5.26.21
Regenerative Procurement

Growing Jobs, Income, and Wealth through Procurement

Led by staff of the Center for Economic Inclusion

Today, a minuscule percent of corporate discretionary purchasing is spent with local, minority-owned businesses - despite the significant economic impact that could come from even modest increases in spending with local businesses.

This workshop will assist procurement professionals to identify policies and practices that may create unintended barriers to entry for local minority-owned firms and small businesses, and to create strategies to increase economic opportunity for local return on investment.

Engaging Suppliers on Environmental Sustainability

Hosted by PG&E

As purchasers increasingly incorporate environmental sustainability requirements into contracts, smaller suppliers without the benefit of a corporate sustainability program may be hard pressed to compete. Becoming conversant with sustainability strategy, tools, and support mechanisms can make the difference between losing out in a bid process and being selected.

This workshop is designed to share key components of PG&E’s Small and Diverse Supplier Development Program focused on environmental sustainability training.

Purchasers will learn how to develop a program of their own to drive supplier performance improvements. Suppliers will gain an understanding of how to incorporate environmental sustainability into their operations. Participants will also hear how a PG&E supplier has leveraged training and support to improve their environmental sustainability efforts.

Environmental Justice & Procurement

Led by Margot Brown, EDF

Black Americans are exposed to 1.5 times the particulate pollution as white Americans, on average, regardless of income level. Some 1.7 million people in India die prematurely each year due to air pollution. In California’s Inland Empire, over 1000 trucks rumble through working class communities of color every hour.

How can procurement begin to address the massive issue of environmental justice through sustainable purchasing requirements? How can we demand that products we buy are manufactured, transported and delivered in ways that do not damage the health of workers and poor communities? Can procurement drive reductions in toxic chemical use to eliminate root causes of environmental health damage?

This workshop will engage participants in identifying procurement’s role in driving environmental justice impacts - and how the procurement community can develop best practices to address environmental health impacts at scale.