Christina Morrow, director of global procurement at Ricoh, has been a driving force for the growth of supplier diversity. Under her leadership and with the support from executive leaders, she has seen growth in year-over-year diversity spend since 2010. Morrow oversees the Ricoh sponsorship of the NMSDC Emerging Young Entrepreneurs program which led to more than one local entrepreneur connecting with the Georgia Minority Development Council. Morrow builds partnerships with key diversity suppliers, with one now sponsoring networking events at industry conferences as a business building strategy.
At Ricoh, supplier diversity is more than a corporate social responsibility initiative. It is aligned with corporate strategic goals to ensure maximum value is created. Morrow relies on a variety of best practices that includes linking outcomes to business objectives and developing and maintaining a database of diverse suppliers through proactive outreach at industry matchmaking events and networking receptions. Through her efforts, Ricoh formalized a policy that every RFP process must include at least one diverse supplier. Morrow collaborates with business unit stakeholders to ensure continued growth in opportunities for diverse suppliers.