1. Shari Francis - Caribbean Business Journal Page 1 of 1
Shari Francis
Manager, Vendor Development, Office Depot
Shari Francis helps make diversity a cornerstone of Office Depot. As the manager of vendor development, two of
Francis' main responsibilities are to market the supply chain diversity program and recruit historically underused
businesses (HUBs). She's identified innovative women- and minority- owned suppliers to buy from and resell through
Office Depot's business, retail and online markets. Francis has also helped create advertising plans for the HUBs.
Finally, she's brought aboard many HUB products to be sold under the Office Depot's brand.
On top of her regular responsibilities, Francis provides professional development to her colleagues at Office Depot.
She's mentored interns and has spoken about topics such as diversity at the company.
In addition to her commitment to Office Depot, Francis works hard to support women on a national level. She sits
on the board of directors for the Women's Business Enterprise National Council. Francis also works on the executive
committee of the local WBENC partners. Finally, Francis is treasurer for the Women's Business Development Center in
Florida.
Francis earned her bachelor's degree in accounting/finance with a minor in Spanish at Florida State University. She
received a master's degree in accounting public/private at Florida Atlantic University.
Favorite Quote
"The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of
knowledge, but rather a lack in will." - Vince Lombardi
http://www.cbji.com/article.aspx?id=Shari-Francis-105 9/5/2011
2. Shari Francis - Caribbean Business Journal Page 1 of 1
Shari Francis
Manager, Vendor Development
Office Depot
Shari Francis serves as Manager of Vendor Development for Office Depot, a position in which she is focused on adding
new diverse vendors and certified historically underutilized businesses (HUB) to the Company's retail and catalog
assortments. Shari considers her most important responsibility to be to give vendors the opportunity to substantially
grow their businesses by adding Office Depot to their customer base. She has been instrumental in devising a formula
for Office Depot that addresses vendor diversity, supplier diversity and tier one reseller relationships. Shari laments
that she cannot accommodate every business because of time constraints but is consistently working to create a more
efficient process.
Shari was responsible for implementing Office Depot's signature Matchmaker program at the Company's annual
Success Strategies for Businesswomen Conference, which added significant value to the event. Through the
matchmaker program, female professionals and businesswomen from across the country were invited to network with
each other and have the opportunity to present their innovative ideas. The program has already assisted Office Depot
in identifying and adding new HUB-made products to its products assortment, including women-owned KleenSlate
Concepts and minority-owned Hess Advanced Technologies.
Shari joined Office Depot in 2001 as Coordinator of Vendor Diversity. She is a board member of the Women's Business
Enterprise National Council (WBENC), the treasurer of the Women's Business Development Center (WBDC) - Florida as
well as a member of the Institute for Supply Management's minorities and women business development group.
Favorite Quote
If you have a talent, use it in every which way possible. Don't hoard it. Don't dole it out like a miser. Spend it
lavishly like a millionaire intent on going broke. - Brendan Francis
http://www.cbji.com/article.aspx?id=Shari-Francis-152 9/5/2011
