Kathey Porter

Speaker and Lecturer

A sought after subject matter expert, Kathey is a frequent speaker, panelist and workshop facilitator at conferences and events focusing on supplier diversity, small business development/entrepreneurship, women's entrepreneurship and empowerment and diversity and inclusion.

An adjunct business instructor with over a decade of diversified teaching experience, Kathey has lectured at several universities and colleges including the University of Florida - Warrington College of Business, Virginia Tech - Pamplin College of Business, Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD), Savannah State University, etc. where she has taught various undergraduate and graduate courses including Leadership, Professional Writing, Marketing, Public Relations, Intro to Business, Management, Entrepreneurship, Communications, etc.

Small Business Strategist and Supplier Diversity Expert

Kathey is a small business strategist and supplier diversity expert with an impressive cadre of experience spanning nearly two decades in marketing, small business development, supplier diversity and entrepreneurship. She draws on her years of experience working with corporations, higher education institutions and the federal government to successfully support clients seeking services. In her capacity as a supplier diversity director for local municipalities and higher education institutions, and as a consultant to federal government agencies, she has successfully assisted small businesses to receive millions in contract opportunities.

Her professional involvements have included leadership roles on several state and national advisory panels including VASCUPP (Virginia Association of State College and University Purchasing Professionals), National Association of Educational Procurement (NAEP) Supplier Diversity Institute, Institute for Supply Management (ISM) Certified Professional in Supplier Diversity. She was appointed to a two-year term on the Florida Advisory Council on Small and Minority Business Development and was recently awarded Advocate of the Year - Supplier Diversity by the Florida State Minority Supplier Development Council (FSMSDC).

Kathey was previously a marketing executive in the multicultural beauty industry working for organizations such as Revlon Professional/Colomer USA and Carson Products Company (acquired by L'Oréal) where she was responsible for new product development, in-market activation (advertising, promotions, sales) and financial management.

Author and Contributor

Kathey is the author of 50 Billion Dollar Boss: African American Women Sharing Stories of Success in Entrepreneurship and Leadership (Palgrave Macmillan) which was a #1 new release on Amazon and was nominated for an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work - Non-fiction. Her new book, Implementing Supplier Diversity: A Driver of Entrepreneurship (Palgrave Macmillan) will be released in Spring, 2019.

She is a contributor to several local and national platforms including OPEN Forum (American Express) and has been featured in numerous media outlets including Ebony, Black Enterprise, The Huffington Post, Sirius XM, Atlanta Journal Constitution, Fox 5-DC. She was the featured small business expert in ESSENCE magazine and the guest editor for Business in Greater Gainesville magazine for the first diversity and inclusion issue (November, 2018).

CEO

Kathey is the CEO/Principal of Porter Brown Associates, LLC (PBA), a certified veteran-owned, woman-owned professional services and management consultancy and founder of BusinessFAB Media (Fearless. Awesome. BOSS), a women's entrepreneurship platform which produces the BusinessFAB Women's Entrepreneurship + Leadership Conference and the podcast Becoming BusinessFAB…Fearless. Awesome. Boss!

Kathey received her MBA from Georgia Southern University, BBA from Savannah State University and a CPSD (Certified Professional in Supplier Diversity) through the Institute for Supply Management and served as a Supply Specialist in the Georgia Army National Guard.