SDI Leads Team of Local MBE Companies in Supporting Mission-Critical IT Infrastructure During COVID-19 Business Response
CHICAGO, April 1, 2020 – IT consultancy and managed services provider (MSP) SDI Presence LLC (SDI) announces that it has spent over $11M with its diverse partners in the 2019 fiscal year. In addition to its continued yearly increase in its diverse spend, MBE-certified SDI is taking a leadership position to assist its MBE business partners through the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
"SDI understands the value that our MBE-certified partners bring to our clients' daily operations - which includes supporting public safety and government services’ mission-critical IT systems and infrastructure,” states SDI Presence Chief Executive Officer David A. Gupta. “We are actively working alongside our MBE business partners to navigate the impact of the COVID pandemic – including mentoring our partners in areas of cybersecurity and advocating on their behalf to maintain their organizational financial health."
Within the Chicagoland community, SDI continues to build on its platinum status within the Chicago United Five Forward™ program: Five Forward enlists established Chicagoland corporations to commit to working with five local minority firms over five years. Five Forward has created opportunities that have generated more than 4,700 jobs and $800 million in economic activity.
“SDI’s on-going commitment to diversity and inclusion leadership in the Chicago minority IT community is truly a testament to our Five Forward success story,” said Tiffany Hamel Johnson, new President and CEO of Chicago United. “The formation of business partnerships like those between SDI and its minority partners will not only improve our community’s economic security but also allow minority business owners to maintain their financial capacity especially during these challenging times surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.”
“We have a social responsibility to empower our talented team with the right tools and implement diversity initiatives that align with SDI’s business strategies,” states SDI’s Chief Development Officer Cecelia B. Bolden who leads the firm’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion program. “SDI’s collaboration with minority business organizations will continue to elevate our diverse workforce in the IT industry.”
SDI’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion program is integrated into the firm’s presence-based culture and core values. The firm’s in-house technical recruiters actively work with the City Colleges of Chicago, the Chicago Apprentice Network, technical schools, and diverse networking organizations. SDI has also mentored over 150 students over the past 20 years, including minority students from Chicago Public Schools, City Colleges of Chicago, Mercy Home for Boys and Girls, and the Chicago Summer Business Institute.
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About SDI (SDI Presence LLC)
SDI Presence LLC is an IT consultancy and managed services provider (MSP) that leverages its strong team presence to advance our clients to a secure digital enterprise. With a 20-year corporate resume, SDI delivers strategic managed services, IT consulting, and hybrid infrastructure solutions to optimize our clients’ technology environments. SDI is a certified Minority Business Enterprise (MBE), with a portfolio of clients that includes some of the nation’s largest airports, utilities, commercial real estate portfolios, and government agencies. Visit us at www.sdipresence.com and connect with us on Twitter and Instagram.
About Chicago United
Chicago United is a corporate membership and advocacy organization whose mission is to achieve parity in economic opportunity for people of color by advancing multiracial leadership in corporate governance, executive level management, and business diversity. Founded in 1968, the organization is focused on transforming the Chicago region into the most inclusive business ecosystem in the nation by engaging the top publicly and privately held corporations in leading talent management and inclusive diversity practices. Chicago United’s signature programs include its Business Leaders of Color publication, which showcases a diverse pool of corporate director candidates, the Five Forward Initiative™, designed to invigorate job creation in communities of color by increasing the scale of large MBEs in the Chicago region, Inside Inclusion featuring the Corporate Diversity Profile and the Corporate Inclusion Institute, an innovative new program launching in early 2019 that expands organizational capacity for inclusion through the recruitment and retention of critical talent.
For media inquiries, please contact Dawn Nash Pfeiffer at 312.580.7516 or dpfeiffer@sdipresence.com.
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