Michael Garner
Michael J. Garner, MBA, was appointed New York City’s first Citywide Chief Business Diversity Officer by Mayor Eric Adams on February 16, 2023. Mr. Garner formerly served as Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). His tenure at the MTA spanned 14 years from February 2009- through February 2023. He is a diversity champion, making it his personal and professional mission to create a more diverse business environment wherever he’s been. By creating new programs, Mr. Garner and his teams have been responsible for more than $20 billion in payments to New York State/City Minority and Women-owned Businesses. In addition, since Mr. Garner’s arrival, the MTA has improved its hiring of Blacks, Hispanics, and Asians by 20% across the MTA’s six different operating agencies. Since his arrival at the MTA in 2009, Mr. Garner has designed the country’s leading MWDBE Business Development Program based on dollars paid. As the architect of the MTA’s Small Business Mentoring Program, Mr. Garner has transformed the largest transportation system in North America with a results-driven construction mentoring program. The program continues to break down barriers for minority, women, disadvantaged and service-disabled veteran-owned businesses in New York State, who otherwise would not have contract opportunities in the transportation industry.
