 Terry Williams, president of the U.S. Women's Chamber of Commerce will serve as the first national project leader. Her unique experiences in business, procurement, certification and community projects will assist her as we forge ahead creating progress and opportunity for women.
Read about Terry below:
Terry Williams, President of the U.S. Women's Chamber of Commerce, has a broad background of community and business leadership experience. She began her professional career as an orchestra conductor. Her conducting experience includes, Music Director of The Nouveau West Chamber Orchestra and Musical Theater of Arizona; Guest Conductor of The Phoenix Symphony; and Conductor of Orquesta Mexicana de la Juventud (Mexico City, Mexico).
In her early thirties, she found that she was very drawn to the business world and left conducting to launch American Musical Instruments (AMI) in Phoenix, Arizona. Over six years, she built AMI to nearly $2M in sales. AMI and Williams' other businesses were active and successful in procurement markets winning bids not only on price but value. To achieve her success, she effectively changed brand preferences, delivery of service methods, and methods of determining best value.
In the mid 1990's, Williams (along with USWCC CEO Margot Dorfman) founded Arizona Women's News a business newspaper to support the growth of the women's business marketplace. Williams believed there was a strong need to assist women to gain success in the procurement markets, so she also stepped forward to assist with the launch of the Women's Business Enterprise Council - West, the Women's Business Enterprise National Council's affiliate covering Arizona and Southern California. She successfully prepared and obtained the organization's 501(c)(3) recognition, assisted with corporate membership development, training the WBEC-West Certification Committee, community outreach and the certification of dozens of women business owners.
During this time, Williams became aware of the shortcomings for women in the procurement markets - the lack of a strong unified structure that includes women at the top leadership levels. The USWCC Women's Business Procurement Project is an outgrowth of this understanding. As the USWCC has grown across the United States, Williams has listened to hundreds of women, buyers, and experts about the challenges of women in procurement and is looking forward to making a real difference in the marketplace.
Ms. Williams is a recipient of the prestigious Governor's Award from the State of Arizona and a New Times - "Best of Phoenix" award for her community contributions. Terry holds a master's degree from Northwestern University and a bachelor's degree from Arizona State University where she was a Board of Regents Scholar.
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