Javonte Anyabwele, 35, is making his mark in business as the new vice president of global strategic sourcing for Carnival Corporation. He controls how $2 billion gets spent a year on different products and services from hotel linens to casino revenue.
Anyabewle’s introduction to working in business was seeing Eddie Murphy’s character, Marcus Graham, in the movie “Boomerang.” During his high school years in Minneapolis, Anyabwele got his first opportunity to work in business through an internship with General Mills. From there, Anyabwele attended Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU) where he received a Bacherlor’s degree and a Master’s degree of Business Administration.
“FAMU, it doesn’t get better than that,” said Anyabwele. “I entered the school the year after it won college of the year by Time Magazine and Princeton Review. They were producing the most Black Bachelor’s in Business and Master’s in Business. From a scholastic standpoint, that training was really immeasurable.”
Anyabwele’s first job out of college was being a pharmaceutical sales representative which led him to an opportunity to work in sourcing for Office Depot. After building a strong skillset, he went on to work for Bausch and Lomb where he had the opportunity to work in global external manufacturing. Anyabwele then worked in Asia with Valeant Pharmaceuticals and was a director with World 50. Inc.
In January, he got his dream job as the vice president of global strategic sourcing with Carnival Corporation where he controls $2 billion out of a total $9 billion budget. One of the aspects that Anyabwele appreciates about Carnival Corporation is the diversity and being able to report to people who look like him. The CEO of Carnival Corporation, Arnold Donald, is a Black man and the chief procurement officer, Julia Brown, is a Black woman who is Anaybwele’s direct boss.
“It’s an opportunity of a lifetime when you look up and don’t see any glass ceilings,” said Anyabwele. “My boss is an African American woman and when you look above her and around her, the diversity that’s within the organization makes you feel really good about where you can go in the future.”
Along with the diversity in the company, the experiences also come with the opportunity to travel the world and learn about different cultures. In his three months of working with Carnival Corporation, Anyabwele has been able to travel to South Hampton, London, Denmark and Italy. More than 27 languages are spoken on the Carnival cruises and it has given Anyabwele the knowledge of how to communicate effectively with people from all over the world. Throughout his career he’s also seen the importance of the Black community getting involved in business.
“It’s imperative that as African Americans, we get involved in business in some form or fashion other than as consumers,” said Anyabwele. “Those industrial and service jobs that were good for our parents and grandparents are never coming back. If we are creating businesses and ideas and thinking about serving customers our lifeline gets shorter and shorter.”
Anyabwele is involved with the youth as a board member of Heard Em Say, a teen poetry organization that sends students to the international poetry slam Brave New Voices. He is also a board member of Global Elevation, which exposes Black students to life in Africa by sending them to Tanzania and Kenya. Anyabwele is also a proud husband and father of two. For more information about Carnival Corporation, visit www.carnival.com and to contact Anyabwele email him at [email protected].