Our Co-Founder and COO Ed Simon was invited to participate in a webinar hosted by Hire Ground to share his thoughts on how to build effective regional supplier diversity ecosystems. He was joined by veteran supplier diversity advocate and consultant Cecelia Bolden. They shared their first-hand experiences and results from implementing the Five Forward model in Chicago and across the state of California.
“More cities and regions than ever now boast supplier diversity councils that are bringing the right stakeholders to the table. Yet there remains a critical need for an evidence-based playbook to guide their collective action. Our session is designed to address this gap by presenting the tested Five Forward model as a robust framework for regional application. The model engages executives of mid- to large-sized corporations in committing to establishing or expanding business relationships with five local minority-owned firms, thereby fostering growth of minority-owned businesses. It also sets out a reporting framework to track progress and enables data-driven decisionmaking. This event offers a valuable opportunity for corporate leaders and advocates to learn from experts in the model and discuss how to leverage it to close racial wealth and business gaps in their local economies.” – Hire Ground
