Electronic Data Systems (EDS) is a Bronze level corporate sponsor. The company has a strong African American affinity group called Unity In Action (UIA). UIA recently worked with the company's diversity office to deliver a remarkable Black History Month program earlier this year that included a keynote address by one of the most powerful African American women in the information technology industry. Here is a recap of the event as shared with EDS employees in their company newsletter:
Corporations that recognize and encourage the strengths that diverse teams offer will forge ahead of the competition, according to Vallerie Parrish-Porter, chief information officer of EMBARQ, an EDS client. The communications company executive shared her thoughts on diversity with a global audience on Wednesday as the employee network group, Unity in Action (UIA), observed Black History Month and presented its annual awards.
The sharing that takes place in diverse groups, from peer-to-peer, is invaluable to companies today, Parrish-Porter said. "Both of our companies are really ensuring we are the employer of choice," she told the diverse gathering.
Each February, EDS celebrates the contributions of African Americans to culture, knowledge and heritage. Parrish-Porter was the keynote speaker at EDS' ninth annual Black History Month event in Plano, Texas. This year's theme was "Cultural Diversity Empowers Competitive Advantage." Parrish-Porter leads the strategic and tactical deployment and operations of information technology (IT) development and infrastructure resources for EMBARQ. Before this role, she was vice president for enterprises services with Sprint, and vice president and group information officer with Hewlett-Packard's personal systems group.
Recently, Parrish-Porter was selected as one of the "50 Most Important Blacks in Technology" for the third consecutive year by the editors of U.S. Black Engineer & Information Technology magazine.
BDPA is very proud of the career growth of Vallerie Parrish-Porter. I tried once to get her as keynote speaker for our annual awards gala. Hopefully, she will be up there one day in the future. She is truly a remarkable person. UIA demonstrated great judgement in reaching out to her for their event last month. Is your company actively working with African American employees as we see here at EDS?
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