“Supplier diversity is important in life because equity, parity, and inclusion are important to the ecosystem of human life.” – Courtney Williams

Courtney Williams is a supplier diversity manager at Evergy, a company that delivers utility services to 1.8 million residential and commercial customers in Kansas and Missouri. Courtney has worked in community engagement for over 20 years and is passionate about the development of diverse businesses as a way to create local impact and foster generational wealth. As a supplier diversity manager for Evergy, Courtney is also dedicated to increasing the culture of supply chain inclusion and the development of impactful business relationships. She holds a Master’s degree in Mass Communication from Lindenwood University.

Courtney joins us today to discuss why cultivating supplier diversity in the energy sector is an engine for economic development and economic justice. She describes her professional journey in supplier diversity and how she became a part of the Evergy family. She explains Evergy’s goal and its approach to making its supply chain more diverse and inclusive. She outlines Evergy’s three pillars as an organization and how supplier diversity aligns with them. She highlights why, despite the necessity of ensuring spending on diverse firms, it’s still imperative to treat them according to their merits and the quality of the products they provide. Courtney also underscores why having an economic impact report is crucial and why it’s essential to have policies, practices, and procedures that make it easy to be inclusive in supplier diversity opportunities.

This week on Breaking Barriers:

• Courtney’s background and role as a supplier diversity manager at Evergy
  
• How supplier diversity aligns with Evergy’s overall vision and mission
  
• Why passion plays a critical role in supplier chain diversity
  
• How diverse spend can impact companies and communities
  
• Balancing stakeholders, shareholders, and risk factors when onboarding suppliers
  
• Getting stakeholders to support inclusive procurement in supplier diversity
  
• Evergy’s programs and outreach efforts for diverse entrepreneurs
  
• Ensuring that diverse communities have access to supply chain opportunities
  
• Unconscious bias in supplier diversity management
  
• Common myths and misconceptions in supply chain diversity and about diverse suppliers
  
• Data transparency and the power of reporting on diverse spend
  
• Environmental, Social, and Governance practices at Evergy
  
• Evergy’s programs to build diverse supplier ecosystems
  
• Our plans for the ecosystem and community we’re building
  

Connect with Courtney Williams:

• Evergy
  
• Evergy on LinkedIn
  
• Evergy on YouTube
  
• Evergy on Facebook
  
• Evergy on Twitter
  
• Email: Courtney.Williams@Evergy.com |Supplier.Diversity@Evergy.com
  

This podcast is brought to you by Hire Ground

Hire Ground is a technology company whose mission is to bridge the wealth gap through access to procurement opportunities. Hire Ground is making the enterprise ecosystem more viable, profitable, and competitive by clearing the path for minority-led, women-led, LGBT-led, and veteran-led small businesses to contribute to the global economy as suppliers to enterprise organizations.

For more information on getting started please visit us @ hireground.io today!

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