US Business Leadership Network® (USBLN®)
15TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE & EXPO
Orlando, Florida
October 1 - 4, 2012
General Plenary Session
“Plugging In, Building a Connection Between Supply Chain, Supplier Diversity & Diversity and Inclusion”
October 3, 2012 10:00 A.M.
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>> JILL HOUGHTON: We're about ready to get started. If we could
encourage the people out in the lobby to come on in. We're playing like
the price is right. Come on down.
All right. Well, good morning. Okay. Let's try that again. Good
morning.
Excellent. My name is Jill Houghton, I'm the Executive Director of
the US Business Leadership Network and we're so excited that you're here.
You are going -- you have a treat in store for you today. You are going to
learn about our Flagship program. The Disability Supplier Diversity
Program and I just want to provide a few quick housekeeping items and then
we're going to be ready to rock and roll.
©2012 US Business Leadership Network (USBLN). All rights reserved.
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We are working really hard on our AV and I want you to know that we're
working on making sure that the people in the back of the room can hear.
All right?
We promise. We heard, here listening and we're working on it.
We want you to be -- during the presentations, please don't talk.
Just out of respect for the speakers, we know you're a respectful crowd.
We're working on the volume and if you're not talking, that's going to help
us, and the good news is that you said you want networking and we
delivered. Today we have lunch on your own, network away. There are
restaurants here in the hotel. You've got the Tradewinds restaurant, the
Palms Pool restaurant, you have Starbucks and the Boardwalk sports bar and
there is cash -- what is it -- reading is not my forte. Now you get to see
my learning disability in action.
Cash and go.
Last but not least, do not forget to fill out your exhibit hall map -turn those in at the registration desk because this is the magical thing
that you need to win the grand prize vacation package from Southwest
Airlines and I know that you want to win that.
So without further ado, Richard Moore, the supplier diversity manager from
Southwest Airlines and we love Southwest and we love Richard Moore. He's
our track chair for the supply chain, please welcome Richard Moore.
(Applause.)
>> RICHARD MOORE: Good morning everyone and before we get started,
you're in for a treat this morning, we've got a panel here of distinguished
and wonderful and fantastic guests that are going to talk to you this
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morning about “Plugging In, Building a Connection Between Supply Chain,
Supplier Diversity and Diversity and Inclusion”, but before we get started
with that I'm the moderator and will be introducing you to this distinguished
panel, I'm going to have Ron from Marriott come up and say a few words.
>> RON McANAUGH: Thank you, sir, on behalf of Marriott
international and the Renaissance Resort.
It's a beautiful what I hope will be sunny Florida day, you haven't seen
much of that since you got here. That's very unusual for us but I promise
the sun will shine before you leave.
My name is Ron McAnaugh, I'm the Manager at Marriott World Center here
in Orlando. One of my many responsibilities as a
leader with Marriott is to ensure that everything our team does is done
while looking through a lens of inclusion, in addition to my hotel
responsibilities, I'm the supplier diversity champion for the southern
region of Marriott, Ritz Carlton and all of our other brands. In this role
I'm able to connect with other Marriott leaders from other business areas,
from human resources to sales and marketing. All from different backgrounds
and life experiences through our collaboration we address diversity and
inclusion efforts which can impact not just one area of our business but
can cross over to other business areas and possibly affect the entire
Marriott enterprise. So whether you represent small business or a large
corporation or a corporation like Marriott, it is the responsibility of
each of us to recognize the bigger picture of inclusion and help others to
see it as well. By breaking down these barriers into silence and making
connections that can help build a more inclusive world. I hope you enjoy
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this session, and the remainder of your conference, I would be remiss if I
didn't put in a pitch for the World Center for your next conference, coming
back to Orlando is great. Mr. Moore can tell you we have great flights from
Southwest coming in and out of Orlando. As you consider future locations,
please put the World Center back up on the list. I wish our contestants the
very best of luck. Thank you for letting us host the breakfast this
morning, Mr. Moore.
>> RICHARD MOORE: Okay. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for
taking time out of your busy schedules. We've had an excellent conference,
haven't we, so far?
(Applause.)
>> RICHARD MOORE: It just keeps getting better. One of the things
that I really love about the USBLN conference is that it feels like, you
know, I do this all the time, I travel millions of miles on behalf of
Southwest Airlines, going around the country and actually speaking at
events and manning the booth. Spend a lot of time on my feet shaking hands
and introducing folks to Southwest Airlines supplier diversity, but one of
the things that I really love about coming to the USBLN is that we don't
shake hands, we do a lot of hugging. I see a lot of hugging going on, and that
feels like home and feels like we can spend some time with each other and
not just ships passing in the night exchanging business cards.
Before we get started with the questions, I want to introduce the
folks that are sitting here next to me, I'm sure you want to meet them as
well.
To my far right we have Deb Dagit, who is the chief diversity officer
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at Merck and the vice chair of the USBLN board.
(Applause.)
>> RICHARD MOORE: And we have Tim Ruddell who works for KPMG where he
is the manager-Sustainable Procurement-Firmwide Procurement. Tim Ruddell.
(Applause.)
>> RICHARD MOORE: And lastly, but certainly not least, Darlene Fuller
who is senior director, Supplier Diversity at Sodexo.
I'm just going to jump right into it. When we talk about the
intersection of supply chain, supplier diversity and diversity and
inclusion, many times we can have a situation where you know, I like to
think of folks that work in diversity and inclusion and especially supplier
diversity, we're the last of the boy scouts. We're the true believers.
We're the folks charging to take that hill. Sometimes we are so zealous on
doing what we have to do, whether this be in diversity inclusion or
supplier diversity or in the supply chain, sometimes we want to take that
hill alone, we've got to get it done, got to get it done, and many times we
have resources that are right adjacent to us and we're not necessarily
talking to each other in the best way, but what we need to do is actually
capitalize on those energies and actually work together in order to provide
the best results for our respective companies, so speaking of connection
and collaboration, what I wanted to ask the panelists is can you share some
examples of your success creating collaboration and connections with other
internal corporate groups, including other business units in different
geographic regions?
>> DEB DAGIT: We're looking at each other. Thank you for the kind
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introduction, I have to do a shout out to my new friend Debbie Dixon
from Microsoft. This is one of the only conferences you can attend as a
scooter user, your battery goes if bad and have other people who can fix
you up.
