Breaking Barriers, Building a Hire Ground

“Supplier diversity for me from a corporate standpoint isn’t so much a definition or a case study as it is a program where we’re actively helping reduce barrier of entry to small and diverse businesses into corporate America” – Adam Moore Do you think you understand and practice supplier diversity and inclusion? The Harvard Business Review describes a diverse supplier as “a business that is at lea...

“We realize that you can be everything to everybody. There is absolutely no way that we can all be good at everything, and we’re looking for specialists to come in.” – Adam Moore Do you know why you did not get that call back? There are many topics and attitudes we believe are good to share during sales meetings, because we think it adds value. However, most corporations know what they specificall...

“A succession plan is critical for small, medium, and diverse businesses—it is how your business lives beyond you.” – Adam Moore A business succession plan is something not commonly discussed among small and diverse businesses. After all, it’s especially difficult for any founder—especially those who think of their business as their child—to think of themselves as replaceable. However, in a rapidl...

“A business continuity plan sounds scary, but it allows you to do much more than just run a business—you have to come out of being the ‘Chief Everything Officer’ and truly become the CEO.” – Adam Moore An emergency is bound to happen in any organization, whether it’s a Fortune 500 company or a small, diverse business. For any business, preparation is better than cure. That’s where the business con...

“Through business excellence, we can transform communities that have had historically high rates of poverty into predictable wealth.” – Louis Garcia This week on Breaking Barriers: What inspired Louis’s entrepreneurial desire Louis’s thoughts on inclusive generational wealth Using business excellence to elevate communities from poverty Why many businesses have problems with buying too many CRMs Ca...

“The intersection between caring for the environment and managing your company in a sustainable, ethical way is called corporate social responsibility.” – Elba Pareja-Gallagher Elba Pareja-Gallagher is an Environmental, Social, and Governance expert, sustainability consultant, and keynote speaker. Elba is the founder and Principal of Sustainability Navigator, which offers coaching and mentoring to...

“Your network is your net worth.” – Shakeia Kegler Shakeia Kegler is the Founder & CEO of GovLia, a company that helps state and local government agencies effortlessly implement and manage supplier diversity programs. Their goal is to expedite supplier diversity efforts without the traditional, time-consuming, paper-based processes. Before founding GovLia, Shakeia served for five years in the...

“We are committed to inclusion, but sometimes, using jargon can exclude people from participating.” – Adam Moore There are a plethora of buzzwords and industry terms in the supplier diversity world. As a professional industry, we tend to throw around terms and concepts that could be overwhelming not only for seasoned supplier diversity professionals but also for business owners who are new to supp...

“Goals and metrics are your North Star—if you don’t have them, you have no idea what you’re navigating to.” – Adam Moore Supplier diversity is rapidly becoming a necessity for every business in the modern corporate world. Tapping into diverse talent is crucial to staying innovative and competitive while simultaneously meeting your organizational goals for inclusive economic impact. But how is a su...

“Supplier diversity is an intentional program that reaches out to diverse suppliers. It is about working with your business units to ensure they build relationships with and include suppliers owned by diverse persons.” – Adam Moore You may be hearing a lot of talk about supplier diversity programs these days. You may also have heard about how implementing them is crucial to success, especially in...

“Diversity, equity, and inclusion is beneficial for an entire business; for everyone.” – Jackie Ferguson Jackie Ferguson is the Head of Content & Programming and Co-Founder of The Diversity Movement, a full-service DEI consultancy that provides diversity and inclusion content such as courses, videos, webinars, and podcasts. As Head of Content & Programming, Jackie manages all the content h...

“If we can create a culture where everyone feels like they belong, then we’re going to have a much more successful supply chain.” – Chloe Guidry-Reed Relationships are the key to any successful business, but what happens when one party in the relationship has all the power? The power dynamics of big companies and corporations often put smaller suppliers in a precarious position. Big companies can...

