WEConnect International’s Sustainable Supply Chain Management Training Program is a premier learning opportunity brought to you through a partnership with Danone, Diageo, and Google to reach up to 150 Diverse-Owned Businesses (DOBs) from a wide range of sectors drawn from businesses that are women-owned, LGBTQIA+-owned, disability-owned, and minority-owned in order to:

• Increase their knowledge and develop new skills around sustainability and procurement,
• Drive the implementation of more sustainable practices,
• Strengthen market access by implementing sustainable practices and producing sustainable goods, and
• Provide data regarding the usefulness and applicability of sustainability training.

Program Overview

Selected diverse-owned business leaders will embark on a 2-month learning path that will:

• Introduce key sustainability concepts that are guiding business processes and policies within global corporations, especially as they relate to procurement,
• Identify sustainability actions that diverse suppliers should be looking to implement to become or remain competitive in global market chains, and
• Leverage the internal expertise and resources of the corporate project partners to promote the implementation of sustainability principles with their businesses.

Program Dates

The Program will start in September 2023 and conclude in December 2023.

• Program Communication, Outreach, and Participant Selection – September 2023
• CEO Kickoff and Training (Live) – October 19, 2023 from 15:00 – 16:30 CET
• Individual Self-Paced Online Training and Assessment – October 23 – November 17, 2023
• 4-Hour Virtual Workshop (Live) – December 4 – 15, 2023

CEO Kickoff and Training

The live 90-minute session will provide the opportunity for leaders from Danone, Diageo, Google, and WEConnect International to showcase the need that exists within their organizations and supply chains for supporting sustainability practices. The session will be hosted and facilitated by IEMA CEO, Sarah Mukherjee MBE and provide opportunities for the corporate partners to highlight the positive steps that can be made when working collaboratively to combat climate change. Read our speakers’ bios.

Individual Self-Paced Online Training and Assessment

After attending the CEO Kickoff and Training event, up to 150 diverse-owned businesses will be enrolled into an eLearning program entitled Environmental Sustainability Skills for Managers.  The training is an online comprehensive experience providing the learner with not only foundational awareness of key sustainability issues, but actionable steps they can take to improve their organization’s sustainability performance. At the completion of the online curriculum (4-6 hours), the learner will be provided access to a virtual assessment that consists of a 20-question, 30-minute time limit, open book assessment.  Upon successful completion, the learner will be given both a digital badge and digital certification.

Four-Hour Virtual Workshop

Based on the completion of the self-directed learning and scoring, 75 diverse-owned business leaders will be selected to proceed into one of five 15-person virtually live facilitated workshops.  The core learning outcomes are to provide the opportunity for each diverse-owned business to answer for themselves and their company:

• What does environmental sustainability mean for my organization?
• What considerations do I need to focus on for my organization’s strategy?
• What organizations are leading with environmental sustainability and why?
• What are the implications of complying with environmental law?
• What could a new strategy look like within my company?

Who Should Apply

• Are you a women-owned, LGBTQIA+-owned, disability-owned, or minority-owned company?
• Are you ready to grow your knowledge and technical skills in moving to the next level in your response to sustainability practices?
• Are you willing and able to invest up to 12 hours of time spread across 2 months in a variety of learning opportunities?

The program is progressing into Phase 3: 4-Hour Virtual Workshops.  All learners have been notified of their selection status. Please contact Dan Holdredge for any questions.

Training partner: