As the Director of Supply Chain Procurement and Supplier Diversity at Prisma Health, the largest health system in South Carolina, Berri Heinz sees her role as one of communication. “Everybody has a voice,” she says. “It’s my responsibility to seek drowned-out voices, listen to them, and bring them to the table so their voice may be heard.” Every day at her job she does just that, having spearheaded an initiative to provide diverse suppliers with unprecedented direct access to conversations with decision makers. Twice a month, Heinz devotes a full eight hours to hosting 30-minute sessions with providers so that she, and by extension the corporate leadership of Prisma, can hear firsthand what the needs and capacities of diverse suppliers look like in the modern health care supply chain.
Through these innovative communicative practices, Heinz is able to not only advocate for her suppliers, but also to influence organizational change at the senior leadership level, educating them on the economic importance of working with diverse suppliers to maintain supply chain resilience, and creating an organizational culture of change and growth fundamentally committed to DEI.
Favorite Quote: “Surround yourself with people who are different from you and have diverse perspectives and you will enrich your life (and hopefully theirs!).” — Berri Heinz