Walking the Talk: Improving Access to Supplier Diversity Resources

I believe that we as suppliers to large corporations need to “walk the talk”, i.e. practice the principles we advise during consulting engagements. What we advise corporations to do is to practice diversity and inclusion in ALL arenas, not just when it comes to diverse talent, but looking at a company’s vendor/supplier pipeline.  In fact, we at JBC are considering creating a “statement of strategic sourcing” whereby we officially articulate our commitment as a small business to seeking diverse vendors and suppliers ourselves.  Hey, supply chain is supply chain, whether you are a huge corporation or a small business.

We are all part of system that we can improve.  Who do we employ, and are they minority, woman, or LGBT-owned?  We at JBC employ many wonderful globally-diverse sub-contractors who fit these descriptions already.  It’s a matter of making it official.

On the topic of supplier diversity, and as a woman-owned and LGBT-owned business, we often find that we are in the strange position of compelling our corporate clients to consider the bigger picture when it comes to how diverse vendors fit into their overall diversity strategies. Yes, our SD contacts  might track procurement efforts, but we have discovered an apathy towards us by more than one Supplier Diversity contact at Fortune 500 companies (some of whom are greatly utilizing our consulting services, and yet aren’t able to support our diversification within their company as a whole because they are either unempowered, or SD isn’t structured correctly).

We are WBE-certified (woman-owned), and I am a member of the Women President’s Organization/WPO, so I receive this email regularly from the President of WBENC – which I think is an interesting take on being a diverse supplier in tough economic times:

WBENC.org President’s Report: Accessing the Bridge to Quality

Are there small businesses or companies out there who’ve had the same experience? Different experience? I would be interested to hear!

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LABELS: corporate america, corporate supplier diversity, developing talent, diversity, guidance, innovation, jennifer brown consulting, learning, LGBT, process, Supplier Diversity, women, workplace