The Georgia Minority Supplier Development Council will honor Varinee Sangmalee with the 2018 Spirit of Alliance Blue Legend Award on Friday, September 28^th at the Marriott Marquis in Atlanta. The Spirit of Alliance Awards event recognizes excellence in supplier diversity across the state of Georgia, honoring the accomplishments of the State of Georgia’s top corporations, small business owners and supplier diversity champions. The GMSDC is the state of Georgia’s leading small business development and supplier diversity organization, with a more than 40-year track record of creating jobs and facilitating business opportunities in Georgia. Ms. Sangmalee, a lifelong advocate for cultural engagement and business development in the Asian American community, will join an exclusive circle of distinguished past recipients of the Blue Legend Award, including Atlanta Mayors Maynard Jackson and Kasim Reed, Senator Sam Nunn, Congressman John Lewis, Ambassador Andrew Young and business icon Herman J. Russell. 

The Blue Legend award is the top individual honor presented at the Spirit of Alliance gala each year. It is presented to a visionary leader who has demonstrated extraordinary courage, overcome a variety of challenging obstacles, and remained steadfast in the pursuit of equal opportunity for minority business owners in Georgia and elsewhere. The Blue Legend is unique among all of the awards presented at the Spirit of Alliance – while the other awards recognize outstanding accomplishment for the previous year, the Blue Legend celebrates a lifetime of exemplary service to the minority small business community. 

A native of Bangkok, Thailand, Sangmalee started her journey in entertainment and media, working as a news reporter, a radio personality and an actress. She immigrated to the US in 1969, and subsequently made the transition to advocating small business development and stimulating cultural engagement. The founder and president of the Thai American Chamber of Commerce, Sangmalee has been an influential voice for the Asian American community for nearly 40 years. She is the president or a board member of multiple business organizations that serve Asians and Pacific Islanders and serves as a Liaison to the Thai Government’s Department of Trade Promotion – Thai Trade Center in Miami, Florida. She is the recipient of a long list of honors and accolades for her service to Thailand, the state of Georgia and the Asian American community. Her dedication and unwavering commitment have fostered thousands of jobs and untold millions in revenues for companies all across the spectrum.   

The 2018 Spirit of Alliance Awards will take place at 6:00 pm on Friday, September 28^that the Marriott Marquis. Tickets are available at gmsdc.org.