Three Wins, One Year
How Disney came to nominate us across three supplier councils in 2018 — and what happened at the ceremonies that followed.
It started with a nomination letter from Disney.
In June 2018, the supplier diversity team at The Walt Disney Company submitted Athena Engineering’s name to three different supplier councils. Same firm, same nomination cycle, three separate competitions: the Southern California Minority Supplier Development Council, the Women’s Business Enterprise Council-West, and — eventually — the National Minority Supplier Development Council. The councils each evaluate woman- and minority-owned businesses on different criteria, but they share one thing in common: corporate members like Disney nominate the firms they actually work with.
Disney isn’t sentimental about supplier diversity awards. They nominate firms that perform. The fact that Athena got nominated three ways in the same year said something about the work — but the wins still came down to the councils’ evaluations. Multiple categories. Application packets. Site visits. Reference calls. The selection process is exhaustive on purpose.
By the end of 2018, Athena had won all three.
“As a first-time nominee, I was just honored to be nominated, but never imagined we’d win. This is for all the hard work, late nights, and long days.”
Jannie Chiera, after the SCMSDC win – July 25, 2018
July 25 — Long Beach. The regional win.
The first ceremony was the SCMSDC Supplier of the Year awards at the Hyatt Regency Long Beach. Over 500 people in the room. Athena was nominated in Class II — the bracket for firms with annual sales between $1 million and $10 million. Disney was Athena’s corporate sponsor and nominator.
Other Class winners that night included Hal Hays Construction (Class IV, nominated by Southern California Edison), Muse Communications (Class III, nominated by American Honda), and Integritas Resources (Class I, nominated by the Metropolitan Water District). The corporate names on the room read like a cross-section of California’s largest employers — Disney, Honda, Edison, SoCalGas, Sony Pictures, AEG, Amgen, NBCUniversal.
The SCMSDC win mattered for two reasons. First, it was Class II recognition out of a competitive field of certified MBEs. Second — and bigger — it was the on-ramp to the regional and national competitions. Winning the regional was the qualifier to be considered for the National Supplier of the Year award later that fall.
Virginia Gomez, SCMSDC’s president and CEO, framed the awards this way: “The Supplier of the Year Awards celebrate the unique relationships that develop between our MBEs and corporate members. It reinforces the value these relationships bring and the positive impact they have on both of their businesses.”
September 12 — Palm Springs. The woman-owned win.
Six weeks later, the WBEC-West (Women’s Business Enterprise Council-West) Strategic Procurement Opportunity Conference was the next ceremony. Same nominator — Disney — but a different evaluation process and a different pool. Athena was up against more than 1,500 certified woman-owned businesses across Arizona, Colorado, Southern California, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Hawaii, and Guam. The Class 2 bracket: same revenue band as the SCMSDC.
Athena won. In the same ceremony, two other things happened worth noting. Kaiser Permanente was named WBEC-West Corporation of the Year. Disney itself won WBE Choice — Corporation of the Year. The companies sponsoring the awards were getting recognized for the recognition they gave.
And Athena Chiera, VP of Business Development, personally received the WBEC-West Woman-Owned Business Enterprise Advocate of the Year for her work as Forum Chair on the WBEC-West Southern California Forum — a three-year volunteer term representing woman-owned businesses across the region. That term was ending; Athena transitioned afterward to the WBENC National Forum.
“To be selected for this award out of over 1,500 certified woman-owned businesses is humbling. Thank you to Disney for giving us the opportunity to succeed with them over all these years.”
Athena Chiera, after the WBEC-West win — September 12, 2018
October 17 — Austin. The national win.
The third ceremony was a black-tie gala in Austin, Texas, closing out the NMSDC annual Conference and Business Opportunity Exchange — the largest minority business conference in the country. More than 6,000 procurement executives, CEOs, and supplier diversity professionals in the building. The national pool: over 12,000 NMSDC-certified minority business enterprises across four U.S. regions and five international affiliate networks.
Athena had won the regional level (SCMSDC) and the Western Region competition. The National Supplier of the Year designation was the next tier. Five evaluation categories, an exhaustive application packet, reference letters from corporate clients, financial performance review, community engagement audit, and a panel review by procurement leaders from NMSDC’s corporate membership.
Out of 12,000 certified suppliers, NMSDC chose four National Supplier of the Year winners — one per revenue class. Athena was Class 2. The other 2018 winners were Stellar Consulting Solutions (Class 1), Premiere Building Maintenance Corporation (Class 3), and Hal Hays Construction (Class 4) — the same Hal Hays who had won SCMSDC Class IV a few months earlier.
Jannie Chiera’s acceptance speech from the Austin stage is the moment of the whole 2018 arc.
“This award means everything to me as a professional and as a person. It wasn’t just about being a superior construction company — it’s about being a creator of jobs, a steward in our community, and a supporter of things greater than us. I accept this award on behalf of my amazing family of employees, who after a long week of work often choose to volunteer their time to important causes rather than relax. We’ve all worked so hard, under the radar and without recognition, so to receive an award that means we’re not only good at our jobs, but a group of stand-out people, means the world.”
Jannie Chiera, after the NMSDC National Supplier of the Year win — October 17, 2018
What 2018 actually meant.
The supplier-diversity recognition arc isn’t about the trophies on the shelf. The councils nominate firms based on what they actually do — the work, the relationships, the community footprint, the financial performance. The corporations nominate suppliers they actually buy from. The whole architecture is built to make sure the recognition tracks reality.
For Athena, three wins in a row from one nominator meant Disney’s procurement team wasn’t just satisfied with the work — they were willing to put their name on Athena’s nomination at three different councils, including the most competitive minority supplier award in the country. That kind of corporate sponsorship is the highest form of professional reference a supplier can get.
The other thing 2018 demonstrated: woman-owned and minority-owned aren’t separate categories of recognition. Athena was simultaneously eligible for, and won, awards at both kinds of councils. The firm is both — woman-owned (Jannie, the founder) and minority-owned (Jannie’s proud Cuban heritage). That dual standing is rare in commercial construction, where most firms are one or the other.
The pragmatic takeaway.
Seven years on, the 2018 awards still matter — but not as decorative trophies. They matter because they marked the year Disney went on the record about Athena’s work, three times over, in front of the rooms where procurement officers from the largest corporations in California sit and listen. Recognition like that compounds. It opens doors that don’t open from a sales call.
The Disney relationship that started it all is still active. The team that earned the recognition is still on payroll. The values Jannie referenced in her Austin acceptance speech — being a creator of jobs, a steward in the community, a supporter of things greater than us — are still the operating principle. That was 2018. It still applies.
Want to talk about Athena’s supplier diversity standing?
Whether your procurement organization is looking for woman- and minority-owned engineering firms with active certifications across NMSDC and California state diversity councils — Athena Engineering carries them all. Reach out: info@athenaengineering.com or 909-599-0947.
