About Kimberly R. Coffman

Strategic Partnerships & External Affairs Executive

Author • Speaker • Advisor

Kimberly R. Coffman is a Strategic Partnerships & External Affairs Executive with more than 20 years of experience building high-impact programs, cultivating C-suite relationships, and delivering measurable outcomes across some of the most complex organizations in corporate America.

Her career spans aviation, financial services, and manufacturing — including nearly a decade at Delta Air Lines managing global stakeholder partnerships and enterprise programs, and two years at Voya Financial where she built the company's inaugural supplier inclusion program from the ground up, growing spend by 185% in her first year. Before that, she spent 15 years at Herman Miller leading marketing, supply chain, and operations initiatives that strengthened the company's supplier ecosystem and brand positioning.

Kimberly is also the founder and CEO, Principal Consultant and Strategist of Kimberly Rae Consulting, a strategic advisory firm helping corporations and entrepreneurs navigate inclusive business practices, responsible sourcing, and AI integration. She is the bestselling author of Supplier Diversity from the Inside Out and a sought-after keynote speaker at executive forums and global conferences.

How Kimberly Works

Kimberly is known for curiosity and innovation in corporate environments — she connects the vision at the top to the execution on the ground. Whether she is managing a C-suite advisory council, launching an enterprise training program, or advising a small business on how to break into a corporate supply chain, she brings the same discipline: understand the system, identify the leverage points, and build something that lasts.

Her approach is grounded in four principles that have guided every program she has ever built or led:

  • Partnership over politics — sustainable outcomes come from genuine alignment, not mandates from above

  • Data-informed, human-centered — metrics matter, but so does the lived experience of the people the work is meant to serve

  • Cross-functional by design — the best programs don't live in one department; they're woven into how the whole organization operates

  • Built to outlast the builder — if the program can't survive a leadership change, it was never truly embedded

What Kimberly Believes

  • Strategy without execution is just intention. The real work happens in the governance frameworks, the training programs, the stakeholder meetings, and the performance dashboards — not the PowerPoint deck.

  • Inclusion is a business imperative, not a values exercise. Organizations that build diverse, resilient supply chains and partnerships outperform those that don't. The data is clear. The case has been made. What's needed now is execution.

  • The best leaders are also teachers. Every program Kimberly has built has included a training and capability-building component — because lasting change requires that the people around you understand the why, not just the what.

  • Curiosity is a professional skill. Whether it's AI integration, global market trends, or a small business owner trying to figure out how to get in front of a Fortune 500 buyer — Kimberly believes the most valuable thing a leader can do is stay genuinely curious.

Kimberly is the bestselling author of Supplier Diversity from the Inside Out and a sought-after keynote speaker at global conferences and executive forums. She has served in leadership and advisory roles with organizations including NMSDC, WBENC, Disability:IN, NGLCC, WEC, ISM - Greater Grand Rapids, and continues to shape conversations on the future of inclusive and responsible business.

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Notable Achievements

    • Graduate, Aquinas College, Master of Management, Grand Rapids, MI

    • Graduate, Michigan State University, Bachelor of Arts, Telecommunication, East Lansing, MI

    • Graduate, Supplier Diversity Excellence Program, Tuck Executive Education at Dartmouth, Hanover, NH

    • Top 25 Women in Power — DiversityPlus Magazine (2022 & 2024)

    • 100 Women Impacting Business Leadership — Women's Enterprise Magazine

    • Outstanding Advocate for Minority-Owned Business — Holland Chamber of Commerce

    • Champion of Diversity — DiversityPlus Magazine

    • Bestselling author of Supplier Diversity from the Inside Out

    • Creator of an award-winning enterprise e-learning program recognized across Delta Air Lines business units

    • Council of Supplier Diversity Professionals

    • Disability:IN

      • Serve on Procurement Council

    • Institute for Supply Management - Greater Grand Rapids

      • Served as Diversity Chair

    • Georgia Minority Supplier Development Council

    • Greater Women's Business Council

    • Great Lakes Women's Business Council

      • Served on Board of Directors

    • Michigan Minority Supplier Development Council

      • Served on Board of Directors

    • National LGBT Chamber of Commerce

      • Serve on Corporate Advisory and Procurement Councils

    • National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC)

      • Served as Chair, Air, Rail, & Transportation Industry Group

    • National Veteran Business Development Council

    • US Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce

    • US Hispanic Chamber of Commerce

    • Women's Business Enterprise National Council

      • Served on Global Committee

    • WEConnect International

      • Served on Global Best Practices Committee

    • Traveled to 28 countries and counting

    • Worked in advertising, broadcasting, marketing, and public relations

    • Worked with Al Roker's predecessor, Willard Scott, at a Kentucky Derby Parade in Louisville, KY

    • Former, Michigan State University Dance Team member, MSU Motion

    • Always wanted to be a singer, but can't - a favorite song to sing 'Out Here On My Own' from the original movie Fame

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