EY to direct $100 million to women-owned businesses

EY has announced that it will direct US$100 million of global purchasing spend to women-owned businesses around the world over the next three years as part of its Women. Fast forward campaign.

EY says the agreement shows its ongoing commitment to progressing women in business and aims to help ensure that women-owned businesses receive fair and equal access to corporate and public sector procurement opportunities.

The Women. Fast forward programme was launched in 2015 and has supported a number of global initiatives in education, entrepreneurship, employment, leadership and sport. It is estimated that women-owned businesses currently receive less than 1% of the global purchasing spend by large corporations and governments.

Karin Lutz, Global Leader, EY Beacon Institute and Women. Fast forward, says: “Our Women. Fast forward programme aims to inspire big and small actions that empower women. Today’s commitment is a wonderful and concrete example of what companies can do to advance gender parity. By working with WEConnect International, EY directly supports women-owned businesses to create significant impact. We look forward to welcoming even more women-owned businesses into our supplier network and hope to see more of these businesses prosper and grow inclusively.”

EY has a variety of strategic sourcing and procurement approaches which actively identify, develop and initiate business with small and minority-owned businesses including women, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people, people with disabilities and veterans.

Theresa Harrison, EY Global Diversity & Inclusiveness Procurement Leader, says: “At EY, we are committed to growing and maintaining a diverse supplier base and building relationships with suppliers that reflect the markets and communities we serve. We seek to actively identify, develop and do business with diverse suppliers as an integral component of our strategic sourcing and procurement activity.”

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