In terms of intersections, I would say one of the most powerful ones
for us at Merck, where I'm proud to work, is that our employee resource
groups have partnered with our supplier diversity folks in order to provide
a whole host of things, referrals of diversity suppliers, mentoring for
suppliers, welcoming them when they come to Merck for our annual meetings,
helping them to be more successful as current suppliers, but also as
individuals who would like to be our suppliers in the future. So I think
that's a really important component and for those of you who have employee
resource groups, if you haven't connected them with your supplier efforts,
I really encourage you to do so.
And I think that that introduction of finding people and making the
connection of where they could help in your business is an important one.
>> TIM RUDDELL: If I may go next. I would echo that at KPMG. I'm a
team of one working within our procurement team. We have a task force
that's made up of each of the key processes in our business. Their
challenge is to find obstacles and overcome them for suppliers to the firm.
We have a diversity advisory board and that's made up of all of our
employee resource group leads. It's also made up of some members outside
who provide us with guidance and those two organizations together intersect
and represent all of the diverse segments within KPMG and many
product, both back office and client facing, so that's important for
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us. One of the things that we really think has moved our program forward
is the establishment of metrics. What we have is first of all has been a
champion to have these metrics there from our diversity inclusion office
along with our executive team and what we've done is we've actually – speaks much
louder.
We actually have in our evaluations for all of our employees, there is
a section on diversity, so they can actually tell everybody what they've
done in the area of diversity, which could be work force, network groups,
community, it could be anything, but it's their area to champion to
really highlight what they have done and because our company really
supports diversity, just attending a couple things does not get you a 1 on
your evaluation. So it's very accountable-- that is the area people can really show
case what they do and keep upping their game.
>>DARLENE FULLER: Also one of the areas that has helped a lot is for every management
level employee, they are held accountable for a diversity score card that
has a number of different areas, including, the people we hire that are
diverse, supplier diversity. B ut one of the areas that's really been
helpful for the intersection is an area where there are different boxes where
it's about participation, and you can choose where you actually went to a
diversity event, you attended a training, you attended a networking event,
you -- you know, there are many different things, you helped to mentor a
supplier or establish a new diverse supplier, and what has happened, as you
get higher up in the food chain within Sodexo, you have to do more of these
requirements. It encourages people to try different things, gives people
ideas. What has happened as people attend a conference, they meet people that
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are diverse suppliers, they meet a community activist, all these things and it
gets them engaged. As a result, they want to do more. They raise their
hand to do more things.
So what has happened within Sodexo, where starting off where it was
metrics, you had you to do them, it got people who engaged who actually
got it. They understand the value, it's not just a top down type of
program, it's an inside out program, which is really pulled our program
forward so that, you know, we have people within supply management that are
leads for network groups. They, you know, when I put out a thing are you
going to some event, everybody raises their hands that they want to do.
It helps our program with those metrics and that exposure.
>> RICHARD MOORE: Thank you, thank you all the panelists for their
answers. I know at Southwest Airlines, I was happy when we hired our vice
president of diversity and inclusion. I'm an army of one with regard to
supplier diversity, all of you who are trying to get in contact with me,
and sending me mails, guess what, I'm here speaking right now so I'm not at my
office fielding your calls and your e-mails.
With that said, we've got a huge footprint, and with the acquisition
of AirTran, it expanded across the US, with a lot of different
organizations clamoring for a level of attention with respect to supplier
diversity and also how to get engaged with the supply chain and asking
questions about what are we doing as far as diversity and inclusion, and
that level of collaboration is just essential. Being an army of one, one
of the things that I was able to do almost immediately is to leverage our
internal group that's responsible for our community and grass roots
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activity, because they have managers out in the field across the US.
So when they engage with an organization that has a supplier diversity
focus, where their focus at this time is made of different
suppliers that are looking for an opportunity to do business with
Southwest, what I'm able to do is actually be in two places at one time,
which is somewhat difficult for a person my size.
When I do that, I can be on the West Coast, have a manager there
that's working with those groups and talking to them about supplier
diversity, I make sure they are educated with what it is that I do, sending
them information, brochures, business cards, all the collateral they need
in order to have a productive discussion, that frees me up to be some place
else in America, talking to folks about supplier diversity. So that is
really important, that we have that connection and that collaboration
because even though I may be an army of one, we do have a lot of really
dedicated people that are strategically placed within Southwest that can
help me do my job.
So let's talk about something else. What can departments outside of
supplier diversity, like HR diversity and inclusion, IT supply chain, do to
help advance the inclusion of DOBEs within their respective business areas
one of the things that we do, if there is an RFP that's going out, they have
to include diverse vendors in that process. So therefore, a lot of times
now, because they go to many events, this can be a possibility. We like
to have people come to these events for supplier diversity.
If they don't know, they contact us and we include people. One of the
best way to be sure DOBEs (Disability-Owned Business Enterprises) are included
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is if encourage disability entrepreneurs to get certified by the USBLN so we can know
who you are and have your information to make sure that you're not excluded.
>>TIM RUDDELL: If I can echo that comment, as
Richard said and I said earlier, we're often teams of one person, and the
first thing we will ask for is what is your certification as a diverse
supplier, because we only act as advocates, we don't take calls from
non-diverse businesses, just -- so the first thing we'll ask for is your
certification.
It's also important to try and build relationships beyond just us as
supplier diversity people. We are usually almost exclusively not the
decision makers in our firms about which suppliers we use. And I think we
try and -- we like to think we're experts at everything but we're not the
subject matter experts in whatever it is you're trying to sell us. So
we're not the people to evaluate the quality of your products or service.
So it's important to try to get to the right people within our
organizations and we will help with that and we will typically go back to
our companies, find the stakeholders, see if they are willing to have that
conversation with you and allow you to pitch to them.
>> DEB DAGIT: I'll direct these comments to those of you who are
diversity and inclusion practitioners from various firms in the audience.
One of the things that we've done is look at the certified disability owned
businesses and the types of resources that they provide and then identify
where they could be helpful.
I'm going to use one quick example but there are many. We -- I
noticed as a person with a disability that when I went to Merck meetings,
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they weren't particularly disability friendly. And so I went to a
supplier, Kerry Obrist (MORE Access Solutions), who I don't think is here today, who
is a person who is blind and she did a really nice job of preparing for the part of our
company that's responsible for travel and meetings and RFPs with hotels and
all of that. There is a lot of that in a large company that's global, with
84,000 employees and hosting customer meetings, so we have tons of
meetings, and she took the group of people who have that responsibility at
Merck through a very detailed presentation, offered them a checklist and is
now an ongoing resource.
