When Kathy Vezina assumed her role as Senior Sourcing Manager, Supplier Diversity at Milliken & Company, it was because it presented an opportunity to create a Supplier Diversity Program defined by excellence. She used strategies like benchmarking, engaging diversity advocacy organizations, and creating various initiatives to develop small and diverse-owned businesses in communities. Kathy utilized data analytics to target specific commodities where diverse spend could grow and collaborated with various departments to attract suppliers. She also created several programs, including the Milliken Mentorship Program, free monthly educational sessions to build business acumen, and the annual Milliken Momentum Supplier Diversity Conference.
Kathy developed collaborations with organizational departments, including Sourcing, Sustainability, HR, and Legal, to pursue excellence in the Supplier Diversity Program. This created opportunities to offer business education and and networking to diverse suppliers. For example, her team partnered with the Sustainability department to offer education sessions at the 2024 Milliken Momentum Supplier Diversity Conference on the importance of sustainable practices. She benchmarks and measures progress, empowers others to take ownership of change, and celebrates wins.