Breaking Barriers: 2024 Top 25 Women in Power Impacting Diversity Leading the Diversity Charge

Kristin Malek Develops CDW’s Innovative Business Diversity Strategy


Kristin Malek embraces change and opportunities as the Director of Business Diversity at CDW. She developed an innovative business diversity strategy that aligns with CDW’s core values. Kristin has developed CDW’s diverse supply chain with more than 1,400 diverse suppliers. She ensures the organization continues its investments in DEI and has brought focus to growing equity and participation among disadvantaged and often overlooked businesses through supplier diversity efforts. Kristin continually introduces meaningful enhancements that benefit diverse partners and customers, leveraging supplier diversity as a source of solutions.

Kristin believes supplier diversity is not about expenditure targets but rather a productive strategy for partnering with an extensive network of the most creative, innovative, and competitive suppliers able to deliver the best solutions and experiences for CDW’s customers. She supports building supplier diversity in a flexible global supply chain as a source of organizational resilience, competitiveness, and the ability to gain introductions into new markets. Kristin’s approach promotes innovation throughout business operations because CDW customers have access to the network of innovative suppliers.


  • Favorite Quote: Get off the sidelines. Have a hyper awareness for biases, frameworks and processes that don’t equitably serve all. - Kristin Malek