NCAABA Minority Business Advocate of the Year Award - June 4, 2009
On June 4, 2009 I was humbled to be among a distinguished group of honorees recognized at a reception on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. by the National Council of Asian American Business Associations (NCAABA).
Edward Cates accepts the Minority Business Advocate Award on Capitol Hill.
NCAABA is a 501C3 non-profit organization that focuses on increasing access, connectivity, influence and awareness of issues impacting Asian American and Pacific Island owned businesses pursuing corporate and government contracts. Over the past 8 months, Nuance Marketing has served as the Agency of Record for NCAABA thanks to the support and innovative development of Wells Fargo’s Corporate Supplier Diversity team.
Congressman Mike Honda (D-CA) receives NCAABA's Congressional Excellence Award
It has been my honor to work with Jamie Borromeo, Executive Director of NCAABA as she innovates a historic organization that has a rich history of work that benefits Asian American businesses through collaboration across ethnicities. In the course of 8 months, Nuance has helped NCAABA with an ambitious agenda including; revision of an existing website (working collaboratively with Colorado based Byte Technology), planned, organized and hosted a Stimulating Change Summit in Foster City, CA with 150 participants and a supplier round table. As an important part of the conference we documented video testimonials of Asian leaders and business owners sharing their challenges regarding discrimination and the corporate practice of supplier diversity. We established an NCAABA YouTube channel for the organization to share footage from the project “Our Mission, Our Voice”.
NCAABA was covered by national news and multiple news sites through a developed PR and press release strategy communicating their success and connectivity to key leaders in Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and President Barack Obama. From strategic planning to handing out name tags, together we’ve done exciting work that benefits us all as a country that was built on the premise of equal access and opportunity (and a history of having to fight for it).
I was honored to be in the NCAABA delegation participating in their Stimulating Change Roundtable. The roundtable partnered NCAABA with the Asian American Justice Center (AAJC) to engage congressional representatives and federal agencies in a dialogue with delegates and representatives. Delegates spoke to key national leaders on issues such as public contracting, civil rights and I participated with commentary delivered to Congressman Mike Honda (D-CA) on President Obama’s stimulus plan and the need for diverse supplier inclusion goals, monitoring and management for compliance.
Jamie Borromeo, Executive Director of NCAABA and CaSondra Devine, VP of Wells Fargo Corporate Supplier Diversity present the honors.
In an unexpected turn at the end, Jamie Borromeo and CaSondra Devine honored my work with NCAABA and the community by presenting my the Minority Business Advocate of the Year award. My work with NCAABA has not been for glory or recognition. Rather, to support the organizations desire for growth and provide solutions. Although I’m not Asian, I am a fellow diverse business owner and recognize the challenges we face regarding entrepreneurship unify our efforts. Advancing the cause for any ethnicity of business owner advances the innovation, growth and success of American industry and entrepreneurship. I look forward to continuing this valuable work.