And so one of the things you can think about if you're trying to be a
disability friendly company—I'm not saying that's the only kind of
businesses out there in the disability community— is look where you can
improve, whether it's your IT, your meeting services, or other things that
you want to make sure are friendly to your customers and your employees,
and find out if there is a supplier out there. That may be a way to be a champion for
disability-owned business and get your foot in the door if you haven't started yet.
So that's just one example of something you might try.
>> RICHARD MOORE: One of the things that I noted as I read -- forget
who the philosopher was, said the most important thing anybody can
do is start a conversation. What I find myself doing most often with
respect to this particular issue about advancing the inclusion of
Disability Owned Business Enterprise is asking the question, starting to
have this inclusion conversation with people.
Once you get over the initial embarrassment of wow, why didn't we
think of that before, you can start to have productive dialogue about what
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to do next.
The other thing is I know that – and I think my peers here in the supplier
diversity arena can echo this is that many times, supplier diversity becomes a
cult of personality. People say it's a Southwest Airlines’s program but that it is
really Richard’s program, that's really Tim's program, Darlene's program, and
we push back against that and we try to make sure folks are included in the
discussion so that we can actually infect people with this idea that it's
everyone's program and everybody is responsible for doing whatever they can
do in order to advance the cause, in this case including DOBEs in our
supply chain.
Once we do that, whether your organization is centralized, where there
is one area that's responsible for doing all the purchasing, or if you are
decentralized—I think it's more important that you get out and embed
yourself in those organizations and start up conversations so they can take
on the mission. Even if internally they won't talk to whomever,
everybody talks to you because you're the diversity guy. You can go and
ask the question, “What are you guys doing with DOBEs, what opportunities are here
and what have I missed”.
Most often I get, “Well, I'm glad you asked that question”. I go right into my spiel, this is
what I need to you do, are you on board with me.
They are like “yes, absolutely.”
So I'm converting folks, you know to this idea that everybody is
responsible for supplier diversity. Sometimes one person at a time across
the enterprise, so even if they don't think they are responsible for supply
chain or accounting or any other thing beyond their individual silo, I can
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kind of infect them with that idea that they are responsible for supplier
diversity and that helps advance our cause.
So what would you panelists recommend to DOBEs who are trying to
create those vital relationships necessary to get to the bidding table?
Should those relationships extend beyond supplier diversity personnel?
>> TIM RUDDELL: They absolutely should. As I mentioned earlier,
we're not the decision makers, if you are trying to sell me something, I
typically have no background in the technical side of whatever that is. So if you
have met other people from KPMG at industry events specific to whatever it
is you are trying to sell us, that would help me to know that. If you come to me
and tell me who you think within KPMG might be the buyer of your product or
service, that's helps me as well. That's my first research, go back and
find out who would buy what you are selling. That's -- yes, that's my perspective on it.
>> DEB DAGIT: If I could add a little bit here, a different strategy
that we could consider as contractors, is this came up in one of the
breakouts yesterday.
A really good strategy of helping diverse suppliers to be successful
is to host some kind of a meeting where you are bringing together diverse
suppliers from all of the different groups, minority owned businesses. I'm
surprised we still use that term, but we do, women owned businesses, LGBT
owned businesses and help them network with each other and get to know each
other because often they have different contacts inside of your firm, and
they may be looking for ways to subcontract, they will provide peer
mentoring, they may provide referrals if they know about a need in the
business that doesn't match up with the products and services that they
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offer, and there is an amazing amount of cross collaboration, you know,
kind of that takes a village model.
So the more that you can foster that and have your ERGs demonstrate
the power of coalitions and mutual support, the more people will begin to
help each other. That's what you can think about, to create the right
framework for that to happen.
>>DARLENE FULLER: Those are excellent answers. I don't have
much to add. The only thing I do want to reiterate, if you have special
areas you do, it is so helpful to really know who is your user, what
department do you go to, because for large companies, sometimes when you
send all the information, we send it to who we think is the right person
so if you could tell us who you met and what department it goes to,
that's very helpful.
Also, if you do business with another company that we might know, have
that -- any company, have that company speak on your behalf to their
customers, or people that they know. Because that helps. Because we take
people's references as important. So please, utilize them to really speak
on your behalf.
>> TIM RUDDELL: I think something we haven't mentioned is what we can
do as corporations in the room to encourage other corporations to include
certified disability owned businesses in the supply chain. You may not be
familiar with the second tier diversity, this is where we will ask major suppliers
to report their spend with certified DOBEs, and in turn, some of our major
clients, some at this table, ask us to report that to them.
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So if you are a corporation and you have diversity questions on your
RFPs, you should be add the inclusion of DOBEs on there. If your
clients are asking to you report spend with women owned businesses,
minority owned business, if they ask me for just those two, I go back and
ask them why weren't you asking me about DOBEs.
>> RICHARD MOORE: Advocacy is so important and each of you have so
much more power than you may think at first glance. We typically, we stay
in our areas of responsibility, right? But there is so much more power in
terms of starting that conversation.
For instance, I don't have in my role as supplier diversity manager, I
don't have anything to do with the intern program, but after last year's
conference, when I met so many of our dynamic young people who are here
serving, running around, helping us out, I was so inspired, when I got
back, the first thing I asked, the folks in charge of that is where are our
interns with disabilities, and they were like, who is that? Richard Moore?
Who is he? He's from supplier diversity, he has nothing to do with the
intern program, but I asked the question and that started things rolling
and they are working on it.
So each of you have a responsibility when you go back and you see
something that you need -- that we need to take action on. How can we get
more DOBEs included in our supply chain. Take it upon yourself to call
somebody. You know what I like to do? That trickledown effect. You
shoot off an e-mail to somebody at a high level and maybe they're not going
to do something about it but they will pass it down and eventually that
thing picks up momentum going downhill and things start to happen in the
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organization and guess what, you are the person that started it. It's
amazing what we can get accomplished if we don't care about who gets the
credit.
You don't have to the person in front with the spotlight saying I'm
championing the utilization of DOBEs.
What you can do is toss a bug in somebody's ear and say hey, have you
ever thought about this, why aren't we doing that, how can we do more.
