[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 194 (Friday, December 16, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2287]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                      TRIBUTE TO JOHNNIE B. BOOKER

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JAMES E. CLYBURN

                           of south carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, December 16, 2011

  Mr. CLYBURN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Ms. Johnnie 
B. Booker on the occasion of her retirement from the Coca-Cola Company. 
Ms. Booker's career has been marked by an extraordinary record of 
success as a corporate executive, national expert on workforce and 
supplier diversity, and senior federal government official.
  Ms. Booker has served as Global Director of Supplier Diversity for 
the Coca-Cola Company since 2001. In this capacity, she has been 
responsible for developing and implementing the company's supplier 
diversity program and initiatives to assure equal contracting 
opportunities for minority- and women-owned businesses. During her 
first year with Coca-Cola, contracts with minority- and women-owned 
businesses increased over the previous year by 50 percent, exceeding 
the company's goal by 27 percent. Under Ms. Booker's leadership, the 
company has consistently exceeded its goals for subsequent years, and 
its supplier diversity profile has grown substantially in actual 
dollars expended and global recognition.
  Mr. Speaker, I might add that this is Ms. Booker's second retirement. 
Before joining Coca-Cola, she had a successful career in the federal 
government, culminating in her role as Director of the Office of Equal 
Opportunity at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), from 
which she retired in 1996. In 1991, Ms. Booker joined the Resolution 
Trust Corporation (RTC) as Vice President, Division of Minority and 
Women's Programs. While at the RTC, she created unprecedented 
contracting and investment opportunities for minority- and women-owned 
businesses and law firms. She commissioned the first disparity study by 
a federal agency and increased contracting fees for minority- and 
women-owned businesses from 18 percent to over 48 percent and from 3 to 
26 percent for minority- and women-owned law firms. Her work at the RTC 
served as a model for other federal agencies as well as private 
companies seeking to establish viable minority procurement programs.
  Prior to her tenure at the RTC, Ms. Booker served as Deputy Assistant 
Secretary of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity at the U.S. Department 
of Housing and Urban Development. In this role, she established a new 
office of affirmative action and equal opportunity and successfully 
revamped the Department's fragmented approach to discrimination 
complaint processing and affirmative employment programs. Ms. Booker 
also served in executive capacities with the Federal Home Loan Bank 
Board and the National Urban League.
  Active in her community, Ms. Booker serves on the boards of the 
National Minority Supplier Development Council, Women's Business 
Enterprise National Council, US Pan Asian Chamber of Commerce, Bronx 
Community College Foundation, the Ashley Stewart Foundation, National 
Advisory Board of the Whitney M. Young, Jr., School of Social Work--
Clark Atlanta University and the Supplier Diversity Council of The 
Conference Board. Her civic affiliations include Delta Sigma Theta 
Sorority, Dogwood City Chapter of The Links, Inc., Circle-Lets, The 
National Black Child Development Institute, NAACP, Urban League and Big 
Bethel AME Church. Ms. Booker has appeared in a myriad of national 
publications and has received numerous honors and awards for her 
outstanding professional contributions and accomplishments.
  Ms. Booker received a Bachelor of Science Degree from Hampton 
University and a Master of Social Work Degree from the Atlanta 
University School of Social Work. She is the proud mother of a son, S. 
Courtney Booker, III, mother-in-law of Nissa and grandmother of two 
wonderful grandchildren, Dalyn and Aiden, who bring her special joy. I 
know that she is looking forward to being able to spend more time with 
them in retirement.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask that the entire House join me in congratulating 
Ms. Johnnie B. Booker on this well deserved retirement. I wish her good 
health and Godspeed.

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