“Social Equity Procurement” refers to the degree to which a supply chain incorporates businesses and other service providers that are owned or operated by individuals from traditionally marginalized or underrepresented groups. Today, big corporations—from Meta to Nike—are setting ambitious goals to support businesses not traditionally included in their supply chains. However, smaller businesses like craft brewers and nonprofit organizations often struggle to build diverse supplier relationships that align with their stated values.

In the first part of this presentation, the presenter answers the question, “why social equity procurement?”; identifies some of the most common hurdles to establishing social equity procurement programs; identifies resources that business looking to establish supplier diversity programs might turn to; describes several different ways that businesses can approach implementing and assessing their supplier diversity efforts; and shares some best practices for supplier diversity program implementation.

In the second part of this presentation, the presenter addresses the benefits of pursuing certification as a business owned and/or operated by underrepresented or traditionally marginalized groups; provides an overview of the largest certification bodies for minority-, woman-, LGBTQ+, disability-, and veteran-owned businesses; provides tools that business can use to get prepared for the certification process; and shares best practices for leveraging certifications for increased exposure and profit.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand how supplier diversity programs benefit the craft brewing industry as whole and may align with specific business objectives Get to know the basics of supplier diversity programs from the perspective of leaders making procurement decisions and owners of diverse-owned businesses Discuss tactics for overcoming common obstacles to implementing supplier diversity programs in the craft brewing industry Identify the largest diverse supplier certification bodies and how they might be used in procurement efforts and as a supplier Learn best practices for benefiting from supplier diversity programs from both a procurement and supplier perspective