The other thing is persistence. I ask the same questions over and
over and over again. I think on my business card in some cases people may
put ‘professional pain in the butt’. That would be me because I'm going to
keep asking until I get an answer. When you come away from a conference
like that, we're all fired up, we are taking the message back to the
respective corporations, but that personal advocacy is so essential to
making something move. If you are here and you are inspired and you are
saying there is a whole lot my company should be doing, who is going to
carry that message other than you. Go back and make a difference where you
come from.
Speaking of advocacy, what do you think that DOBEs can do to
acknowledge those corporations and individuals who are actually walking the
talk and why is that important?
>> DEB DAGIT: Well, to start, I think -- most corporations today,
contemporary organizations have social media pages, Facebook, there are
sometimes places you can post on their website, linked in and if you just
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post a message, thank them and publicly recognizing them and saying why
you are more likely and your family is more likely to do business with
them, that would, you know, have huge impact. That's the kind of thing somebody
would do a screen print and send up to the CEO's office. That would be my
recommendation. It wouldn't take more than a couple minutes.
>> RICHARD MOORE: Anyone else?
>> DARLENE FULLER: As you attend different events, please be a story
teller, share the things the different corporations have done to help
you.
We always have a business case, it makes sense, it's not a social
program to support, you know, DOBEs, it is a business case, so by you
helping to show this and helping us grow our business and our impact on the
community, it really does help all of us.
>> RICHARD MOORE: Absolutely. One of the things that studies have
shown is that each one of us affects -- if we have a positive or negative
experience, we can affect directly or indirectly 266 other people. So what
does that mean? As a DOBE, the voice of the customer, for Southwest, the voice
of the customer is all important to us. We want to hear from our
customers, every letter that is sent to Southwest, whether positive or
negative, gets circulated and read and responded to.
When have you a positive experience, maybe you don't have a contract
yet as a DOBE from one of our respective companies, but you've had a great
conversation with a supplier diversity manager, you had a great
conversation with Darlene and Tim or Deb, you know what, the voice of the
customer is essential because you can go back, get on your computer, get on
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your laptop, you can write a letter into the respective purchasing
department. All of us report to someone, right? When they got those
positive letters, you know, I met Deb at the USBLN conference and what a
joy. She was responsive, she promised to get back to me, I'm so thankful
that your company is doing what it can do in order to advance DOBEs and we
are really looking forward to one day hopefully doing business with you.
I guarantee you that message is going to get back to her, and then
what's going to happen is good things. All of the sudden, the whole notion
of supplier diversity is to elevate a notch. Right? Your name as a
perspective DOBE for our company is also included in the mix. So those
messages are really essential because, again, one -- you can stand back and
you can wait until you actually get that contract and once you get the
contract, of course you have a plan in mind that are you going to write a
glowing letter and say I'm so thankful and this is so wonderful that we're
finally doing business together, but from business card to contract,
typically we're in a 18, to 24 month dance. Our needs are more urgent than
that and so are yours in terms of wanting to go do business with our
companies, therefore, whatever we can do to prepare for that and inject some
positivity into that relationship, we need to do that and we need to do it
immediately.
I'm not only talking about in terms of our respective companies, but
for all the companies that you are trying to do business with. That's part
of that relationship building. Is to actually, you know -- people use to
send notes and letters all the time back in the day. It's old school now.
If somebody actually sends you a handwritten note, you're like wow, look at
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this.
We can still do that. Go invest in really good stationery, when you
have a good conversation, write a note and send that in. Manager of
supplier diversity, I had a good time at USBLN, thank you for supporting
the organization. I guarantee you that is going to get mileage and it's
going to help our supplier chain, help is the programs, helps all of us do
what we do a little bit better.
So tell us about an experience you had with a disability owned
business as one of your suppliers.
>> DEB DAGIT: I've done one.
>> DARLENE FULLER: We actually -- I'm sad he's not here—we have a great
supplier that's in the Chicago marketplace for us, and they are -- T Castro
Produce, they are a USBLN certified DOBE. They do a great job for our company.
He does a great job not only for us, but helping our managers understand about
disabilities, so right now he's doing a lot of things where he goes out and does -sustainability is big, so they want to see the local produce. They'll have a farmer's
market with some of our accounts. While at this account, he's getting exposure to the
clients, the people out there and oftentimes he's in side conversations
with different people about disabilities and about how important it is.
We do, as Tim has mentioned, we have clients that we provide reporting
to that only track minority and women business spend.
Now, twice this happened, they've had a farmer's market, because Tom
has been out there talking advocacy, so they track disability as one of
their categories only because of that conversation and Tom
talking to them. It's helped their exposure then in understanding that
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there is more in diversity than minority and women owned businesses.
>> TIM RUDDELL: I'm going to touch briefly not on a specific supplier but
the role of certified DOBEs as advocates, not just for your own business, but those
yet certified but hopefully soon to be.
I have brought in DOBEs to speak to our diversity leadership and talk
about why the program is important and why we should be a partner with the
USBLN.
Looking at the experience of other national business certification programs, one that
comes to mind is the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, they may be two
or three years ahead of where the USBLN DOBE program and the growth that they saw
was when people realized that it was a chicken and egg situation. It was corporations
wouldn't sign on until businesses became certified and were acting as advocates. But
businesses were saying we're not going to get certified until more corporations are
listening. So it took both parties to step forward and say this is a good idea.
>> DEB DAGIT: I'll give one other example. So we worked with an IT
organization to look at our compliance in terms of access for both
customers and employees with disabilities. And again, that's another
example of, you know, making sure that your business is accessible and as a
healthcare company, the majority of our customers would be considered a
person with a disability, so this is a really important part of our marketplace.
And what I have to say that was really positive about the experience,
it was with SS BART, was they were terrific about understanding if we told
our organization all of the things that they needed to do right off the bat
in order to be fully compliant, they would freak out. So instead of trying
to make it seem insurmountable, they helped us look at a phased approach,
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help helped us come up with a strategy.
They also helped us understand the pros and cons of having a partial
access solution through E accessibility. So we could have a calm, rational
conversation. It's a great resource, but it's not meeting the needs of all
people with disabilities, and how do you appropriately position something
like that so that your marketplace doesn't think that you believe that's
the total solution. But it's just part of what you are going to be doing.
