Rise2theChallenge Campaign Results Are In: 10 Member Buyers Collectively Commit $22.4 Billion — By Elizabeth A. Vazquez

In honor of International Women’s Day, I’m pleased to announce the results of our WEConnect International year-long #Rise2theChallenge campaign!  

We are thrilled that 10 of our member buyers have collectively committed to source at least $22.4 billion in goods and services by 2025 from companies with diverse ownership, with a focus on women-owned firms. Each company was required to quantify its public commitment with some making the decision to include small and diverse businesses in their commitment: 

• Diageo committed to spend 10% with diverse suppliers and agencies globally by 2025 and 15% by 2030.  
• Goldman Sachs committed to increasing its spend with small and diverse vendors, which includes women-owned businesses, by 50% by 2025. 
• Intel committed to a goal of spending $500 million annually with women-owned businesses by the end of 2025.  
• Johnson & Johnson committed to a 20% increase global impact spend with small and diverse suppliers by 2025.  

• Kyndryl committed to increasing its non-U.S. supplier diversity spend by 10% by 2025, which includes working with women-owned businesses. 
• Logitech initiated a process to achieve a 10% year-over-year spend growth with women-owned businesses within its indirect spend. 
• Moody’s Corporation pledged 5% of its 2021 procurement budget toward integrating women-owned businesses into its supply chain.  
• Procter & Gamble commits to spending $10 billion with women-owned and women-led businesses by 2025. 
• Sanofi committed to double its woman-owned business spend by 2025 and to spend over 1.5B euros (US$1.7 billion) with small and diverse businesses by 2025. This will represent more than 20% of Sanofi’s addressable spend.  

• Unilever pledged to commit $2 billion Euros with diverse businesses by 2025. 

We recognize that these leaders have taken bold actions, and we look forward to working with them as they ramp up their buying from women suppliers with the goal of driving greater socio-economic equity in communities around the world. Ensuring procurement systems are inclusive is not an easy process, but all organizations should follow their lead and make a commitment if we want to achieve equality in our lifetime.