As CEO and President of the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC), Ying McGuire leads efforts to advance business opportunities for more than 15,000 certified minority business enterprises (MBEs) connecting them to over 1,500 corporate members generating over $400 billion in annual revenue – more than 28% of all minority business revenue in the U.S.
NMSDC’s first Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) CEO and president brings over two successful decades of leadership experience across both the for-profit and nonprofit sectors and has an aspirational goal of achieving $1 trillion in NMSDC-certified MBE annual revenue generation.
NMSDC CEO and president, Ying McGuire has an awe-inspiring story of her own. Arriving to the United States from China with one suitcase and $1,000 to pursue her American dream, Ying did not have an easy path. McGuire immigrated from China during a tumultuous period in that country’s history.
“In the wake of the Tiananmen Square incident in 1989, I packed my life into one suitcase with $1,000 and came to the United States to pursue my American dream,” she recalled. “Being a new immigrant with little English, no money and no support system, I overcame mountains of obstacles, learned to get things done with limited resources and built up my resilience.”
She built a successful career as a corporate leader at Dell Technologies, driving the strategy and execution that nearly quintupled Dell’s diversity spend from $640 million to $3 billion within three years. After the murder of George Floyd in 2020, Ying felt compelled to be part of the growing social economic justice movement. She transitioned out of her tech role and became the first Asian American Pacific Islander CEO and president of NMSDC, with goals of accelerating MBEs and helping close the racial and economic wealth gap in communities of color.
Ying believes that the fastest path to achieving NMSDC’s $1 trillion plan requires a catalyst event to garner amplification and support the goal from prominent corporate C-level leaders, policymakers, high growth MBEs, thought leaders, and media. Therefore, NMSDC is hosting the second annual Minority Business Economic Forum on May 8-10, in Miami. This by invitation only event is focused on tapping into the top leaders of corporate America, the Administration, local governments, thought leaders, and academic leaders to come together and recalibrate the MBE narrative as an integral part of the American economy.
ABOUT YING MCGUIRE
- Hometown: Jiangyin, a city near Shanghai, China
- Hobbies: Yoga, travel, cooking, interior design
- Favorite leadership quote: “Do not just lead by words; lead by example.” — Her father
To learn more about NMSDC, visit nmsdc.org.