A Conversation with Four Members of The Conference Board Supplier Diversity Leadership Council.

• Michael Byron, Council Program Director and former Senior Director of Supplier Inclusion for Walmart, Inc. • Genriyetta Lund, Council Member and Finance Director, BASF • Natalie McGrady, Global Supplier Diversity Lead, Cargill • I. Javette Hines, Head of Supply Chain Development, Inclusion and Sustainability, Citi About the Supplier Diversity Leadership Council:

The Conference Board Supplier Diversity Leadership Council is comprised of leading corporate executives and supplier diversity professionals. The Council focuses on increasing inclusion, innovation, and agility in the supply chains of its Members’ companies. By doing so, they reflect the demographics of their employees, their customers, and operating communities. Learn more about the Council here.

What are some of the challenges facing today’s supply chain executives?

Michael Byron is the Council’s current Program Director at The Conference Board and former head of supplier inclusion at Walmart. He notes that corporations are having to figure out how to best leverage diversity to make better products by learning how diversity and product quality go hand-in-hand. Corporations are also having to learn how to maneuver the supply chain differently than in the past, particularly since the beginning of 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic struck the world and every supply chain.

While supply chains have been disrupted in the past, they were never impacted to the extent they were during the height of the COVID-19 crisis. This has led to employees at these corporations becoming more innovative and involved in conversations regarding how to address supply chain disruptions. This has also led to corporations sourcing more from local businesses to gain efficiencies from certain products closer to their target markets.

How do insights from Council discussions lead to change and impact?

As BASF Finance Director Genriyetta Lund points out, the Supplier Diversity Leadership Council is in a unique position because it is an autonomous body. It is seen as an industry leadership council that provides services and expertise to companies and organizations. This enables it to leverage its authority in several areas, including ESG, the economy, human capital, and more. Impact is key: Indeed, after Council Members meet, they often discuss what came out of the discussions—including how to best leverage the insights—with key decision makers at their respective companies.

What are some examples of corporations advancing supplier diversity?

At more and more corporations, there is unprecedented enthusiasm for supplier diversity. When companies see other firms reaping the benefits from new approaches and prioritizing this issue, they often follow suit.

Cargill Global Supplier Diversity Lead Natalie McGrady says that sustainability and supplier diversity are interconnected, with the latter helping to promote the former. She cites Cargill’s Black Farmer Equity Initiative, which aimed to rectify the issue of black farmers being underrepresented in the United States and around the world, which is improving Cargill’s suppler diversity and sustainability for the long term. Cargill also became a sustaining member of the National Black Growers Council, and has given grants to organizations that are promoting and supporting black farmers, ranchers, and growers in the industry.

Citigroup’s I. Javette Hines, Head of Supply Chain Development, Inclusion and Sustainability, describes how Citi has worked with the Council every year to create a sustainability symposium. For them, supplier diversity is about getting their business engaged with local communities and creating visibility. The firm itself has conducted its Citi Forum in many countries: the United States, South Africa, India, Brazil, and Indonesia. There are supplier diversity “champions” in all these countries. The firm provides “champions” a guide with their roles and responsibilities and what she expects from them regarding supplier diversity. They have had monthly meetings with their champions to ensure their lines of business have awareness of sustainability issues. Hines also mentions that Citi focuses on the term “inclusion” rather than “diversity” or “supplier diversity,” so that their people clearly understand the objective of supplier diversity when they relate it to understanding inequality.

What are some additional steps that The Conference Board, working with the US business community, can take to advance supplier diversity?

BASF’s Lund believes the influence and economic prowess of The Conference Board can put numbers behind the concept of supplier diversity to make an even deeper impact in this area. And Cargill’s McGrady emphasizes that it will take more than one company to further advance supplier diversity. Moving the needle requires a broad, collaborative effort. This is where The Conference Board could continue to build on the progress it has already made, by further aiding corporations on how to enhance their spending and investments— both individually and together, with other organizations—to further impact supplier diversity on a global scale.