Carmen Deale is passionate about leveraging Office Depot’s supplier diversity program to help diverse suppliers grow and succeed. As the Program Manager of Diversity Tier II Merchandising for Office Depot, she works to overcome unconscious bias throughout the organization by creating a network of business partners that drive revenue growth, innovation and cost savings. The strategy has led to measurable successes, like the distribution of hundreds of toner SKUs among four diverse suppliers in 2018.
Carmen also utilizes the company's association with diversity organizations to create opportunities for diverse suppliers. In one example, she connected with a woman and minority-owned supplier of cleaning and janitorial services at a WBENC National Conference, leading to the supplier being included in the Office Depot Supplier Diversity Catalog as a new Tier II partner. Since then, DevMar Products has become a Tier 1 partner. Carmen also directs diverse suppliers to various programs for business growth, like the Tuck-WBENC Executive Program, of which Office Depot is a sponsor.