Reinventing Supplier Diversity by Focusing on Community-Building and the Health of the Small Business Ecosystem

Theater

FedEx will lead a panel discussion on Global Citizenship & Diversity, highlighting its program in Memphis to strengthen supplier diversity that has demonstrated significant impact in its under-resourced neighborhoods. Along with FedEx, Steve Grossman, CEO of the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC), will join the panel to discuss ICIC’s Inner City Capital Connections (ICCC) program and the importance of purchasers getting involved in the communities in which they operate to build capacity and create sustainable small business ecosystems. He will discuss how an anchor institution can help identify and reward diverse businesses by providing them with a toolbox to increase revenue, create good-paying jobs and access capital (see performance metrics slide).

Collaboration and Innovation: Leveraging the power of data and strategic partnerships to support supplier diversity