In 2019, Wells Fargo and the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC) will collaborate in three “Minority Business Leadership Academies,” to train minority suppliers on how to expand their capabilities. These Minority Business Leadership Academies will be hosted in Washington, D.C. by the Capitol Region MSDC, Los Angeles by the Southern California MSDC, and Houston by the Houston MSDC.
“Wells Fargo is committed to supplier diversity and developing diverse suppliers across the country. In 2018, Wells Fargo spent $1.36 billion with diverse suppliers. We’ve invested in nine capacity building programs across the country, which will help more than 500 diverse suppliers in the upcoming year,” said Regina Heyward, head of Supplier Diversity for Wells Fargo.
“NMSDC is able to extend its support of minority supplier development through innovative partnerships with our corporate members,” said NMSDC President and CEO Adrienne Trimble. “Minority-owned businesses nationwide employ 6.3 million people and generate annual revenue of more than $1.6 trillion. Wells Fargo consistently demonstrates its strong commitment to our supplier diversity programs that serve NMSDC-certified minority-owned businesses.”
The goals of the Minority Business Leadership Academy are to build the value proposition for each minority business owner; to enhance best practices in business development, organizational capabilities and scalability; to foster greater readiness to meet industry needs; and to increase competitiveness when seeking contracts and opportunities in the global marketplace.
Beginning in the first quarter of 2019, Wells Fargo Supplier Diversity will sponsor three Minority Business Leadership Academies in collaboration with NMSDC. Through a grant from the Wells Fargo Foundation, NMSDC will administer the Minority Business Leadership Academy program and be responsible for selecting three grantees from its regional Minority Supplier Development Councils to run each year-long academy. NMSDC will ensure this program is fully vetted with developed plans of action for each of the funded Minority Business Leadership Academies.
In 2016, Wells Fargo in collaboration with NMSDC’s regional Supplier Diversity Development Councils, piloted the Minority Business Leadership Academy project to help grow certified MBEs. In 2017, more than 80 minority business CEOs graduated from five Minority Business Leadership Academies.
The Minority Business Leadership Academy is a one-year commitment, in one of three regional classes, comprised of 15-20 qualifying applicants. At the end of the 12-month training process, each participant will deliver an end-of-year report that tracks growth and success of the program.
In the Minority Business Leadership Academy’s business development training, attendees will have:
- Quarterly sessions (half-day in-person training sessions)
- Bi-monthly group sessions
- Corporate mentoring
- 1:1 executive coaching
- Peer-to-peer mentoring
- A suite of program action items and timelines (i.e., documented milestones and accomplishments)
- Tools and resources
- The opportunity to obtain NMSDC certification
To qualify for consideration, MBEs must represent a mid- to large-size business (with at least $3 million in annual revenues). They must have a track record of high performance, offering quality products and services at market-competitive pricing. Each applicant’s business plan will be considered, to confirm financial solvency and positioning for growth. Preference will be given to current Wells Fargo suppliers and NMSDC-certified MBEs.
About NMSDC
The NMSDC advances business opportunities for certified minority business enterprises (MBEs) and connects them to corporate members. One of the country’s leading corporate membership organizations, NMSDC was chartered in 1972 to provide increased procurement and business opportunities for minority businesses of all sizes. The NMSDC network includes a National Office in New York and 23 affiliate regional councils across the country. The network also includes five international partner organizations located in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, China and South Africa.
To meet the growing need for supplier diversity, NMSDC matches its more than 12,000 certified minority-owned businesses to our network of more than 1,750 corporate members who wish to purchase their products, services and solutions. NMSDC, a unique and specialized player in the field of minority business enterprise, is proud of its unwavering commitment to advance Asian, Black, Hispanic and Native American suppliers in a globalized corporate supply chain. For more information, visit www.NMSDC.org.
About Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is a diversified, community-based financial services company with $1.9 trillion in assets. Wells Fargo’s vision is to satisfy our customers’ financial needs and help them succeed financially. Founded in 1852 and headquartered in San Francisco, Wells Fargo provides banking, investment and mortgage products and services, as well as consumer and commercial finance, through 7,800 locations, 13,000 ATMs, the internet (wellsfargo.com) and mobile banking, and has offices in 37 countries and territories to support customers who conduct business in the global economy. With approximately 262,000 team members, Wells Fargo serves one in three households in the United States. Wells Fargo & Company was ranked No. 26 on Fortune’s 2018 rankings of America’s largest corporations. News, insights and perspectives from Wells Fargo are also available at Wells Fargo Stories.