Kevin Brandenburg, MCR, is the Chief Procurement Officer & Head of Corporate Services at Parexel. He successfully increased diversity spend by 64% resulting from a renewed focus on introducing new diverse suppliers and enhancing existing diverse supplier partnerships on a regular basis. Under Kevin’s leadership, significant progress in greening the supply chain in support of environmental efforts resulted in a 20-point improvement to the Ecovadis supplier score. These two accomplishments in 2022 reinforced the company’s commitment to preserving the planet and driving inclusion around the world.
The driving factors for the success of the inclusion program is increasing the awareness of the benefits of diverse providers to his procurement team, educating the internal customers to benefits of different perspectives diverse suppliers offer and mentoring diverse suppliers in how to effectively partner with larger companies. To define his leadership strength, Kevin emphasizes ownership and accountability. A good leader makes a decision. A great leader makes a decision and accepts accountability, regardless of the outcome. Kevin mentors his team to be leaders and own the decisions they make. Team members are encouraged to evaluate the information, determine the best solution, prepare mitigation strategies for potential risks and then make a decision or recommendation to proceed.