8/3/2005
Media Contact:
Steve Campbell, [317] 327-3622 |
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Burke to leave city government to work in supplier diversity at Wellpoint
INDIANAPOLIS- Brenda Burke, who has served as director of the city’s Department of Administration is leaving her position to join Wellpoint as director of supplier diversity - nationwide, Mayor Bart Peterson said today.
Burke has served in this position since Peterson took office in 2000, where she oversaw all human resources, equal opportunity and administrative services for city government. She also led the city’s successful initiatives to increase the involvement and development of minority- and women-owned businesses.
"Brenda has been an integral part of our team as we have sought to make local government as efficient and cost-effective as possible," Mayor Peterson said. "In addition, her leadership on minority- and women-owned businesses was impeccable and helped Indianapolis become a statewide and national leader in taking these important businesses to the next level.
"Of course it’s always sad to lose a member of my original team, but our loss will be a gain for one of our city’s top companies."
For the past five and a half years, Burke has served as the mayor’s point person in promoting the city’s minority- and women-owned businesses and has been recognized throughout the community for her work in this area. Under her leadership, utilization of minority- and women-owned businesses in city contracting increased 185 percent since the beginning of the Peterson administration.
In addition, the city has formed partnerships with scores of private-sector companies in the Indianapolis community in an effort to create more opportunities for minority- and women-owned businesses. Those efforts have resulted in many businesses being awarded private-sector contracts.
In addition, the city commissioned a disparity study to determine the difference between capacity and utilization of minority- and women-owned businesses. Following the results of the study earlier this year, the city went before the City-County Council to request increases to the minority and women business enterprise goals, from 10 percent to 15 percent and two percent to eight percent respectively.
Many of these efforts were featured in the April 2005 edition of Diversity, Inc. magazine, a national publication that focuses on diversity in the workplace and business, and in a two-part story in the Indianapolis Recorder, entitled "A Model for the Nation."
Before joining the Mayor’s team, Burke was director of human resources for Wishard Hospital & Health Services. She also worked in human resources at the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, Eli Lilly & Company and the Mayflower Group. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Indiana University and a master’s degree in management from Indiana Wesleyan University.
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