With 21 years of experience, Merck’s director of supplier diversity Jackie, La Joie has driven exponential growth in the company’s program. Minority-owned supplier procurement at Merck has grown from 1 percent in 2005 to more than 9 percent in 2009, while diverse supplier spend increased from 5 percent to more than 15 percent. Under her leadership, spend with diverse suppliers has more than tripled in the last four years.
La Joie succeeded in soliciting and receiving the buy-in of the CEO and senior leadership at Merck, integrating supplier diversity into Merck’s sourcing process and building a program based on NMSDC best practices.
La Joie is the co-founder of the Diversity Alliance for Science. In its third year, the organization’s keynote event has grown from over 100 attendees at its first conference to expecting over 500 stakeholders in 2010. Additionally, sponsorship support for the conference has grown from $50,000 in 2008 to $265,000 this year.
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