In light of the addition of LGBT supplier diversity as a scored piece of the Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index, the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce® (NGLCC) is hosting a series of teleconferences titled Ask the Experts: LGBT Supplier Diversity and the HRC Corporate Equality Index, providing insight to the corporations seeking to expand their procurement practices to include the LGBT business community.
The Human Rights Campaign announced, in 2009, changes to the scoring of the Corporate Equality Index would be reflected in the 2012 edition being released this month. This new criteria includes a section addressing organizational engagement with the LGBT public. Specifically, companies need to participate in three of the five opportunities to receive full points for this section: LGBT recruitment efforts, LGBT supplier diversity program, marketing to LGBT consumers, philanthropic support of an LGBT organization, publicly support LGBT equality under the law (local, state or federal).
"It is vital for business leaders to recognize that the economic impact of the LGBT community lies not only in the consumer market, but also within an innovative and dynamic community of LGBT entrepreneurs. Corporations directly benefit from fully inclusive supplier diversity programs that promote constructive competition among suppliers." said Joanna Dees, Director of Corporate Relations & Supplier Diversity for the NGLCC.
LGBT supplier diversity completes the circle of corporate diversity by bringing parity to a company's diversity practices. Like programs for racial and ethnic minorities, women and other underutilized communities, LGBT supplier diversity ensures that a company's diversity practices are uniform across segments. Partnering with the NGLCC on LGBT supplier diversity ensures that a corporation's supply chain mirrors the diverse customer and employee base that the company has or that it is trying to attract.
"The NGLCC Supplier Diversity Initiative is an opportunity we have taken to better engage the LGBT community and reflects our organizational commitment to diverse businesses." said Tim Ruddell, Manager of Sustainable Procurement and Supplier Diversity Programs at KPMG LLP and a panelist on the Ask The Experts calls. "We routinely leverage our ERG members to help support not only the business case, but also the operations of our program; for example employees serve as site visitors and Certification Committee members."
During the Ask The Experts teleconferences, NGLCC Corporate Supplier Diversity Partners share their experience and recommendations about implementing LGBT inclusive supplier diversity programs with fellow corporate representatives who are not yet doing so. The NGLCC has invited corporate leaders, including supplier diversity and procurement decision-makers, employee affinity groups and prime suppliers to participate in the complimentary teleconference series. Currently there are two calls remaining in the series, on April 13th and April 20th.
For more information more about the NGLCC Supplier Diversity Initiative or Ask The Experts teleconference series contact corporaterelations@nglcc.org or 202.234.9181.
To learn more about the new Human Rights Campaign Corporate Equality Index Rating Criteria: 3.0 you can visit http://www.hrc.org/issues/cei_criteria_new.html.
