Supplier Diversity and Politics

There has always been a relationship between politics and supplier diversity. Supplier diversity is rooted in 1960’s political activities and implemented by our executive, legislative and judicial branches of government. Our second blog article, we discussed supplier diversity history and how it began with the civil rights movement. From an executive point of view, Presidents…

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Intersectionality … what does that mean?

Intersectionality is a big word we’re hearing around the diverse community these days. Coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw in her 1989 thesis “Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory and Antiracist Politics” to demonstrate that “[b]ecause the intersectional experience is greater than the sum of racism and…

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Taking Care of Business

Once we titled this article, the music started in our heads. Instead of talking about COVID, let’s talk about self-care for diverse business owners. Our crazy, complicated lives just got more so! Maybe this is the world’s way of telling us to simplify … to drop unproductive tasks and concentrate on four important things: Family…

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To Gift or To Loan?

We’ve been researching how gifts and loans from non-certifiable owners can impact some state-based certifications of legitimately owned DBEs (Disadvantaged Business Enterprises). Yes, harping on legitimacy is part of our shtick. We have absolutely no interest in seeing these certification programs abused or defrauded. Anyway, you would think that a gift is perfectly acceptable, since…

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Portals: Everyone seems to have one, what do you do with them?

As a diverse business owner, the most dreaded question asked by a supplier diversity (SD) professional may be: “Are you registered in our portal?” Portal registration can be time consuming and sometimes can feel like a black hole you only hear from once a year when your certification is about to expire. The honest truth, portals are not for…

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Reading (& Writing) Excerpts

In the last month, we’ve come across a variety of articles that seem to touch on topics of importance for SDMWVLGBTBEs (Small Disadvantaged or Disabled, Minority, Women, Veteran, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Transgendered Business Enterprise) owners.  The first that sparked a gut reaction was about generational wealth. The Founders of Color believe, “If wealth inequity is…

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Mandated Spend – What’s That Mean?

SDMWVLGBTBEs (Small Disadvantaged or Disabled, Minority, Women, Veteran, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Transgendered Business Enterprise) hear a lot about mandated diversity goals. But that word, mandate, can be used in multiple ways. A large corporation may have its own internal mandates that are not relevant to any specific job or project.  These mandates, or goals, exist…

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Notes on Supplier Diversity

So, we read a post on LinkedIn the other day and just can’t get it out of our heads. The reason is because this is a bigger issue than our colleague Tammy Davis, CEO at NexLevel, wrote. She’s not wrong in her characterization of some supplier diversity professionals (SDP). Like us, they are imperfect humans doing…

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Profiles in Certification – OQ Point LLC

We’re back with another certification profile. As a reminder, Samantha Smith interviews potential businesses, so email us with a request to be included — and no, you don’t have to be a GetDiversityCertified.com client.  Next up, OQ Point, LLC. If you are considering diversity certification, you might be asking yourself: Which certification should I choose? And…

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Profiles in Certification – SourceOne Innovations, Inc.

This year we decided to do something different, profiling a SDMWVLGBTBE (Small Disadvantaged or Disabled, Minority, Women, Veteran, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Transgendered Business Enterprise) and a specific diverse certification. Samantha Smith interviews potential businesses, so email us with a request to be included — no, you don’t have to be a GetDiversityCertified.com client. Next…

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