So I will wrap up by saying I used that as an example of meeting the
customer where they are and not trying to do everything but understanding
what their priorities are and helping them with the phased approach from
their point of view, and they did a fabulous job.
>> RICHARD MOORE: Thank you for that. Well, we're getting ready to
wrap things up and move on to the next segment but what I wanted to do was
give each of our panelist about 30 seconds for closing remarks in terms of
this whole idea. We talked about connecting, collaborating between supply
chain, supplier diversity, and inclusion. Folks, take a few minutes -well not a few minutes. We're pressed for time now.
But if you could give one message to the folks out in the room,
whether they be a DOBE or maybe they are in some other capacity of their
respective corporations, what would you say about the issue of inclusion with
respect to this connection idea between supply chain, supplier diversity
and diversity inclusion.
>> TIM RUDDELL: I think the key message is that there is something
that everybody in the room can do to encourage the inclusion of DOBEs in
the supply chain. Whether you are a corporation and you're representing
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21
purchasing or whether you're a corporation representing, you know,
diversity and inclusion and have a role with ERGs, whether you are a
certified DOBE or a soon to be certified DOBE or whether you are
representing one of the advocate companies, there is something you could do
to build connections.
From my perspective as a corporation, we have suppliers, we have
clients, we have our staff and those are some of our key stake holder
groups that I try and connect together, but I challenge everyone in the
room to think about the one thing they could do to build a connection for
somebody.
>>DARLENE FULLER: What -- I -- I have a microphone, it says end right in
front of me.
I just want to say if anybody could just speak -- we need more
suppliers. So speak to people you know who are disability businesses, talk
with them about getting certified. Corporations talk to other corporations
to try to have them include, you know DOBEs in their plan. So we can
expand and have more than the number of vendors that we have, more -- twice
the size conference, more people included.
>> DEB DAGIT: And I know we're out of time so I will just quickly
add, for those of you who have not gone through of process of getting
certified, it's not that hard. You will get the support that you need.
The business case is strong if you are a company and you need help with
that. I'm happy to help you with that. Anyone at USBLN would be, and
finally, I would just say, I'm retiring from Merck this year and I want to
be clear that Merck will remain committed to growing our growth here, and I
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plan to be a certified a DOBE, so -(Applause.)
>> RICHARD MOORE: Connection and collaboration is so important and
like I said earlier, each one of us has so much more influence than we may
perceive ourselves to have. I would encourage everyone, wherever you are
in your corporation, even if you are a small business look at your supply
chain and say what can I do as far as accessing and providing access to
DOBEs. Go back and start the conversation. Years from now, when this is
all over and it's the just fantastic and wonderful, not that it already
isn't, but it's getting bigger ever year, what I want to tell everyone is
this is the beginning. You come to USBLN and the number of you, this is
your first conference and you capture this idea, this thought starter, and
you are like what do we need to do. The best thing you can do is go back
to your corporation and start the conversation, make sure that thing
catches fire, make sure it doesn't go out. The excitement will fade after
a few days after you get back to your corporations but the need has not
faded. It gets bigger. There are many folks that need your support, you
are the person. There is a reason why you were selected to come to this
conference. You are that person that can carry that message and turn the
tide in your respective companies and make it so DOBEs can achieve
financial independence and actually have a seat at the table and have
thriving, growing companies.
Thank you to Deb Dagit, Tim Ruddell, Darlene Fuller, our panelists.
And now as our panelists move off the stage, I'm going to turn things
over to Philip DeVliegher, who is the managing director for Pdevl Consulting
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23
team. We have narrowed it down to our three finalists who are going to
get up and talk to you this morning about what they do and how they do it.
We're excited about Entrepreneurial Idol. Philip.
>> PHILIP DEVLIEGHER: Wow. The excitement is just unbelievable. How
is everybody doing this morning? Come on, a little bit more energy for our
finalists. There you go. That's better.
I think I can do a fairly good job.
We'll see.
So if you didn't get to join us yesterday, for our semi final contest, we
actually started out with six certified disabled business owners and today
we're down to three. We sent three home yesterday. Very sad. But down to
three today. Three finalists and you will actually have an opportunity to
help us this year with Entrepreneurial Idol, so stay with us.
I'd first like to introduce our judges, so if our judges could come
up to the stage. We're going to start with my friend Tim Ruddell from
KPMG.
(Applause.)
>> PHILIP DEVLIEGHER: We have Julie Logan, Business Manager-Wells Fargo on the
far left. Hi Julie, and Beth Butler, Director, Diversity & inclusion-Lowe’s and a USBLN Board
member, in the center . Thank you judges. For being with us today.
Now for you to meet our contestants, finalists, please come on up.
(Applause.)
>> PHILIP DEVLIEGHER: You know this is really hard and nerve racking,
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the pressure, the pressure. And they survived yesterday's semi finals, so
let's give them a round of applause just for being here.
So I'd like for each of you to give your name and the name of your
business. Let us hear what you're all about just name your
business, the audience needs to know who you are.
>> SUZANNE ROBITAILLE: I'm the founder and owner of abledbody and we
are based in Riverside Canada we are a disability marketer and publisher.
>> PHILIP DEVLIEGHER: Perfect.
>> JACK SMITH: My name is Jack Smith. I'm with Charlotte International
Partners. We're a commercial line distributor and manufacturer of lighting.
>> JOHN KIRKWOOD: My name is John Kirkwood with CityMouse,Inc.
we're an IT communications company; consulting, designing and building internet
communications.
>> PHILIP DEVLIEGHER: Thank you, finalists, please have a seat.
So let me explain what will happen in our final competition here.
Each contestant has 60 seconds… just 60 seconds to pitch their business to
our panel of judges.
After each contestant has given their pitch, they will have a seat,
We will go through all three and then the judges will actually evaluate each
one and give some constructive feedback of each one and this is not only
valuable for them, but for all of those out there who may be pitching a
potential customer tomorrow, and say oh, I just learned something!
So pay strict attention to that, and then once we complete those three
evaluations, our judges will compile the results and we'll determine who is
this year's Entrepreneurial Idol.
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But all three finalists will leave here a winner, right?
(Applause...)
>> PHILIP DEVLIEGHER: And you're going to help us determine who that
final idol is. So stay tuned. So for our first finalist, I'd like to call
up Suzanne Robitaille with abledbody. I have 60 seconds, I have a timer
here and we are going to start whenever you are ready. How you feeling?