“Being open is the sign of a curious mind, and a curious mind is not going to stop until it gets the information it needs to make a difference.” – Joset Wright Joset Wright Lacy is an attorney, executive coach, diversity consultant, and founder and President of Waypoint Strategies LLC. Through Waypoint Strategies, Joset provides coaching and consulting services with a focus on building leadership...

“Corporations have to begin to hold the boards accountable to be that bridge to small and diverse suppliers.”  – Nedra Dickson 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 effor...

“We have to keep that cycle of money going through our small and diverse business communities because they’re the ones creating jobs.” – Vickie Irwin Vickie Irwin is the General Manager of Supplier Sustainability and Equity at Southern Company, one of the largest energy providers in the country. Southern Company owns various electric utilities, natural gas distribution utilities, fiber optics, and...

“Supplier diversity is important in life because equity, parity, and inclusion are important to the ecosystem of human life.” – Courtney Williams Courtney Williams is a supplier diversity manager at Evergy, a company that delivers utility services to 1.8 million residential and commercial customers in Kansas and Missouri. Courtney has worked in community engagement for over 20 years and is passion...

“Diverse suppliers should focus on what’s important to the companies they’re engaging with. They have to be able to scale, operate, and deliver, leading to better outcomes relative to services and products.” – Curtis Crowder Mishaune Sawyer is the Senior Regional Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Manager at JE Dunn Construction. A leader in the commercial construction industry since its founding in...

@font-face {font-family:"Cambria Math"; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;}@font-face {font-family:Calibri; panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-536859905 -1073732485 9 0 511 0;}p. MsoNormal, li. MsoNormal,...

“The psychology of consumer loyalty is impacting all of us.” – Stefanie Francis Stefanie Francis is the Founder of Hootology, a marketing research firm that fully utilizes a tech-forward approach to consumer behavior and analytics. Hootlogy is founded on her passion for quantitative analytics, anthropology, innovation, art, and the creative process. She champions supplier diversity and is an advoc...

“The more diverse the decision-making body is, the more factors you can get into the decision.” – Johnny Howze III Johnny Howze III is the Vice President of Supply Chain Management at Southern Company, an energy company that produces clean, safe, and affordable energy for its 9 million customers. Johnny’s responsibilities include overseeing operational functions and power delivery. He has over 20...

“Understand and know your data, and don’t over-collect. If you’re worried about it—and all businesses who collect data should worry about these laws—engage a privacy professional and attorney.” – Rebecca Rako ski Rebecca Rakoski, Esq., is the co-founder and managing partner of XPAN Law Partners. A boutique domestic and international cybersecurity and data privacy law firm, XPAN Law is dedicated to...

“Failure is an option. Failure is a great guide. It is how you learn—how you recognize you’re not doing the right things and therefore you should change to succeed.” – Paul Singer Paul Singer is the Investigations and Impact Editor at the GBH News Center for Investigative Reporting. His The Color of Public Money series at GBH News investigates the systemic exclusion of minority-owned businesses fr...

“Good financial stability and wellness of the company, coupled with good people, is every business’s heartbeat. Without them, the likelihood that a company can survive is low.” – Durran Dunn Durran Dunn is an accomplished business professional currently serving as the Managing Director for Grant Thornton’s Advisory, Governance, Risk, Compliance, and Controls practice. Over his 20 years of experien...

“ As supplier diversity leaders and professionals, we need to open our eyes and minds to doing something differently and finding new ways to engage stakeholders, scale with the program, and create inclusion.” – Curtis Crowder Curtis Crowder is a cross-functional senior executive and award-winning entrepreneur, and diversity leader. He is the Director of Global Supplier Diversity, Sustainability, a...

“To really build in supplier diversity, you have to hit all levels within an organization.” – Cecelia Bolden Cecelia Bolden is an IT executive, business strategist, client relationship expert, and Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion advocate with over 34 years of experience in the information systems industry. She serves as the Chief Development and Diversity Officer of SDI Presence, an IT consulta...