Jennifer with mentor Carlos Dominguez from Cisco.

It was recently announced that Jennifer Brown, President and CEO of Jennifer Brown Consulting, was selected to participate in Cisco’s 2010 Executive Mentor Protégé Program.  This program indicates that Cisco has made a commitment to a small handful of woman- and minority-owned suppliers who currently do work with Cisco on a client basis, with the intent to invest in growing the relationship between each supplier and Cisco. In JBC’s case, this growth will mean a continuation and expansion of the well-known leadership development, executive coaching, and diversity and inclusion programs we’ve delivered to the Cisco community.
 
One of an elite handful of partners chosen, and the only human capital consulting company to be included, JBC has enjoyed a multi-year consulting partnership with many Cisco clients, building cutting-edge team development and leader coaching programs.  Jennifer is also considered a subject matter expert in the arena of inclusion and diversity, and her pioneering employee engagement strategies, as well as her work with Employee Resource Groups, were featured as part of last year’s Cisco Inclusion & Diversity Symposium, broadcast company-wide on Cisco TV. 
Jennifer and the JBC team are already leveraging the EMP2 program to broaden their business with Cisco, and with Cisco’s partners and customers, as well as spread the word generally about the opportunity of programs such as the EMP2.  Jennifer was quoted recently on the relationship between supplier diversity initiatives such as these, and building more inclusive organizations generally:

“We are so honored to be chosen to participate in Cisco’s program, and be invested in as one of Cisco’s minority-owned small business partners. Programs such as the EMP2 program demonstrate how companies can proactively drive diversity in all its forms, including the diversity of CEOs of Cisco’s company partners and suppliers. Leading companies are increasingly investing in incubator programs such as these, which encourage the participation of more diverse voices from the company’s existing supplier base.”

JBC has been assigned a key executive-level resource to enable the company’s exposure at Cisco, Carlos Dominguez, SVP, Office of the Chairman and CEO.  Carlos is an ideal mentor for the effort, as he shares many of the same passions as the JBC team for collaboration, new innovation strategies, and the role of technology in enabling a more engaged workforce. 

To find out more about JBC’s unique approach to developing leaders, harnessing the power of teams, and channeling the energy of diverse workforces towards real impact, please contact us, at www.jenniferbrownconsulting.com.

I hope this message finds you all doing well. I am very excited to share some great news with you — The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) has just announced its new scoring criteria for the Corporate Equality Index (CEI). The new criteria includes demonstrated and ongoing supplier diversity programs inclusive of certified LGBT-owned businesses as suppliers.

The HRC announced that it is now included Supplier Diversity in their index.

Check out the screenshot from the NGLCC web site above for the announcement.

This is a great new development in the scoring criteria for corporations, because it puts a greater focus on the diversity of thought that goes into the entire business model:  globally and locally.  Businesses are now going to be held accountable for the diversity of vendors that they use – not only sourcing from Women-Owned Businesses but now from LGBT-certified business as well.

What do you think of this as a method of scoring the best places to work?  How will this affect your organization?  Are you already using diverse suppliers?  Drop us a line and let us know your thoughts.

Links to more resources:

NGLCC / BIZ

HRC.org Workplace Issues / CEI

2009 Corporate Equality Index – Full Report (PDF)

]]> http://jenniferbrownconsulting.com/blog/hrc-announces-nglcc-to-include-supplier-diversity-in-the-cei/feed/ 0 http://jenniferbrownconsulting.com/blog/walking-the-talk-supplier-diversity/ http://jenniferbrownconsulting.com/blog/walking-the-talk-supplier-diversity/#comments Tue, 17 Feb 2009 17:09:57 +0000 Jennifer http://jenniferbrownconsulting.com/?p=587 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!