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Lumen’s Association of Black Technology Professionals (ABTP) Employee Resource Group partnered with CenturyLink’s Quantum Fiber Mass Markets team to celebrate National Black Business Month and black-owned business owners who are our customers.

Lumen believes it’s critically important to build sustainable supplier diversity participation in our supply chain. To accomplish this, we are integrating supplier diversity into our strategic sourcing process through measurable goals and objectives, as well as increasing our indirect spending company-wide by engaging top diverse suppliers. Since 2022, Lumen has spent nearly $750 million with diverse businesses, including minorities, women, veterans, service-disabled veterans, LGBTQ+IA businesses, and vendors with disabilities.

“It's no secret that Black-owned businesses can be powerful vehicles for advancing economic empowerment,” said Sanja Hartfield, Quantum Fiber Sales Director. “Black business owners account for approximately 10% of U.S. businesses and nearly 30% of all minority-owned businesses. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, that amounts to approximately two million companies.”  

CenturyLink, a Lumen Technologies trusted brand, partnered with the Black Chamber of Arizona last year to host the first-ever Partnering for Profitability Webinar that featured an expert panel facilitated by the chamber’s President and CEO Robin Reed.

During the webinar, Lumen’s Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer India Sylvester moderated an engaging and thought-provoking discussion on how companies can partner to grow their businesses with technology and social capital. Panelists included:

• Sandra Porter Marks, Sr. Vice President, Clayco
• Sandrena Robinson, General Manager & BOMA Fellow, LBA Realty
• Diedra Henry-Spires, Sr. Advisor, U.S. Small Business Administration
• Abdullah Sanders, President, SanTrac Technologies

A highlight of the webinar is keynote speaker Randal Pinkett, Ph.D. who is the Co-founder, chairman, and CEO of BCT Partners, a global, multimillion-dollar research, training, consulting, technology, and data analytics firm. Dr. Pinkett has established himself as an entrepreneur, speaker, author and scholar. In 2005, Pinkett was a season-four winner of the reality TV show, The Apprentice. He is the first Black contestant to win the U.S. version of this show.

Recognized by Forbes as one of America's Best Employers for Diversity 2022, Lumen is committed to digital inclusion and has been playing an active role in bridging the digital divide, equipping its leaders to lead inclusively, and growing a culture that fosters and celebrates diversity.

“Lumen has made significant investments to bring high-speed broadband to every corner of our service territory where it is economically feasible,” said Sylvester “Many barriers that remain, and are often beyond a provider’s control, are digital literacy issues and hard to reach, rural locations. We’re always looking at ways to expand or enhance our broadband services, which includes working closely with federal, state, and local government agencies on creative public-private partnerships.”

Learn more about doing business with Lumen here.