Columbia College of Chicago is a private liberal arts college offering over 60 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in the arts, media, and communications fields. The college is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive community and has established a Supplier Diversity Program to increase opportunities for qualified diverse enterprises. The program aims to achieve this by actively seeking out diverse suppliers for goods and services.

Challenge: Columbia College of Chicago engaged our LRBC to help them develop a strategic brand plan for their Supplier Diversity Program. Our objective was to research and identify ways to increase participation from diverse suppliers, educate the college community on the importance of supplier diversity, and provide support to existing suppliers. We needed to gather information about the current program, understand the challenges faced by suppliers, and develop a comprehensive plan that would increase participation and engagement with the program.

Process: Our team began by conducting a comprehensive analysis of the current program. We reviewed the program's history, objectives, and previous initiatives. We also conducted a peer analysis of similar programs in other educational institutions and organizations to gather best practices and identify potential challenges.

Next, we developed a research plan that included surveys, contract analysis, industry trends and interviews with the college's procurement team and potential diverse suppliers. The survey was designed to understand the challenges faced by underrepresented diverse suppliers in doing business with institutions and companies.

The interviews provided more in-depth insights into the key stakeholder challenges and helped us identify specific areas for improvement. We also conducted a peer analysis of the supplier diversity programs of other institutions to identify opportunities to differentiate Columbia College's program.

Outcome: Based on our research, we developed a comprehensive strategic plan for Columbia College's Supplier Diversity Program. Our plan included tailored recommendations and data to support three key areas:

1. Education and outreach

2. Supplier engagement with a strategic storytelling lens

3. Innovating the program metrics and procurement evaluation process

Overall, our strategic plan provided Columbia College of Chicago with a roadmap to increase participation from diverse suppliers, educate the college community on the importance of supplier diversity, and provide support to the existing suppliers. The college has already begun implementing some of our recommendations, and we are confident that our plan will help them achieve their goals of creating a more diverse and inclusive community.