Peer to Peer (P2P) events for Corporates and WBEs new to Supplier Diversity launch

August 12, 2015

This summer brought the launch of another exciting series from WBE Canada: Peer to Peer (P2P) sessions. Building on the success of the existing series like Breakfast with Brands™, the new P2P sessions partners new WBEs and new Corporate members with those more experienced and achieving success within Supplier Diversity and the WBE Canada Community for knowledge gaining and experience sharing purposes. The P2P sessions have been designed in two streams, WBE-WBE and Corporate-Corporate, often with a specific topic or area for development highlighted. However, it was apparent from the first two events that learning extended beyond that.

WBE-WBE P2P
Photos: WBE-WBE P2P

On July 15th a selected group WBEs gathered for the first P2P session, WBE-WBE Focus on Follow-up. The morning opened with breakfast and networking, and a brief presentation from Mary Anderson, President of WBE Canada about supplier diversity today and why women have such an important influence on purchasing decisions. Then WBEs got down to business, in a roundtable format. Some of the topics reviewed were:

  • Gaining access to corporate clients
  • Matchmaker meetings
  • Supplier diversity events
  • Registering on supplier portals
  • Capability statements
  • Follow-up process
  • Issues and opportunities

Many of the newer WBEs appreciated the advice and candor of those WBEs achieving success through WBE Canada certification.

Corporate-Corporate P2P
Photos: Corporate-Corporate P2P

Then on August 11th it was the Corporate Members’ turn to join WBE Canada for Corporate Roundtables Connections in the Peer to Peer (P2P) series. Corporations at all different stages in their supplier diversity journey came together for knowledge gaining and experience sharing purposes. Among those attending were Toyota, RBC, APG, City of Toronto and The DATA Group of Companies. It was wonderful opportunity for all those in attendance to hear the experiences of WBE Canada Corporate members meeting with new WBE diverse suppliers and how they are gaining inside top level executive support for their SD initiatives, and learn about some of the common challenges they face.

For more information about WBE Canada’s P2P sessions contact Mary Anderson at manderson(at)wbecanada(dot)org.

Posted in Media Release