>> Suzanne Robitaille: Great.
>> PHILIP DEVLIEGHER: So how was yesterday's semi final? A little
Stressful?
>> SUZANNE ROBITAILLE: Better today.
>>Philip DeVliegher: I'm going to give you a mic. There we go. Perfect.
I'm going to let you stand over here.
>> SUZANNE ROBITAILLE: Look this way?
>>Philip DeVliegher: Let me know when you are ready. Face this way, all right.
So everybody can see you.
>>SUZANNE ROBITAILLE: Okay.
>> PHILIP DEVLIEGHER: See how this feels. Pretty powerful, huh? Okay. Ready to go?
>> SUZANNE ROBITAILLE: Disability and business. The new dream. 1.1 billion
people globally, one in five here in the US is a generation like myself who
has experienced inclusivity thanks to the ADA, technology and diversity
minded employers I'm Susan Robitaille. I'm the founder of ablebody.
Many professionals have disabilities, giving us the deep knowledge and
know how to compact the community in a powerful way. As an example, we
recently helped American Girl create a new doll.
Within two hours, we had reached 2,000 shares on facebook. abledbody
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can help you gauge and earn the respect of a disability market. Let us
find you a new customer, a new employee, a new way of doing business.
Thank you.
(Applause...)
>> PHILIP DEVLIEGHER: Perfect. Right on time. Great job, Suzanne.
As far as criteria, what the judges are looking for, we are strictly
looking for how the pitch goes, not necessarily what the business does,
what the business is about but really the ability of the owner to pitch
that business. So next up Jack Smith with Charlotte International
Partners. Jack, come on up.
>> JACK SMITH: Thank you.
>> PHILIP DEVLIEGHER: Jack, how are you feeling today?
>> JACK SMITH: I'm great. Excited to be here.
>> PHILIP DEVLIEGHER: How was yesterday's semi finals?
>> JACK SMITH: Fun.
>> PHILIP DEVLIEGHER: Let me know when you are ready to go.
>> JACK SMITH: I'm ready.
>> PHILIP DEVLIEGHER: Jack is up.
>> JACK SMITH: I'm Jack Smith from Charlotte International Partners.
We manufacture and distribute eco friendly LED lighting. We can retrofit
an entire building with LED lighting and reduce the energy consumption by
up to 70 percent. And we can do this without any initial investment from
our customers. Our customers pay for this entire project out of the
savings from their energy bills. So after they've paid for the lighting,
that 70 percent savings reverts right back to their bottom line. We're
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talking about serious money that can be spent on other operations-- or
given back to the shareholders. Our products carry a five year warranty
and are projected to last up to 100,000 hours. So we're showing serious
savings our best companies, including JC Penny company and we would love
the opportunity to show these savings to you. Thank you.
(Applause.)
>> PHILIP DEVLIEGHER: Great job. Three seconds left on the clock.
Thanks, Jack. Perfect.
And our final finalist, let's bring up John Kirkwood from CityMouse.
(Applause.)
>> PHILIP DEVLIEGHER: So John, how was yesterday's semi finals?
>> JOHN KIRKWOOD: Stressful.
>> PHILIP DEVLIEGHER: Really?
>> JOHN KIRKWOOD: Yeah.
>> PHILIP DEVLIEGHER: But you made it through.
>> JOHN KIRKWOOD: Well, I guess so.
>> PHILIP DEVLIEGHER: Right. So not so bad. Right? So can you give
a word of advice, maybe, to those DOBEs out there who haven't yet done
this? Talk about how to prepare. Like what do you do, how do you prepare?
>> John Kirkwood: I think knowing the message you want to get forward and
boil it down to the key items.
>> PHILIP DEVLIEGHER: (To audience) Got that? Taking notes? Okay ready?.
>> JOHN KIRKWOOD: I'm not sure if I can do that.
>> PHILIP DEVLIEGHER: Sure you can. Let me know when you are ready
and we'll click the timer.
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>> John KIRKWOOD: Okay. I'm ready to go.
>> PHILIP DEVLIEGHER: You're off.
>> JOHN KIRKWOOD: Okay. I am the president and CEO of CityMouse, Inc.
we've done web development since the beginning of the Internet in '96 or
so, we are now making websites compliant to ADA regulations, and opening up
an opportunity to reach out by your businesses to disability market. That
is something I've done in the past through work, putting standards together
for larger agencies and small companies, and I am willing to consult with
you to help you out and moving towards this new market which we all know
has a fantastic buying community and there is a great opportunity for real
charge within your organization and an an access to one of the largest
markets globally.
>> PHILIP DEVLIEGHER: Perfect.
(Applause.)
>> PHILIP DEVLIEGHER: Seven seconds left on the clock. Good job.
Okay. Judges, how you doing over there? Yeah? Beth.
>> BETH BUTLER: Yes.
>> PHILIP DEVLIEGHER: Impressive, right?
>> BETH BUTLER: Absolutely.
>> PHILIP DEVLIEGHER: Julie, what do you think so far.
>> JULIE LOGAN: So far so good.
>> PHILIP DEVLIEGHER: That's right. Tough job ahead.
So as our judges compile their thoughts, let me get your feedback. So
let's go back to Suzanne. So audience, you're going to help me with your
applause or participation somehow. What did we think of Suzanne's pitch?
©2012 US Business Leadership Network (USBLN). All rights reserved.
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(Applause.)
>> PHILIP DEVLIEGHER: Good job, look at that Suzanne, look at all the
fans that you have. Let's go to Jack with Charlotte International Partners.
(Applause.)
>> PHILIP DEVLIEGHER: Good job, Jack. And finally John over there at
the end.
(Applause.)
>> PHILIP DEVLIEGHER: Very good. So, judges, you heard that, you
felt that, you felt the love, right. How we doing? Almost done?
Okay. So we're going to bring back Suzanne for a little one on one
feedback on her pitch. Do you want to step back up. How do you think you
did? Come on over.
>> SUZANNE ROBITAILLE: Good. It was fun looking at everybody out there, so I
Enjoyed it.
>> PHILIP DEVLIEGHER: Do you see any room for opportunity to improve
that pitch? Polish it a little. What do you think?
>> SUZANNE ROBITAILLE: Well, I probably speak too fast and I can probably speak
clearer, but that's just something I have to practice.
