The political climate these days is in flux. In response, nearly 90 colleges and universities have rebranded their DEI offices. Nearly 80 have closed them altogether in response to the current sentiment in DC.
In procurement, however, supplier inclusion is not DEI and DEI is not supplier inclusion. They are two entirely separate concepts that focus on different objectives.
Supplier inclusion isn’t just about checking a box—it’s about building meaningful partnerships with businesses in local communities and ensuring campuses maintain their values of accessibility and economic empowerment. These programs create opportunities for underrepresented entrepreneurs, drive innovation, and strengthen local economies. However, with policy restrictions targeting DEI initiatives, colleges and universities are being compelled to navigate complex legal frameworks in order to continue supporting small and local businesses.
What Is a Inclusion Supplier? It’s a business that is at least 51% owned, operated, and controlled by individuals from historically underutilized segments of the US population.
These groups often include:
Many institutions also look for third party certifications to verify supplier status, such as through the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC), Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), the Small Business Administration (SBA), city state or local government agencies.
Procurement leaders may ask: Why is supplier inclusion important in higher education? The answer lies in both institutional values and tangible business benefits.
There is a compelling value proposition that drives this business case:
A strong supplier inclusion program can yield significant benefits.
Diverse suppliers often bring fresh ideas and are more willing to adapt quickly to institutional needs. This flexibility can translate into innovation and cost efficiency. In fact, supplier inclusion programs typically help drive competition.
Institutions that concentrate spend among a few large suppliers risk a major disruption if one supplier fails. Expanding the supplier base through inclusion initiatives spreads risk and strengthens continuity planning.
Higher education institutions are generally among the largest employers and economic anchors in their communities. By intentionally sourcing from diverse suppliers, they contribute to local job creation and economic mobility, especially for historically underrepresented groups.
Moving from theory to action takes some work. Here are four key steps for procurement leaders to take to get started:
Establish supplier inclusion strategy that align with your institutional ESG iniatitives. By establishing a multi year strategy, the procurement team can identify champions across the campus and business units to assist in process development.
By setting measurable targets, you can set expectation levels for procurement related spending by developing processes with internal stakeholders which promote supplier utilization. These targets should be part of your scoring matrix when evaluating RFPs.
Working with certification organizations, and industry advocacy groups helps align supplier inclusion teams to better understand industry best practices, and process implementation. Partnering with peers at other institutions also helps to establish a network of thought leadership and best practices sharing. Such examples include policy statement creation, internal stakeholder alignment, and strategy development.
Tap into pre-competed cooperative agreements that already include small and local businesses, reducing administrative burden and identifing new solution providers that build lasting strategic relationships.
Use analytics to measure spending levels with small and local businesses , report results to leadership and external stakeholders. This approach is extremely beneficial to show progress (once a multi- year supplier inclusion strategy has been established).
Supplier inclusion is more than a political talking point. For colleges and universities, working with small and local businesses enhances innovation, increases supply chain excellence and supports economic impact in local communities. At a time when higher education leaders are rethinking how they demonstrate value, supplier inclusion remains a demonstrable, mission-aligned opportunity. Institutions ready to expand their supplier base and strengthen their procurement strategy can explore cooperative contracts that include small and local suppliers through E&I Cooperative Services.
E&I is committed to developing a world class Supplier Inclusion Program which reflects the diversity commitments of our members and the multicultural communities in which they serve. We recognize the importance of diverse suppliers and are committed to ensuring that inclusion is an integral part of our sourcing and procurement processes
View our supplier inclusion policy, find diverse suppliers by state and certifications, and source competitively solicited diverse supplier solutions with E&I Cooperative Services. E&I is the only member-owned nonprofit sourcing cooperative that focuses exclusively on the education sector.