Corporate Member Story: BELL

Starting a Supplier Diversity Program

Launched in 2014, Bell’s Supplier Diversity program promotes sourcing opportunities to capable suppliers, allowing them to better reflect the diverse customers and communities they serve.  Increasing the visibility of diverse suppliers allows Bell access to more innovative concepts, creating better products and services and opening doors within communities, supporting the economy and scale of diverse businesses. 

Since its inception, Bell has continued to develop and enhance its supplier diversity program. Becoming a WBE Canada corporate member in 2015, Bell made it a priority to leverage all of WBE Canada’s tools and resources at their disposal. From implementation of key strategies through augmented internal communications, Bell has championed Supplier Diversity across all its departments internally with the result that full time staff are now dedicated to manage their Supplier Diversity Program including tracking and reporting. 

Kayla Maduk is Supplier Diversity Manager at Bell. In 2021, Bell was the recipient of WBE Canada’s Excellence Award for Most Improved Supplier Diversity Program and in 2022 Kayla was one of the top 3 finalists of the Top Supplier Diversity Leader Award. Kayla is quick to explain the reason behind the success of Bell’s Supplier Diversity Program.

“The advice that I have for corporations that are looking at starting their Supplier Diversity program is to really lean on WBE Canada” said Kayla Maduk. “What we (Bell) did when we started was to take advantage of all their tips, tricks, their resources. The thing that I personally got help from was Jamie Crump’s Accelerator program.” 

Kayla Maduk

Supplier Diversity Manager, Bell

Kayla was appointed Supplier Diversity Manager at Bell in July 2020, following posts in the communication company’s marketing communications and mass advertising departments. 

A vibrant and authentic leader, striving to make a positive social and economic impact through a career in diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging, Kayla offers a deep knowledge of supplier diversity within the Canadian landscape. She has significant experience in program management, from strategic planning and innovative problem solving, to operationalizing program initiatives, to data analytics and reporting. Kayla is a graduate of Carleton University, Ottawa and is a 3 time ITF Taekwon-Do World Champion.

WBE Canada’s Supplier Diversity Accelerator Program is designed to provide its corporate members with customized advice and support to help them design their own strategy, resolve their unique challenges and implement a supplier diversity program that will be sustainable and successful in the long term. 

Interested in learning more about the benefits of becoming a WBE Canada Corporate Member or Partner? Find out more www.wbecanada.ca/corporate-membership