Advocate Of The Year

Cheryl Clarke
Northeast Utilities

Cheryl Lynn Clarke is Small Business Liaison Officer and Manager of Supplier Relations and Supplier Diversity for the Northeast Utilities system (NU), New England’s largest energy delivery system with 6,100 employees and more than 2 million electricity and natural gas customers. She is responsible for the development, implementation and coordination of policies, programs and procedures for NU’s Corporate Supplier Relations and Supplier Diversity Programs. She is also a Governor Jodi M. Rell conferee to serve a fourth term on the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities.

In her tenure at NU, Commissioner Clarke has been responsible for all aspects of supplier development, including training and outreach. She currently manages NU’s supplier relationships with a keen focus on maintaining the highest ethical and operating standards for service delivery, product controls and cost efficiency. She is responsible for the development and implementation of NU’s corporate small business-subcontracting plan, evaluates, coordinates and monitors the development of programs and processes to improve NU’s market position, and oversees NU’s compliance with supplier relations and supplier diversity policies and procedures.

Clarke has been widely recognized for her advocacy of diverse populations. She maintains a seat on the board of the Greater New England Minority Supplier Development Council (GNEMSDC), the Conference Board’s Supplier Diversity Leadership Council and the Regional Advisory Committee for Greater Springfield (MA). She was recently nominated for the Advocate of the Year Award by the GNEMSDC, an honor she has received on several occasions in recognition of her advocacy results.

Commissioner Clarke graduated from Albertus Magnus College, in New Haven, Connecticut, and resides in Connecticut with her husband and daughter.