ORAU's Wanda Gamble, ORAU chief business development officer, appears on Equity and Inclusion: The NIH podcast about contracting with HBCUs and MSIs.
Wanda Gamble, ORAU chief business development officer, appeared on the most recent episode of “Equity and Inclusion,” the National Institutes of Health (NIH) podcast about contracting with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs).
Gamble’s interview is part of ORAU’s ongoing work as a member of the NIH Path to Excellence Initiative (PEI) cohort 2.0. The PEI initiative helps address the challenges faced by HBCUs and MSIs pursuing federal contracting opportunities. The cohort includes 21 HBCUs and 46 small business contractors. ORAU has been part of the cohort since 2021.
Gamble discusses ORAU’s commitment to teaming with HBCUs and MSIs that want do expand their research portfolios and work with federal agencies like the NIH. She says teaming brings diverse voices to the table, which benefits everyone involved in contracting opportunities.
“Nothing is more important than having different voices to offer up different ways to approach a problem, bring up different information and solutions so we get different, better and broader outcomes,” she said.
“Equity and Inclusion” is hosted by Annette Owens-Scarboro, NIH small business and HBCU program manager, and Marcia Richard, PEI small business liaison. Other guests in the episode are Bret Jones, CEO of Supreme Solutions, Inc., and Omonike Olaleye, Ph.D., senior associate vice president for research and innovation at Texas Southern University.