Supplier Diversity
Harness organizational spending as a lever for supplier diversity and social impact using Carolyn Arthur's 5 step CARES framework.Transform your organization’s impact through intentional spending.
About Carolyn Arthur
Carolyn Arthur (she/her) is an industry leader in supplier diversity. She shares the unwritten rules of procurement so that all businesses can have opportunities to bid on public sector contacts. Carolyn has designed large scale supplier diversity programs for the University of British Columbia and the Government of Canada. Her 10+ years of public procurement experience means she knows how decision making actually happens on the inside, can see the opportunities and creates structural change.
Carolyn brings a big vision for how organizational spending can be used as a lever for equity and inclusion. She’s as passionate about getting the details right as she is about equity and justice.
She works with Indigenous-owned businesses to drive economic reconciliation. In her first year at UBC she built a team that drove a 50% increase in spending with Indigenous owned businesses. She has worked with Black-owned businesses to bring business opportunities to Black businesses.
She is a prism for internal and external change in large organizations–both reflecting inward as a catalyst for equity and justice and reflecting outward to build relationships and illuminate opportunities for external partners and vendors. As a queer, Black, mixed race woman, she has first hand experience navigating systems that weren’t built for her. She models professionalism, empathy and cultural humility in her work.
10+ years of public sector experience:
- Led a team at UBC that increased year over year spending with Indigenous businesses by 50% in the first year.
- 5+ years experience at Public Service and Procurement Canada as a strategic partner for high dollar value ($20M+) and complex procurement processes.
- Led procurement, including Indigenous participation, for over 10 contracting processes, including the 5 year Alaska Highway maintenance contract and ʔapsčiik t̓ašii trail in Pacific Rim National Park Reserve.
- Co-designed the award winning Procurement & Certification Readiness Course with Black Entrepreneurs & Businesses of Canada Society.
Awards winning industry leader:
- Black Entrepreneurs & Businesses of Canada Society Community Partner Award, 2024
- Canadian Business for Social Responsibility Procurement Fellow, 2024
- Public Service and Procurement Canada, Award of Excellence 2020
- Public Service and Procurement Canada, National Procurement Award, 2020
The 5 step CARES framework
Carolyn has developed the 5 step CARES framework for supplier diversity work:
C: Commitment from the organization
A: Assessing existing processes
R: Roadmap or planning
E: Evaluate and track change
S: Shifting colonial systems
Commitment from the organization
Supplier diversity programs need to connect to the organization’s overall objectives.
Assess existing processes
This assessment looks at many things including: the organization’s purpose and direction, existing procurement processes, internal and external relationships and an analysis of current spend data.
Roadmap for action
Documenting the vision, strategy and goals, including specific actions to get there and a plan for transparency and communication along the journey.
Evaluate and track change
This could include regular reporting on spend data, new vendor relationships, participation from different cost centers and vendor satisfaction surveys.
Shift colonial systems
It’s not just about increasing spend with diverse suppliers, it’s also about the people in the organization shifting their attitudes and the organization itself shifting to be more flexible and a good business partner.
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