What Works News U Can Use Newsletter March 2023

We Did It! We Created History! Let's Continue the Celebration EVERYDAY

The MBDA Federal Procurement Center – the Commerce Dept./Minority Business Development Agency’s flagship Business Center serving Minority Business Enterprises across the Nation – has just finished producing the first ever 13985 Black History EVERYDAY Podcast series – that has ignited a dialogue that will continue to transform the Federal acquisition landscape to advance Equity in Procurement.

Wow! Thank you for every OSDBU that participated – HHS Executive Director Darlene Bullock, Senior Procurement Analyst Wayne Berry, Army Director of Partnerships Ivan Bolden, OSDBU Director for Department of Education Calvin Mitchell, Dr. Anissa Lumpkin who was instrumental in the first ever HBCU Air Force UARC being awarded to not just Howard University, but a consortium of HBCUs. To hear from small business owners, like The HABITS Group CEO, Zach Johnson. And to have major corporations located in Africa like Dow Jones, Proctor & Gamble, and significant NGOs like the Africa Business Group, talking with Chairman Michael Sudarkassa, also CEO African Fertilizer and Agribusiness about the bridge between Executive Order 13985 and trade with Africa – is nothing short of surreal. See Executive Order 13985 Black History Every Day Podcast #19 - Michael Sudarkassa.

Co-hosting this podcast series with our very own Timothy Maurice Webster, Director of Learning Behavior who will be leading our new Africa Office located in Cape Town, South Africa, makes this month’s What Works News U Can Use Letter, extra special. So much so, we cannot wait to springboard into Women’s International History EVERYDAY podcasts in partnership with the International Trade Administration. From the commitments made during the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit, to where we are today as an acquisition community with the efforts to advance Executive Order 13985, I could not be more thrilled to share with our global audiences, this month's featured Woman-owned Small Business, CEO Tara Gupta of Map-Collective. As Climate Change is now a global, National Security high priority, it is my pleasure to first appreciate where Tara and I first met, which was in Dubai as she was being honored as one of the Forbes Under 30. It was in Dubai March 2022; Timothy and I were producing podcasts at the WELLTI Conference for the International Trade Administration leadership team.

Ladies and Gentlemen, get ready to be a part of the movement where your business has nowhere else to go, but to Grow!

From KDM & Associates CEO, and MBDA FPC Operator – Keith D. Moore

VIEW MARCH 2023 NEWSLETTER