Kathey Porter named assistant director of purchasing for supplier diversity
Kathey Porter, former coordinator of minority/women-owned business enterprises for the City of Savannah, Ga., has been named assistant director of purchasing for supplier diversity at Virginia Tech.
In her new position, Porter will be responsible for a comprehensive program to improve the availability of small, women-owned and minority-owned (SWAM) businesses to the university community. She will work to identify potential SWAM suppler resources so that maximum opportunity for participation in the competitive procurement process can be achieved.
Among her specific responsibilities, Porter will represent the university at educational outreach events, meet with state officials and other representatives of higher education, and serve as a dedicated resource for SWAM suppliers seeking to do business with the university. She will prepare internal communications to highlight the availability of diversity suppliers and devise and organize internal programs that will enhance supplier diversity performance within the university.
Employed by the City of Savannah since 2007, Porter developed, implemented, and monitored policies and processes to ensure participation by minority and women-owned business enterprises in city procurement activities.
Porter received her bachelor’s degree from Savannah State University and a MBA from Georgia Southern University.
Dedicated to its motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), Virginia Tech takes a hands-on, engaging approach to education, preparing scholars to be leaders in their fields and communities. As the commonwealth’s most comprehensive university and its leading research institution, Virginia Tech offers 240 undergraduate and graduate degree programs to more than 31,000 students and manages a research portfolio of $513 million. The university fulfills its land-grant mission of transforming knowledge to practice through technological leadership and by fueling economic growth and job creation locally, regionally, and across Virginia.
