FAMU alumna Cheryl A. Harris has been named one of Savoy
magazine’s 2014 “Top 100 Most Influential Blacks in Corporate America."
Harris earned her bachelor’s degree in business
administration from FAMU in 1989. Currently, the Chicago native serves as the
senior vice president of sourcing and procurement solutions for Allstate
Insurance Company, the largest publicly held personal lines property and
casualty insurer in America.
Harris is responsible for optimizing Allstate’s spending
portfolio of $7.5 billion and oversees Allstate’s supplier diversity program.
She also serves as a senior executive sponsor for FAMU on behalf of Allstate.
Over the last 20 years, in various capacities, she has helped to mentor and
place hundreds of FAMU students with promising career opportunities.
Prior to her position with Allstate, Harris worked for Accenture, LLP, a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company. Harris launched Accenture’s first supplier diversity development program, achieving 21 percent of the company’s addressable spending with minority- and women-owned businesses.
Harris is a member of the FAMU Foundation Board of Directors
and is the chair of the Key Executive Advisory Council of the FAMU Business
& Industry Cluster. She is a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority,
Inc., and a board member of Teen Living Programs, a Chicago youth homeless
shelter that provides comprehensive services.
Harris’ many accomplishments include her previous
recognition by Savoy as one of the 2012 “Top Women in Corporate America” and
being featured as a 2013 “Business Leader of Color” by Chicago United. She was
named the “Supplier Diversity Professional of the Year” during Minority
Enterprise Development Week in 2011 and was featured in Women’s Enterprise USA
Magazine for her efforts toward supplier diversity in 2009.
Harris is married to Brian Booker, a FAMU alumnus, and resides
in Chicago with their three children: Houston, Sidra and Bradyn.