Natalie Cortés Duncan is the Director of Supplier Diversity for Pearson. She led the company’s strategic development and implementation of the process for responding to customer Request for Proposals, requiring supplier diversity participation. This helped the company meet supplier diversity regulatory requirements. She currently leads the strategic development and implementation of the organization’s global supplier diversity strategy for the Assessment and Qualifications division. Under Natalie’s leadership, Pearson was named the Southwest Minority Supplier Development Council’s (SMSDC) Corporation of the Year for outstanding achievement in supplier diversity.
To expand supplier diversity, Natalie created and launched a customized Mentor‐Protégé Program Workshop Series for suppliers, an internal supplier diversity database, and a capacity building program called “Project Build,” a series of networking events for Pearson stakeholders and diverse suppliers. Ms. Duncan was instrumental in creating Pearson’s first external-facing supplier diversity corporate policy. She worked with leadership to set the company’s Sustainable Business Plan’s $622 million commitment to utilizing certified diverse businesses by 2030. Due to Natalie’s contributions, Pearson’s Supplier Diversity Program was recognized by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) as a model program.