Greetings.

Suzanne Stantley has more than forty-five years’ experience in marketing and communications. After receiving an MBA, Suzanne began her career at Leo Burnett advertising agency, at that time the largest advertising agency in the world, where she became the first African American woman to enter their prestigious management training program. There she worked on multiple brands manufactured by fortune 500 companies Procter & Gamble and Nestle. She would later work at Burrell and Proctor & Gardner Advertising Agencies.

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With a zeal to operate her own firm, she launched Image Advertising in the mid-80's and would go on to operate several successful businesses,

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In 1990, she co-founded and served as CEO of National Black Expo which operated Black Expo events in Chicago and other cities. During that time, she also founded Black Expo Community Development Association, Inc., a 501c3 non-profit corporation established to strengthen the operations capacity of small and mid-sized businesses by imparting business strategies utilized by larger firms.

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As she continued to keep her finger on the pulse of business and ways to expand her brand, Suzanne became aware of the billions of dollars being spent on construction projects throughout the country. Through extensive study of the building space, she realized that less than 2% of the spend in this category was with African American construction firms. With this knowledge, she launched Contractor Advisors Business Development in 2011 to expand the knowledge and capacity for small construction firms, along with becoming a surety bonding agent to address their surety bonding challenges. Programs executed through this company focus on construction industry engagement and are conducted through the Construction Development Institute division.

 

In 2013, she launched the Construction Industry Conference to provide smaller construction firms a way to network and gain access to large construction firms and government agencies who were spending billions on construction projects.

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During that time, she launched BE Group, Inc., to educate, train, strategize, mentor and advise these firms on how to build their capacity to bid on and win contracts from private sectors firms, large construction companies and government agencies.

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The main divisions under the BE Group, Inc. are: Contractor Advisors, Building Entrepreneur Magazine, and Building Entrepreneur Online Marketing Portal.

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In 2022, Suzanne saw how she could contribute her expertise to victims and survivors of gun violence in Chicago and launched a new program to offer crisis management to at-risk disadvantaged individuals. Building Better Futures provides crisis intervention, victim services, remedial education, job readiness and construction training. The program brings together business and industry community partners to create an employment pathway for program participants. In 2024, Suzanne will launch Building Better Futures Youth (BBFY), an afterschool program targeted to youth 14-17 years of age by providing a multi-disciplinary approach to them gaining mastery of  English and math while introducing them to high accomplished African Americans who will provide them a view of what their world could look like by completing their high school educations, going to college and/or entering the work world.

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During her vast career, she has created more than 40 programs and events.

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In 2023, Suzanne was the subject of the feature “Someone You Should Know” televised on NBC5 Chicago.  In 2024, she was inducted into her undergraduate school, Central State University's, "Alumni Hall of Achievement".  Suzanne journeyed to Washington DC in May of 2024 at the invitation of the White House to participate in a "Business Leaders Summit".

 

Suzanne is a member of the national Small Business For America’s Future Advisory Council and the City of Chicago’s Government Procurement Forum, has served on several boards, received numerous awards, taught practical business classes and advised a multitude of businesses throughout her career.

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