JENNIFER C. BARNES (39)
Supplier Diversity & Sustainability Manager, University of Pittsburgh

Every day, Jennifer C. Barnes works to build a just and equitable future by ensuring Pittsburgh’s third-largest employer contracts with, invests in, and supports the growth of local, minority and women-owned business.

Over the last year alone, Barnes helped administer $47.5 million at Pitt directed toward diverse spending. She also set a goal that the university would spend 15% of its non-construction budget with diverse vendors and 5.5% going to Black-owned businesses by 2025.

“There are undeniable, systemic restrictions on certain groups. There are reasons why certain groups don’t have opportunities or the same rate of advancement,” Barnes says. “And I think that it is everyone’s responsibility to acknowledge those and support the few that dedicate their lives to mending them.”