How do you build a culture of intention? Ask the supplier diversity leaders, and they will tell you, “one community at a time through supplier diversity.” Ask employee engagement leaders, and they say, “through staff training and communication with everyone from the top down to build diversity champions.” The cumulative impact of a diverse workforce and the successes of small and minority business enterprises adds up to big advantages for corporate organizations and nonprofits, and for community members who are given economic opportunities in economically challenged areas. These are opportunities they were unlikely to experience without the leadership of people like the Top 25 Diversity Change Leaders.
Across industries, Diversity Change Leaders have a mission they passionately pursue. They want to dismantle systemic racism in the workforce, nurture small and diverse businesses for success, and make diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) a standard way of doing business. They are working in the U.S. to pursue the mission nationally and also globally while respecting local cultures. It is a delicate balancing act that the change leaders manage with enormous and inspiring success.
It is a critical mission to give people and businesses fair opportunities to join a workforce or supply chain and address the lack of opportunities in underrepresented and underserved communities. It takes experienced, innovative, and forward-thinking leadership. Change only happens when there are fearless leaders who develop change strategies, but with the understanding that change is challenging for many people. So they begin by getting the CEO and C-suite onboard and then leverage their relationship-building and communication skills and their understanding of people and diverse business needs to develop successful strategies that move the needle in the diversity space.
The Diversity Change Leaders have many roles. They are advocates, coaches, employee trainers, storytellers, strategy developers and implementers, network builders, supply chain mobilizers, leadership developers, planners, mentors and sponsors, program developers and implementors, and assessors. All leaders use various assessment tools to generate data that helps them clearly understand the current status and identify how the organization should and can transform. Proactive planners, the men and women are people of action, so assessments are used for developing action plans to drive measurable progress in advancing diverse representation in talent systems and supply chains.
This year, there is a noticeable shift towards developing an intentional mindset throughout the organization and with external stakeholders. It is a call to participate in becoming diversity champions, ambassadors, and relationship builders in partnership with the diversity leader. The Diversity Change Leaders believe DEIB is not “their responsibility.” It is the responsibility of every internal and external stakeholder. To encourage acceptance of this responsibility, the Diversity Change Leaders focus on educating people, suppliers, and partners on the power of DEIB to give voice to those who have historically been excluded in the workplace and to small and diverse suppliers excluded from corporate supply chains.
Interestingly, the Top 25 Diversity Change Leaders do not mention bias much. Instead, they talk about overlaying a more diverse, inclusive, and equitable lens in everything the organization does. In other words, they do not start from the negative premise that organizations and their leaders are biased but rather from the positive premise that working together can lead to enhanced and equitable opportunities for everyone, equating to increased organizational success.
Another notable strategy the Change Leaders employ is outreaching to community members. It could mean engaging high school students, partnering with Historically Black Colleges and Universities and diversity advocacy organizations, identifying diverse suppliers that have the potential to increase capacity and join the supply chain, and mobilizing Tier 1 suppliers to engage diverse suppliers in their supply chains. In addition, the Change Leaders support DEIB in the workplace by collaborating with Employee Resource Groups, internal DEIB task forces, and Human Resources and working with people like the Director of Talent Acquisition. They frequently extend work beyond defined responsibilities, meaning a supplier diversity program leader will partner with a talent recruitment leader or a people engagement leader will collaborate with a supplier diversity team to identify potential talent.
The Change Leaders also embrace ESG (environmental, social, corporate governance) and blend sustainability principles with supply chain functions. One supply chain leader described it as “leading the pivot from Supplier Diversity to Business Diversity and Supply Chain Sustainability,” beginning with conducting an ESG assessment on more than 100 top suppliers. Globally, there is increasing awareness that supply chains are central to advancing environmental sustainability and social justice.
Please join Diversity Plus Magazine in congratulating the courageous Top 25 Diversity Leaders. They inspire everyone, especially those working in the diversity space and wondering how to maintain momentum and overcome persistent challenges. The bios are filled with innovative ideas, new strategies, and unrelenting optimism that diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging can become a reality worldwide.