Canadian Women Business Enterprises (WBEs) Get Connected To Financial Industry Supply Chains
On March 5th WBE Canada held its first “Breakfast with Brands” event of 2020 by bringing together certified women-owned businesses and buyers from WBE Canada Corporate Member organizations in the Financial sector and their Tier 1 suppliers. Breakfast With Brands: Financial Industry was hosted at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre and sponsored by RBC.
WBE Canada’s Breakfast with Brands events are designed to be educational and informative, providing greater access to procurement networks for women-owned businesses looking to succeed in corporate supply chains. Each event targets a specific industry sector, introducing WBEs to corporate leaders and procurement professionals creating a unique opportunity to create relationships and do business.
WBE Canada Member corporations participating in this year’s Breakfast with Brands: Financial Industry included BDC, BMO, CIBC, Cotton Candy, Government of Canada, RBC, Staples Promotional Products, Sun Life Financial, and TD Bank, with buyers meeting over 40 WBEs representing a wide range of solutions including Training, Consulting, IT, Event Support, Promotional Products, Construction, Building Maintenance and many others. Each year this event exemplifies the wide range of opportunities, many not traditionally associated with the financial sector, that are available to women-owned businesses looking to do business within the industry.
Attendees also had the opportunity to hear featured keynote speaker Natalie Marchesan, Global Head of Procurement at RBC, leading a team responsible for all strategic sourcing activities associated with $8 billion of spend. Natalie mentioned that even though the number of women owned businesses has been steadily increasing, only 10% of companies with 100+ employees are women owned. With systemic barriers to women entrepreneurship it is critical to support supplier diversity programs to ensure that women have opportunities to participate in corporate and government procurement opportunities. Natalie also shared 3 reasons why supplier diversity matters
- Economic impact
- Better services
- SMEs with equal access learn, evolve and realize business growth
Thank you to all who attended Breakfast with Brands: Financial Industry with special appreciation to RBC for their continuing sponsorship of this event.
About WBE Canada
WBE Canada is a Canadian non-profit organization that is opening doors for women-owned businesses to supply chains across North America. It certifies Canadian firms that are at least 51% owned, managed and controlled by women and introduces them to opportunities with corporations. To learn more about how we support women-owned businesses, click here. If you are a mid-size or large company looking to support women-owned businesses through procurement opportunities, we want to hear from you. Click here to learn more how you can get involved.