Facilities and Operations AVP Tanya Pope Recognized as Practitioner of the Year by US Association for Small Businesses and Entrepreneurship

The United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE) presented its Minority and Women Entrepreneurship Practitioner of the Year SIG Award to Tanya Pope, Assistant Vice President for University Supplier Diversity at Columbia, during its annual 2022 conference. This award provides USASBE's highest recognition to a practitioner that has demonstrated extraordinary work with minority and/or women's entrepreneurship programs or people in the past academic year.  

"To receive the Practitioner of the Year Award is very special to me as it provides a national spotlight on the great work that Columbia University is doing in the supplier diversity and capacity building space,” says Tanya Pope. “This critically important work is a testament of the resources invested by Columbia University Facilities and Operations and School of Professional Studies to help minority- and women-owned businesses grow and could not be done without the incredible work of the Construction Business Initiatives team.” 

Tanya Pope has been a member of USASBE and its Minority and Women Entrepreneurship Special Interest Group (MWE SIG) since 2014. She was named the Chair of the MWE SIG in 2020 and has served on the Finance Committee since 2021. 

The mission of the USASBE Minority and Women Entrepreneurship SIG is to engage and assist entrepreneurship scholars, educators, and practitioners interested in advancing entrepreneurial opportunities and successful venture creation and growth for underrepresented groups.  Every year, the MWE SIG recognizes the significant accomplishments of members in their respective areas during the USASBE annual conference.