Published: July 24, 2020
Revive Omaha welcomes Vanessa Elkins-Rogers to Omaha!
Elkins-Rogers was named the new Vice-President for Enterprise Procurement at Mutual of Omaha in 2019.
Vanessa Elkins-Rogers is an exceptional senior-level manager of global procurement. She has more than twenty-five years of successful procurement experience, and has held leadership roles in vendor, materials, and marketing management, strategic sourcing strategy, project management, supply chain, accounting and supplier diversity.
She is committed to leading the operation to profitable growth while expanding global operations and sales. She has been instrumental in transforming companies into global consulting and diversified services organizations while achieving success via leveraging their supplier network as a tool and mechanism to positively impact their bottom-line.
In May 2003, Vanessa was profiled in the “Industry Focus” of The Network Journal Magazine gaining national recognition and sparking a speaking and training career – being noted as an industry expert. As an industry leader, she is known for her vast knowledge of global procurement and her exceptional teaching ability. She regularly engages audiences at conferences and workshops nationwide on various aspects of management and procurement, including SCOPE and ProcureCon.
Throughout her career, Vanessa has held positions of leadership with such noted companies as The Coca Cola Corporation, Home Depot, Johnson Controls, Inc., and Bell South to name a few, where she has applied her expertise and knowledge of procurement. She started her procurement career with Bellsouth.net in Atlanta as Senior Manager of Procurement and Materials Management. During her tenure there she successfully recovered seven million dollars in missing inventory which resulted in an annual cost savings of five hundred ninety thousand dollars.
In other accounting, management and procurement roles, Vanessa has developed outstanding analytical, problem solving, leadership and strategic thinking skills. She offers a management style that is second to none. She has an entrepreneurial spirit as she enjoys the opportunity to develop and create solutions.
Vanessa encourages innovative thinking and exhibits receptiveness to unique approaches in problem solving and issue resolution. As a person of great integrity, she understands that communication is the key to running a successful department, and believes in honest and open communication.
In 2007, Vanessa also began her second career in education. She is a part-time professor at DeVry University in the College of Business Administration where she provides instruction primarily to graduate students with a focus on the Project Management & Supply Chain curriculum.
Vanessa is an alumnus of the well-respected Kennesaw State University where she successfully obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Finance and a Master of Business Administration Degree with special emphasis in Executive Leadership. She has plans to complete her doctoral degree at Kennesaw’s prestigious Michael J. Coles school of Business.
While living and working in the Greater Atlanta area, Vanessa became a prominent member of the community – working with organizations such as The American Cancer Society, being appointed to the Board of Directors for the East Point Unit, The American Red Cross, The American Heart Association, Big Brother/Big Sister, and The March of Dimes. Vanessa is a phenomenal fundraiser often winning awards for her efforts and she is consistently recognized annually as a pace setter.
She served as a member of the Clark Atlanta University’s Leadership Development Board, the Governance Board of Scholars Academy and Boys-2-Men of honor. Vanessa has also attended Ben Hill UMC for over 20 years having served as a Sunday school teacher. Vanessa is a firm believer that the key to a successful team is your most valuable asset – “People”.