Vocabulary Changes

If we live long enough in interesting times, we will likely experience changes in our language’s vocabulary.  Maybe different definitions for the same or similar words, new words replacing currently accepted ones or, my personal favorite, dialogues so obfuscated with acronyms and protocol that we’re not exactly sure what we might be talking about. We’re…

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What You Say Matters!

We’ve been interviewing supplier diversity (SD) specialists over the last few months and the most recent answer to “what’s one of your pet peeves” struck us as we get ready for the diverse business conference season to kickoff into high gear. His peeve, a diverse supplier coming up to speak with him and asking what…

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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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Help! I don’t have that document.

The certification process is co-dependent. The business itself is being certified as being capable to provide its products and/or services. The business is being certified as being at least 51% owned, operated and controlled by a diverse individual(s) who possesses the knowledge and skill to run the business applying for certification. This is why certifiers require supporting documentation…

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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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Navigating NAICS

NAICS (the North American Industry Classification System) codes, pronounced “NAKES” can have a profound impact on SDMWVLGBTBEs (Small Disadvantaged or Disabled, Minority, Women, Veteran, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Transgendered Business Enterprises) for a bunch of reasons. NAICS is a shorthand description of your business’s good and services used by many of the US certifying agencies.…

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Thoughts About Roots

We’ve talked about how Supplier Diversity has its roots in Civil Rights and Affirmative Action legislation before.  Long story short, President Johnson amended President Kennedy’s E.O. 11246, which established the Office of Federal Contract Compliance. This required companies with federal contracts to make good-faith efforts to expand employment opportunities for both women and minorities. Once…

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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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Spotlight on NaVOBA

National Veteran Owned Business Association’s (NaVOBA) mission is to create corporate contracting opportunities for America’s Veteran’s and Service-Disabled Veteran’s Business Enterprises (VBEs/SDVBEs) through certification, advocacy, outreach, recognition and education.  Since 2007 NaVOBA has worked with more than 135 of the world’s largest corporations that engage with veteran-owned businesses. NaVOBA is a 3rd party certifier of Veteran…

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