Pivoting with Partners to Boost Supplier Diversity and Inclusion Worldwide

Virtual has become the new normal.

But how can we continue to do business, make connections and boost supplier diversity and inclusion worldwide when we can’t meet face-to-face?

WEConnect International has always leveraged technology to serve member buyers and women business owners based in over 120 countries. Since the very beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, technology has become not just one way, but the way WEConnect International delivers on our mission. We started by hosting our annual Cyber Gala virtually over a 24-hour period in April and continued that effort by leveraging technology for International Day in June to make it easier for women-owned businesses, corporate leaders and partners to learn and network together. And since then our team of global experts have been delivering compelling training and conferences virtually around the world.

As summer winds down, the pandemic continues to impact businesses of all sizes in our global network. WEConnect International is committed to working with our network to develop and test innovative solutions to reach even more women business owners virtually with webinars led by our member buyers, mentoring opportunities with our certified women-owned enterprises and new funding partnerships that will enable us to expand our support to ultimately put more money into the hands of women.

Our registration numbers are booming – since the beginning of the year, we’ve added almost 2,000 new women-owned businesses to our growing database. Because of our strong local partnerships, we have also added five new countries to our network of women suppliers that are able to register their businesses with us for free.

We are proud to announce our newest member buyers -- Olam International Limited, Standard Chartered Bank and Takeda Pharmaceutical Company as global members and Export Development Canada (EDC) and Kroger as market members in Canada. Most of these corporations have already participated in our events and are actively engaging with women-owned businesses.

And our exciting expansion will continue next month when we launch the new WECommunity database, a platform with a more efficient and user-friendly interface. WECommunity will allow member buyers to post simple solicitations so that women-owned businesses can pitch their products and services and compete for business deals. Perhaps most importantly, WECommunity will be available in 10 languages to make it as easy as possible for buyers and women suppliers to connect. 

As part of this upgrade, our website is being redesigned to make it more modern, compelling and user-friendly. We’ll be showcasing the success stories of our women-owned businesses front and center as well as our members buyers and their commitment to more inclusive and productive value chains.

COVID-19 has rocked the global economy. But with these major challenges, there are new opportunities to pivot and find creative and often virtual solutions to meet the dynamic needs of people and organizations. United together as partners in this shared commitment to supplier diversity and inclusion, we can all rebuild and make our value chains and economies stronger and more resilient for a better tomorrow.