Breaking Barriers, Building a Hire Ground

Kenneth Kelly is the Chairman and CEO of First Independence Bank, the 7th largest African-American-owned bank in the United States. Founded in 1970, the bank has served the Detroit-Metropolitan area and remains the only African American-owned bank headquartered in the State of Michigan. Kenneth is also behind the book, Prepared Before I Let Go, which outlines preserving professions through proper...

Bruce Katz is the Founder of New Localism Associates, a firm that helps cities finance, deliver, and design innovative initiatives that focus on sustainable growth and inclusion. He received the Heinz Award in Public Policy for his contributions to city planning and influences on the community’s economy and livability. He authored the book The New Localism, which provides a roadmap for change that...

Marcelo Bernal is the Head of Business Development at Briteris, a software development company that provides clients in the payments and FinTech sectors with IT services and solutions. Their services range from solution architectures and UX & UI design to Test Automation, DevOps, and API and Microservices. Marcelo has over a decade of experience in leadership roles for various companies in the...

Paul Singer is an investigations editor at GBH News, a news agency that delivers local and national news for those in the Boston area and beyond. His passion for investigative journalism started in his childhood, having started his own newspaper when he was just ten years old. He had over 30 years of experience covering politics and government before deciding to move to Boston and put all his ener...

Environmental, Social, and Governance or ESG is a set of criteria used to determine if a company has sustainable business practices and actively cultivates a culture around sustainability. The ESG certificate allows investors to know if the company they’re putting money into is also considering Mother Nature in every project or business-related decision they make. Making sure each ESG company is g...

The past 100 episodes flew by, and it feels surreal that we achieved this milestone. We’ve had wonderful guests who gave us unique insights into supplier diversity, equity, and what it means to have a culture that promotes intentionality. We have learned so much from each episode and wouldn’t have done it without you—our dear listeners. In this episode, we share our thoughts on the past 100 episod...

Michael Baptise and Margaret Beckley are part of Metro Atlanta Chamber, a 159-year-old organization that serves as a catalyst and represents the 29-county region’s businesses, schools, and nonprofits. Michael is the Vice President of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and has over 15 years of experience in talent management and human resources. Margaret is Metro Atlanta Chamber’s Program Manager for...

David Vaughn is the Director of Supplier Diversity & Inclusion at Assurant, an insurance and business services company. They have products that support and protect major consumer purchases, including phones, vehicles, and appliances. David’s responsibilities at Assurant include sourcing suppliers/vendors, staff management and development, and financial and operation processes management. He ho...

Nedra Dickson is the Global Supplier Inclusion and Sustainability Lead at Accenture, one of the world’s largest professional services companies focusing on strategy and consulting, operations, technology, and interactive services. Nedra promotes and leads Accenture’s efforts to maximize procurement opportunities with small and diverse businesses across 17 countries. She also holds several board se...

Nedra Dickson is the Global Supplier Inclusion and Sustainability Lead at Accenture, one of the world’s largest professional services companies focusing on strategy and consulting, operations, technology, and interactive services. Nedra promotes and leads Accenture’s efforts to maximize procurement opportunities with small and diverse businesses across 17 countries. She also holds several board se...

Mishaune Sawyer is the Senior Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Manager at JE Dunn Construction, a family and employee-owned commercial building contractor founded in 1924. She has over 20 years of professional experience and is an expert in the diversity, equity, and inclusion space. Theresa Schroeder is the Vice President and Regional Community and Citizenship Director at Turner Construction Comp...

Matt Colaciello is the VP of Communications at Hire Ground. He specializes in creative content strategies for social impact, strategic communications, and communications program development. He is filling in today for Chloe as we put the spotlight on certifications in supplier diversity. What are certifications? What are some of the benefits and drawbacks of certifications?   In this episode, we d...

Getting started in any industry takes enormous effort and tons of paperwork which doesn’t include funding. You can always get by with bootstrapping, but that’s not the fastest or most efficient way. This is where venture capitalists can help. Venture capitalists can give you all the funding you need, but there are always strings attached. How do you ensure your business retains its identity when p...

Supplier diversity has made leaps in recent years, making us wonder what it will look like in the future. To improve supplier diversity for future generations, we must ask ourselves what we should imp

Planning a supplier diversity program is not as easy as it sounds. They require time, the right mindset, and funding. What does it take to make a successful supplier diversity program? How do organiza

Andrea Oswald is Union Pacific’s General Director for Procurement Operations and Supplier Diversity. Union Pacific is one of America’s largest railroad companies, connecting 23 states by rail and acti

Being an accessible company requires building a culture that accommodates the needs of each individual while promoting workplace diversity. From a supplier's perspective, accessibility also means your

Becky Basile is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of LogiPlan, a WBENC-Certified Women’s Business Enterprise. The company offers virtual, in-person, and hybrid management solutions for all your

The Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) is a non-profit organization established to support women-owned businesses. They offer tools, services, and conferences that allow women-led co

Arthur Woods is a social entrepreneur and LGBTQ+ leader, as well as the Co-founder of Mathison, a venture-backed technology platform that describes itself as all-inclusive for diversity hiring and ret

Evette Ellis is the Co-founder and Chief Workforce Officer at ChargerHelp!, a technology solutions company focusing on the electric vehicle supply equipment industry. Their services are designed to he

Khalif Johnson is a procurement manager at Turner Construction Company, one of the US's largest international construction services companies. Khalif has worked with Turner for over 19 years, starting

Conference Season is Upon Us!

Abraham Xiong is the President of Government Contractors Association, Inc., a national trade association of commercial contractors and government agencies. The organization's goal is to help small or

Hire Ground provides businesses with expertise and tools to grow and meet objectives through supplier inclusion. Starting a group centered on supplier diversity is often done out of compliance, but Hi