business with BP.
She thrives on being an influencer of corporate America
to:
1. integrate diverse suppliers into strategy
2. challenge the workforce to take action
3. invite industry peers and policymakers to bridge the equity gap
All of which helps diverse suppliers better compete for business and identify their important roles in the energy transition.