The theme of this year’s Supplier Diversity Symposium was “Translating Words Into Action.” The symposium had two components: a webinar highlighting preliminary results of a survey of higher education procurement professionals, followed by a poster session where participants reviewed six ideas to unlock the full potential of diversity and inclusion in the procurement space.
During the webinar, Francesca Grippa, the Lab for Inclusive Entrepreneurship’s executive director, shared some preliminary survey results and engaged with panelists Roy Anderson (D’Amore McKim School of Business at Northeastern), Mack Charles (Black Economic Council of Massachusetts), and Jerry Epps (Babson College). The survey’s goal is to better understand the current environment in which procurement professionals – at all levels — operate and identify practices that are effectively boosting supplier diversity. The webinar format enabled us to reach more than 150 participants across New England and beyond. To access a recording of the webinar, click here. Watch for upcoming blog posts on our website for webinar highlights.
The poster session was designed to gather input from a range of supplier diversity stakeholders on six initiatives that are either underway or on the drawing board. See the gallery of these ideas below. All six ideas garnered a great deal of interest: Access to practical sources of training and information are clearly vital for diverse small businesses, procurement teams, and other higher education stakeholders who make purchasing decisions. And all six ideas will require collaboration to develop content, identify funding sources, and communicate access.
Please contact us at nl4ie@northeastern.edu if your organization is interested in exploring opportunities to collaborate!
Translating Words into Action Gallery
