UW Supplier Diversity

When Lydia first came to Seattle from China, the first thing she noticed was that wasn’t a teashop. As Seattle developed, Chinatown grew and she saw that a teashop would benefit the people here. For her, tea is healing and nurturing, a Chinese tradition perfected over 4,000 years. At her shop, she prides herself with using premium tea leaves from Ten Ren and offers tea tastings and lessons for those who who want to learn more about tea. Over the years, she as seen her business grow as well as the increase of tea enthusiasts, and when asked what it means to be a diverse supplier, she said it means to evaluate the market, asses the stability and benefit, and start a business that people need. She hopes that the new generation will see the benefits of tea and grow to love it as she will, and for those of you who want to try Seattle’s Best Tea, Lydia recommends the heavy oolong milk tea!
Thank you for telling us your story, Lydia!

Hi everyone!

UW HFS has been celebrating Black History Month by serving African originated cuisines throughout the month at Local Point & Center Table.

Each week HFS has been serving different cuisines including dishes from different regions of Africa with the goal of creating connections and memories with the power of food!

https://hfs.uw.edu/About/Black-History-Month

Journey Through Food: Celebrating Black History Month - UW HFS

Introducing, Geeta Iyer!

Class : Freshman

Major / Intended Major : Economics

Interests / Hobbies : volunteering, theatre, going to concerts, trying new foods

What made you want to join SDP? : SDP seemed like a great way to promote a good cause and also make friends. It also coincided with my major interest of Econ!

Introducing, Keaton Layman!

Class : Sophomore

Major / Intended Major : Business

Hobbies / Interests : I like to ski, fish, and be outside

What made you want to join SDP? : I wanted to get involved with the community through a University of Washington organization.

Introducing Derek Hong!

Class : Senior

Major : Marketing

Hobbies / Interests : Sneakers, Streetwear, Basketball, Lifting, Seattle sports.

What made you want to join SDP? : I found out about SDP from talking with one of my roommates and ended up becoming interested afterwards. People who own small businesses are a big part and really diversify our communities so finding a way to support them helps our overall community thrive!

Introducing Ashlyn Reid!

Class: Senior

Major : Business Administration, focus in Information Systems and Operations

Hobbies / interests : hiking, snowboarding, running, traveling, and slowly learning how to play the guitar

What made you want to join SDP?: Growing up my dad and his brother owned pizza restaurants in the Seattle area. Through their ups and downs, I learned about the struggle small business owners face to survive in competitive industries. I joined SDP to help educate and spread awareness about the importance of buying from small, minority-owned businesses in our local community.

Another member apart of our team, Wenqi Huang!

Year : Senior

Major : Economics

Interests / hobbies outside of school : Finding new food places to try with friends.

What made you want to join SDP? : I wanted to join SDP because it is a community of people making actual progress towards a common goal, and that is some thing I want to be a part of.

Continuing with an update on our roster, we would like to introduce, Renee Ren!

Class standing: Junior

Major / intended major: Finance and International Business

Interests / hobbies outside of school: traveling, swimming, karaoke, podcasts

What made you want to join SDP? I heard about the Supplier Diversity Program from a Facebook post my first quarter at UW. After joining the program, I have learned a lot about what Supplier Diversity really entails and why it is such an importance cause to fight for. I would like to spread the word and educate more people about the movement. In addition, I really love working with the people in the program. Everyone is driven, talented and truly passionate about the cause. Small and diverse businesses are often at a disadvantage because they lack the access to resources, exposure and technical expertise that big corporations have. It is so rewarding to see how our work can made an impact on them.

Hi everyone! Welcome to Winter Quarter! It's recruiting season and we're here showcasing our current team members at SDP.

To start off, here is Aria Cha!

Year : Senior

Major : Interaction Design

Hobbies : reading, eating, doing board-related activities, learning new facts

Why did you join SDP? : "I joined SDP because I wanted to be a part of a community that is motivated to raise awareness about the importance of diversity in businesses. And the people are great too :)"

For our latest feature of Small Business Seattle, Indri Saskiaputri wrote about Cedars of Lebanon, a middle eastern restaurant that promotes its culture, located in the heart of campus!

Read more below:

Small Business Seattle #4: Cedars of Lebanon Small Business Seattle is back! Check out this week's coverage of Cedars of Lebanon.