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Congratulations to the WTS Metropolitan Phoenix 2023 Rosa Parks Diversity Leadership Award recipient, the Arizona Department of Transportation's Business Engagement and Compliance Office (BECO). BECO was established in October 2012 and is currently a unit in the Employee and Business Development (EBD) division at ADOT. BECO is responsible for ensuring that ADOT, its subrecipients, contractors and consultants achieve full compliance with all applicable federal regulations related to disadvantaged and small business inclusion, equal and fair employment opportunity in federal contracting and on-the-job training for women and minorities in the construction trades.

Over the past 10 years, BECO has promoted diversity and inclusion in how ADOT is administering federally-funded contracts by implementing innovative approaches and investing in technology tools to ensure minority and women owned businesses, under the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE), have opportunities to equally compete in ADOT and its subrecipients federally-funded contracts.

We spoke with team members to see why promoting diversity is so important to them.

Why is it important to you to support and create development opportunities for women and people of color at your organization?

Our ADOT culture - AIR (Accountability, Integrity, Respect) core values define who we are and we value all people and appreciate their unique individual qualities. We do what’s right, and hold ourselves to a high standard in providing equal opportunities for everyone within the organization to grow, advance and develop. Our culture has created a foundation for BECO to foster an environment to be able to advance the DBE and OJT programs to a level where they are continuously exceeding expectations.

What lessons have you learned in creating these new opportunities that other organizations can apply to their own efforts?

It takes courage, intention, and determination to do the right thing where you have to conquer the status quo and push for advancement of initiatives and programs that provide opportunities of inclusion and equity in the transportation industry for women and minorities. We’ve worked effectively to strengthen and continuously improve existing programs and resources for those underrepresented communities.

What can we do as individuals to promote positive and healthy working environments for all employees?

Promote employee engagement and model transparency and accountability with every word and action. Foster respect and a human-centric approach to what you do every day where it is a part of your business, services and in life in general. 

How can the transportation industry in Arizona support ADOT BECO’s efforts?

Continued collaboration and great partnerships will help to foster stronger relationships in supporting and advancing the DBE and OJT programs in the state of Arizona. This will help to not only reduce, but eliminate barriers for women and minorities to equally participate in building a safe and reliable transportation system in Arizona.