>> PHILIP DEVLIEGHER: Okay. Intense though, like 60 seconds goes by
like that.
>> SUZANNE ROBITAILLE: Did I go too fast?
>> PHILIP DEVLIEGHER: No, you were fine on time, but as far as 60
seconds, that's like a short amount of time.
>> SUZANNE ROBITAILLE: Yes, you know what he (John) tried to throw me off and he told
me today's presentation was to be two minutes.
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>> PHILIP DEVLIEGHER: Stop! Was that John over there from CityMouse?
We may have to address that with John.
Thank you, Suzanne.
>> SPEAKER: Thank you.
(Applause.)
>> PHILIP DEVLIEGHER: Jack, come on up. So how do you think you did?
>> JACK SMITH: Well, I think I was little pitchy, but I tried to make
it my own.
>> PHILIP DEVLIEGHER: When you say pitchy, what do you -- oh, I get
it now. Gotcha.
>> JACK SMITH: No, it was a lot of fun. It's hard to tell your whole
story if a 60 second spiel.
>> PHILIP DEVLIEGHER: But you come across situations where you have
to do that sometimes, right?
>> JACK SMITH: Yes.
>> PHILIP DEVLIEGHER: So the informal kind of title of that little
pitch is this elevator speech. So the premise is to pitch your business in
an elevator ride to whoever is in there with you, right?
>> JACK SMITH: That's right. I'm claustrophobic so I don't really like
elevators.
>> PHILIP DEVLIEGHER: Good enough. Thank you. John, come on back
up. So tell me, tell me about, you know, the two minute deal here? Suzanne,
it's two minutes, not one?
>> JOHN KIRKWOOD: I think that was….
>> PHILIP DEVLIEGHER: So how do you think you did?
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>> JOHN KIRKWOOD: I think I did okay. But I think it's so difficult to
get down to a specific situation that you feel like if you drill down into
a specific, then you're not going to get the bigger picture, and that's
what I have a difficult time balancing that in that two minutes.
>> PHILIP DEVLIEGHER: Down to that 60 seconds is hard, or a minute.
Gotcha. Thank you, John.
(Applause.)
>> PHILIP DEVLIEGHER: So judges, what are we thinking? I'd like you
to give us a feedback on each one of them. If it's one of you that can do
that, that's perfectly fine.
>> TIM RUDDELL: Why don't we take one each?
>> PHILIP DEVLIEGHER: What do the judges think about Suzanne's pitch.
>> TIM RUDDELL: I thought Suzanne was a great speaker and I really
liked the way she started with the analogy of it's the new green. I think
that was great.
>> JULIE LOGAN: I would agree where that too. She caught my
attention with her introduction so it made me want to listen and then she
went into her introduction about herself and her company, which made me
want to listen even more.
>> PHILIP DEVLIEGHER: So it's engaging that audience, right, that
you're speaking to is so critical initially.
>> JULIE LOGAN: Absolutely.
>> PHILIP DEVLIEGHER: Let's go to Jack. How did Jack with Charlotte
International Partners do?
>> BETH BUTLER: I think Jack's comments were right out of the gate
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talking about the ROI which is relevant in today's market, so I thought
that was a strong piece of what he shared.
>> JULIE LOGAN: I'd love to add his tone came across to me as very
confident. He knew the ins and outs about his company, great eye contact
with the audience. Everything that he said, it was like he knows this
company inside and out, so it made me want the know more as well.
>> PHILIP DEVLIEGHER: So having that confidence, having passion in
what you do translates to your audience when you really feel it, they feel
it too.
>> JULIE LOGAN: Yes. As a corporation, if you are presenting to me
as a corporation, I would want to feel that, that you're coming to me
knowing your business on the inside and out, and what's the value, why
should I as a corporation bring you on to do work for me, and I think he
portrayed that.
>> PHILIP DEVLIEGHER: That's perfect.
>> TIM RUDDELL: I agree with that. I think the business case is
strong, talking about return on investments, energy reduction. I'm
responsible for sustainable procurement as well, so as well as supplying a
diverse supplier, sustainability benefits, cost production, so it's a win
win win from my perspective.
>> PHILIP DEVLIEGHER: Perfect. Finally, John with CityMouse. How
did John do?
>> JULIE LOGAN: Anyone? Well, I will start with John. Again, the
selling point, the confidence. Really portraying the confidence. It
sounded like you really knew about your business, from the heart, I didn't
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33
really feel that just a little bit, so in presenting a better eye contact
as well for me would have probably made me really, really listen a little
more, so I would recommend really practicing that confidence and knowing
who you are in your company and really portraying that.
>> SPEAKER: And I would also suggest that -- I mean the tone is
really important, how you -- your voice carries and the conviction and that
passion in your voice is really, really important. I absolutely see the
value and believe you know your company, but I want to feel that as a
potential customer, that you are -- you've got that passion and that conviction
about what you are offering my company.
>> PHILIP DEVLIEGHER: Great feedback. So give OUR judges a round
of applause.
(Applause.)
>> PHILIP DEVLIEGHER: Okay. We're down to the final three, and I
think we have our winners. Perfect.
We are READY. So you know what, let's go to commercial break before we
announce our winners, right? How is that?
[PSA plays for one minute encouraging disability suppliers to “Get in the Game-Get Certified”}
(Applause.)
>> PHILIP DEVLIEGHER: So I suppose you're all wondering, what these
shirts were all about, right? And take a look around. Who is wearing
these shirts? Well, the white shirts stating “I’m in the Game-I’m Certified” are USBLN
certified DOBEs, we actually have 42 certified DOBEs.
(Applause.)
>> PHILIP DEVLIEGHER: And those in black shirts (“Get in the Game-Get Certified”)
©2012 US Business Leadership Network (USBLN). All rights reserved.
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are the USBLN support team corporate partners, supplier diversity program leaders,
you could be one of them, so come on, give them a round of applause as well.
(Applause.)
>> PHILIP DEVLIEGHER: Pretty good taste in shirts, right. Good job.
Good job. Okay. So here we are. The…Final…Three. And we're going to
start with actually announcing the prizes. How is that? So our second
runner up or our third DOBE will win a one-hour business executive coaching
from our friends at Southwest Airlines, so they will be working with their
supplier diversity team on a coaching session on how to improve that pitch,
so thank you Southwest Airlines for offering that up.
