(gentle music)
-: Stakeholder expectations around ESG
have risen dramatically in recent years.
And while we often talk about climate around ESG,
we cannot ignore the social impact
that organizations can have.
And one of the biggest levers
that an organization can pull to have
greater social, societal, and economic impact
is building a more inclusive supply chain.
According to the Center for Business & Economic Research,
50% of the gross output of the US economy
is in the B2B economy.
So if we're not including diverse-led businesses
in our supply chains,
we're excluding them from whole portions of economic growth.
So that becomes an economic issue.
It's an issue for the wealth gap.
It's an issue for sustainability.
It's an issue for innovation.
And when you think about the positive impact that has,
it creates more jobs,
it creates more investment in underserved communities.
Creates more wealth for families and communities overall.
And so, the societal and economic imperative
of supplier diversity
has to be at the center of any ESG strategy.
(gentle music)
Like any other topic around diversity, equity,
and specifically inclusion,
we are not well practiced at this as industry.
We are not well practiced at this as societies more broadly.
And so, really what it requires is intention and innovation
and leaders that are willing to make a commitment
and try new and different approaches to be more inclusive.
(gentle music)
-: Corporations can mobilize
to build more diverse and inclusive supply chains
by building the right capabilities
and expertise to really work with diverse companies.
Sometimes that requires a lot of creativity.
Companies need to think about
things like setting up joint ventures
between a minority-owned business and
potentially a non-minority-owned business that is larger.
Sometimes they need to find ways to create access to finance
either internally or through third partners.
And sometimes it's about creating incubators
and learning opportunities.
Most corporations have the motivation,
but they find out that getting real traction
is more difficult than expected.
And that is because the incentive systems
in many corporations are geared towards controlling costs
and controlling risk.
But working with a new supplier,
sometimes a smaller supplier, can be a challenge
and it requires more effort.
We have a common responsibility in the business community
to maintain the current momentum
and to continue to accelerate it.
We have to show corporations
that supplier diversity can become not only
a competitive advantage for them
but also a competitive imperative.
(gentle music)
-: We are looking to build scaled minority suppliers
that can help the Fortune 500
sustainably meet their diverse supplier goals.
And for us that means
building businesses that are minority owned,
that are greater than $1 billion in revenue.
Well, the challenge is, there are only about
10 to 15 Black- and Latinx-owned minority businesses
in the US today that are above $1 billion.
There are very few.
And currently 95% of minority-owned businesses
have less than 5 million in revenues.
And so, there's a big gap to fill.
There's a lot of work that has to be done
across the ecosystem to be able to fill that gap
and to build scaled diverse suppliers.
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So we are looking to help build those businesses
that can meet that demand and that can fill that gap.
And so, we recognize that we need some long-term commitment
and capital to invest behind businesses
in strategic categories for the Fortune 500
so that they can meet their diverse supplier goals.
So, we expect to be looking for businesses
that are already market leaders in their segments,
that may or may not be minority owned today.
But through our ownership,
will become minority-owned businesses at scale.
And we will help them to grow
in the ways that the Fortune 500 need,
so that they can meet their supplier diversity goals
and we can help to build diverse companies
that are able to uplift communities of color.
(gentle music)