Ford Motor Company has a long history of commitment to supplier diversity. The company launched its supplier diversity initiative 1968, and currently includes diverse businesses owned and operated by minorities, women, veterans, LGBTQ, disabled, and small business owners. 

Ford spent $11.1 billion with diverse suppliers and small businesses in 2019, the most of any automotive OEM, relying on these suppliers to bring creative solutions to the table. These diverse businesses are crucial to the company’s competitive advantage. 

With $310 billion in buying power, California’s insurance industry is the largest in the nation and the fourth largest in the world. In 2011, the State of California established the Insurance Diversity Initiative (IDI) focusing on the collection of diversity data amongst the state’s top insurance companies. From 2012 to 2016 alone, IDI insurers reported a 70 percent increase in spending with California diverse businesses.

For the third consecutive year, we at CVM, a supplier.io company, conducted our survey of supplier diversity professionals and diverse suppliers. This first-of-its-kind survey offers insight into what supplier diversity professionals experience within their own programs, as well as how diverse suppliers navigate the supplier diversity environment.

The full report also offers a broad view of the overall state of supplier diversity, but just like when you drill down into your supplier diversity metrics for more granular reporting, it's worth taking a closer look at these responses and how they relate to different areas of supplier diversity.

Supplier diversity is a business strategy that ensures a diverse supplier base in the procurement of goods and services for any business or organization. In other words, supplier diversity refers to a supply chain that incorporates businesses owned by diverse individuals or groups.

Though supplier diversity is a well-known industry best practice that speaks to the benefits of small and diverse businesses in a company’s supply chain, it is not the only strategy that does this. B corporations, social procurement, and economic development plans also highlight the need for including small and diverse businesses in the procurement process.  

Recently, a new term has gained momentum in the supplier development industry. Over the past few years, many organizations have adopted “anchor strategies” to invest in their local economy. 

This blog was originally published on 12/6/2018 and updated 1/7/2020

After 50 years of supplier diversity initiatives, we know that building inclusive supply chains enable underrepresented populations to compete and thrive in business. In addition to empowering diverse-owned businesses, supplier diversity initiatives also have significant payoffs for the companies that enact them.