Driving Change in the Marketplace Through Increasing Vendor Diversity
Tapestry hosts inaugural Vendor Diversity Business Development Forum
At Tapestry we believe that difference sparks brilliance. Equity, inclusion and diversity (EI&D) pave the way for unlocking the potential of our people, our business and our communities. As such, we aim to cultivate possibilities for everyone, including our business partners.
Embracing our responsibility in the marketplace as a global fashion company is a key focus of EI&D at Tapestry. We are committed to affecting positive change for our industry and delivering on our value proposition to stakeholders – consumers, investors, employees and vendor partners. And we know that doing business with a diverse range of vendors serves to enhance the strength of Tapestry as a whole.
In March, Tapestry hosted its inaugural Vendor Diversity Business Development Forum at the company’s headquarters in New York City. The event was developed to connect diverse vendors with our sourcing team and business stakeholders in-person. The day brought together five of Tapestry’s vendors and select members of their teams from across the U.S. to share learnings and best practices from certified diverse vendors capable of fulfilling Tapestry’s current and future procurement opportunities.
The event kicked off with a session from Tapestry’s Chief Diversity Officer, David Casey and Rondette Amoy Smith, Director, Global Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity. Casey and Amoy Smith spoke about their team’s efforts and goals at Tapestry and specifically how they are focused on educating, equipping and empowering the business to leverage EI&D as a differentiator in our workforce and marketplace.
Jason Livingston, Manager of Tapestry’s Vendor Diversity Program, gave an overview of Tapestry’s Vendor Diversity Program, progress to date and forward-looking plans. Each vendor was then invited to introduce themselves and describe how they work with Tapestry.
One of the many highlights of the forum was a panel discussion that included one representative from each vendor. The vibrant discussions included topics such as dispelling common myths about diverse vendors, the benefits of working with a diverse vendor, and the challenges diverse vendors face when doing business with corporations. Balancing out the day was a presentation by the advocacy group Disability:IN, where we learned that most disabilities are non-apparent.
Tapestry is proud of the progress we’ve made to develop and implement a formal vendor diversity program and we’ve only just begun our journey. Looking ahead, we aim to pursue a best-in-class corporate program, including accountability throughout the organization, advancing our partnerships with advocacy groups and tracking tier two performance.
Brian Spitzkeit, Senior Vice President of Global Procurement and Transportation said, “This was a great opportunity to hear a wide variety of perspectives from our vendor community and advocacy groups. We are still at the beginning of our Vendor Diversity journey at Tapestry but events like this help accelerate our learnings and provide clarity on our path forward.”
Christiane Ocampo, Vice President, Global Procurement, Tapestry said, “The inaugural Tapestry Vendor Diversity Business Development Forum was exactly what I thought it would be – A collaborative space to share information with stakeholders and vendors. We can leverage what we learned to help continue to elevate Tapestry’s Vendor Diversity program.”
Kirsten Craig from Activate, an experiential marketing company, was in attendance and said, “This was probably one of the most helpful and…insightful supplier diversity experiences that I've had in our 10 years of being certified. I also really appreciated that Tapestry brands had their full procurement team here to listen and learn. It's amazing to be heard, but what's really exciting is building a relationship so that we can continue expanding our work together.”
Interested in working with Tapestry? Learn more about our vendor diversity program here.
