Joan Robinson-Berry, vice president and general manager of Boeing South Carolina, will be honored at the 2018 Celebration of Inspiring Women on Monday, Feb. 5, at 6 p.m. at the Sheraton Myrtle Beach Conference Center. The event is part of the eighth annual Women's Leadership Conference and Celebration of Inspiring Women presented by Women in Philanthropy and Leadership (WIPL) for Coastal Carolina University. Robinson-Berry will also be a keynote speaker at the conference on Feb. 6.

The annual celebration and awards were created as an important and lasting way to recognize women who have had a substantive and positive impact in South Carolina and beyond. Since the program's inception in 2011, 37 women have been recognized.

Robinson-Berry has overall leadership responsibility for Boeing's South Carolina facilities in North Charleston. Boeing South Carolina's airport campus is home to 787 Aftbody and Midbody operations, 787 Final Assembly and Delivery operations, as well as an engineering design center and IT centers. BSC's north campus includes the Interiors Responsibility Center South Carolina, Propulsion South Carolina, and a Boeing research and technology center.

Robinson-Berry previously served as vice president of the Shared Services Group Supplier Management organization, where she led the strategy, contracting, daily management and development of the supply chain, providing more than $8 billion of nonproduction goods and services for The Boeing Company.

Earlier in her career, she was director of Phantom Works Supplier Management for the Boeing Defense, Space & Security (BDS) division and was responsible for implementing supplier management strategy and execution in support of the development of advanced concepts and technologies.

Before that, Robinson-Berry was director of Small/Diverse Business & Strategic Alliances for BDS and ensured that BDS fulfilled its contractual obligations. She also represented Boeing as its small- business liaison officer and was responsible for integrating more than $5 billion in goods and services purchased annually from small and diverse suppliers. In this role, she helped establish the local supplier network for BSC.

Robinson-Berry has also served as director of Technical Workforce Excellence, overseeing technical affiliations, fellowship programs and university technical relationships and as director of engineering processes, tools and skills for the space and communications business. Prior to that position, she served as program manager of the MD-80/-90 Twinjet Programs for Boeing Commercial Airplanes.

She has received extensive recognition for her work in science, technology, engineering and mathematics from global organizations, including the National Society of Black Engineers and various members of Congress.

Robinson-Berry has helped empower women and minorities with presentations at the Women of Power Conference and the South Carolina Women's Caucus Luncheon. She has been instrumental in launching two community action teams - one on Hispanic leaders and the other on African-American leaders - that focus on business relations, social issues and civic responsibility.

In 2017, Robinson-Berry was named one of Women's Enterprise magazine's Top 100 leaders in corporate supplier diversity. Charleston Business magazine featured her as one of the 50 most-influential people in Charleston, and she received a Woman of Distinction & Accomplishment award from the Washington State African American Achievement Awards team. She has also been named one of the Most Powerful Women in Business by Black Enterprise. In 2016, she was named one of Women's Enterprise USA's Top 100 Leaders in Supplier Diversity, and she received the Women of Color Professional Achievement Award in 2015. The Career Communications Group presented her with its 2007 Black Engineer of the Year Achievement Award, and she was inducted into its Alumni Hall of Fame in 2012.

Robinson-Berry earned a master's degree in engineering management and business administration and a bachelor's degree in engineering technology. She is an American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Associate Fellow and an African Scientific Institute Fellow.

The Women's Leadership Conference and Celebration of Inspiring Women brings together women from all walks of life for two days of education, professional and personal development, and networking. Entrepreneurs, professionals, community volunteers and activists, students, moms, and women in transition all enjoy this dynamic program with incredible opportunities to learn and grow. WIPL was founded in 2007 under the leadership of CCU first lady Terri DeCenzo. It is committed to inspiring, connecting and empowering women to strengthen their individual and collective voices in leadership at CCU and in the community, state, region and beyond. Members include faculty, staff and community leaders who are committed to creating and supporting opportunities for women in all areas of leadership and across all disciplines, while continuing to invest in scholarships for CCU students. Since its inception, WIPL has awarded 184 students more than $200,000 in financial support through a fully endowed scholarship and annual awards.