The Real Impact of Supplier Diversity: How BMO is Recognizing the Power of Women Entrepreneurs and Helping Them Succeed

Financial confidence is a huge contributing factor to success and growth of women-owned businesses. In Canada, when we think about financial confidence in women, we think BMO for Women. BMO for Women recognizes the importance of women in the Canadian economy and ensures that women entrepreneurs are well equipped with the tools and resources they need to be financially secure and confident.

BMO is a founding member of WBE Canada with a strong commitment to supplier diversity which spans across the organization. BMO considers diversity and inclusion one of its core values and make them an integral part of what they do. Their approach to supporting Canadian business women is holistic – from financing, through ensuring that events they host and participate in have diverse representation, to commitment to buy from diverse suppliers.

One of the businesses that has benefited greatly from BMO’s supplier diversity program is MediaFace, a content creation company, certified with WBE Canada in 2016. Founded in 2007, MediaFace was one of the first content companies in Canada and has also been included in the Growth 500 list as one of Canada’s Fastest Growing Companies.

At this year’s Annual Conference WBE Canada had an opportunity to have both Laura Reinholz, Head of BMO for Women and Lisa Bragg, CEO and Founder, MediaFace on Hot Seats, interviewed by Tony Chapman, host of the Chatter that Matters podcast.

They talked about the many benefits of WBE certification, the role that organizations like BMO for Women play in helping women-owned businesses grow, the importance of sticking to one’s core values and helping other women-owned businesses. As Lisa correctly puts it “Shining your light on someone else actually makes your light bigger”.

It is exciting to see large Canadian corporations like BMO driving economic growth through their commitment to buying from Canadian women-owned businesses like MediaFace. Such commitment is needed especially during the pandemic and will have a significant impact during the post-pandemic recovery.

WBE Canada is a Canadian nonprofit organization working closely with corporations and governments advocating for inclusion of Canadian WBEs in supply chains across Canada and abroad. To ensure diversity in supply chains WBE Canada works closely with its Corporate and Government members to provide necessary training and support to help establish and develop supplier diversity initiatives. Explore our Corporate/Government membership here.

Is your business majority owned, managed and controlled by woman/women? Learn how to certify your business as WBE (Women Business Enterprise).