Our first runner up or our second DOBE will actually win a round trip
air fare for one via Southwest Airlines, again, thank you Southwest for
your support.
And then our Entrepreneurial Idol for 2012 will win round trip ticket from
Southwest Airlines, a check for $500 and a meeting with the DSDP
corporate member, Walgreens, give them a hand. The 1st place winner will meet
with a Walgreens category manager or department decision-maker
Walgreens category manager and hopefully will have a contract after that
conversation at some point. Here we go.
So our second runner up is John Kirkwood with CityMouse. Come on up,
John.
Okay. Please have a seat, John. Thank you. Our final two, come on
up here. Come on up. Jack, Suzanne, this is it. The pressure is
mounting. Okay. Our first runner up and the winner of our round trip
ticket from Southwest Airlines is Suzanne Robitaille.
©2012 US Business Leadership Network (USBLN). All rights reserved.
35
And our winner of 2012 Entrepreneurial Idol is Jack Smith from
Charlotte international Partners.
(Applause.) Congratulations, give them all a round of applause.
(Applause...)
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36
17
>> PHILIP DEVLIEGHER: And of course we have to have the giant $500 check,
right?
>> JACK SMITH: So Suzanne and ->> PHILIP DEVLIEGHER: Come on up.
>> JACK SMITH: Thank you: Thank you very much. Suzanne and I would
like to donate these two round trip tickets to the family of a disability
veteran who needs air transportation to visit a loved one in the hospital.
(Applause.)
>> PHILIP DEVLIEGHER: Give them a round of applause. That's
tremendous. We have our Spartacus, right? We have our Spartacus.
Very good, and before we leave our session this morning, I'd like to
give a shout out to Patricia Richards, who is the director of the supplier
diversity certification program here at the USBLN. And Patricia is a
tireless advocate and, you know, one that can manage just a lot of
different stake holders, so she's not only working with corporate members
and diverse suppliers but a whole audience of people that have their own
special needs, so Patricia, I'd like to give you a round of applause for
all of your hard work.
(Applause.) Please stand up.
>> PHILIP DEVLIEGHER: And I hope and trust that next year our
audience will be filled with shirts both black and white, right? To
demonstrate your support of the supplier diversity program here at the
USBLN, so again, thank you very much. Congratulations to our idols and our
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37
finalists. Thank you.
(Applause.)
>> JILL HOUGHTON: Thank you, Philip, we love you. Thank you,
judges.
>> PHILIP DEVLIEGHER: My pleasure.
>> JILL HOUGHTON: I just also want to say, on behalf of the board of
directors, from the USBLN, this is such an amazing opportunity for us.
This vision of a disability supplier diversity program two years ago was
really just an idea, and what I hope that those of you in this room here
today is that people with disabilities have options. I always say when I
am speaking, I love the companies that I have worked for, but guess what,
not everybody wants to grow were and work at Lowe's or work at Wells Fargo,
no offense and there are options out there and to see the entrepreneurial
spirit that people with disabilities have options and we are now at the
table in companies like KPMG and Wells Fargo and Lowe's, that is a huge
step for our community, so thank you guys so much and go back to your
companies and talk about supplier diversity. Thank you.
(Applause.)
>> JILL HOUGHTON: Okay. So that was great.
We're ready to give out prizes and I wanted to do something really
quick. On the screen up here, there are 24 companies in our mix that have
stepped up and they are the first to not only recognize our certification
but they are including disability owned businesses. This is history, we
are paving the way, I want to quick acknowledge them, there are 15 founding
corporate partners and they are Ernst & Young, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac,
©2012 US Business Leadership Network (USBLN). All rights reserved.
38
IBM, KPMG, Marriott, Merck, Microsoft, Sodexo, Southwest, SunTrust,
Wal-Mart, WellPoint, Wells Fargo, those are our 15 founding partners.
(Applause.)
>> JILL HOUGHTON: In 2008, when we set sail to research this
program, it was those 15 companies that stepped out and they took a risk
and they helped us build this thing from ground zero, but there are two
other entities that are not corporations, they are nonprofits and without
them, we would not be and one of their board chairs is in the mix here.
Where is Chris Crespo? I wanted to tell you something. We're going to
talk about this forever. We went to the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber
of Commerce, I don't want to cry because this is hope, but it's so awesome,
it's unbelievable. We went to Justin and Chance, the cofounders of NGLCC
and they opened their arms like this and they said you don't have to
recreate the wheel. We will teach you everything we know, and we went to
the Women's Business Enterprise National Council or WBENC and they do the
certification of women owned business and they opened their arms and they
said we'll teach you everything we know.
Okay. I about fell out of my chair when they said that, but I really
fell out of my chair when they said we'll teach you everything you knowing
all you have to do is define disability. Okay. There are only 70 federal
definitions and could there be a topic any more contention. But we did it
and we included disabled veteran businesses in our mix and without NGLCC and
WBENC and our founding partners we wouldn't exist: IBM, Walmart, SWA, Fannie Mae,
Freddie Mac, KPMG, Sodexo, Marriott, Ernst & Young, SunTrust Bank, Qualcomm,
Wells Fargo, Merck, WellPoint and Microsoft. Just to take it a step further and
©2012 US Business Leadership Network (USBLN). All rights reserved.
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then I'm almost done. There are an additional nine corporate partners that have come
on board since those 15 and they are AMC, Bank of America, Lowe's, Mitsubishi Electric,
Northrop Grumman, Novartis, Prudential, TJX Companies, Walgreens
they are here in full force because they are getting ready for tonight.
Let's give it up for all of our partners.
Now, let me tell you something. Patricia Richards, she's a force.
This woman came from corporate America, she's one of you. She was in
procurement and supplier diversity for 25 years in the oil and gas industry
And we are so lucky to have you. Without you, we would not be. And when
we go to NGLCC events and WBENC events, I can't get
across the room because she is surrounded by her peers and there is nobody
Who doesn’t know Patricia Richards.
So because of that, there are people in this room, and you know who
you are, and you are here because you know Patricia Richards and she's
dating you, and guess what, next year, at our conference in LA, we want to say
we're married, because we want to say that this number of 24 has grown. All
right! So we invite you, to get in the game, baby, get in the game. Get
in the game, get in the game. Come on, get in the game. Get in the game.
How about I'm in the game, I'm in the game.
Thank you.
©2012 US Business Leadership Network (USBLN). All rights reserved.
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