LSU Athletics Supplier Diversity Initiative
In August of 2020, the LSU Athletics’ Leadership Council for Diversity & Inclusion set seven goals to create an inclusive, equitable and transformational athletic program. One of these goals was to “Increase the number of minority contractors and vendors utilized by the department and track the results.” To accomplish this goal, a group of employee volunteers came together to purposefully increase the diversity of our department’s suppliers. Supplier diversity encourages the growth of minority-owned businesses, uplifts the local community, and provides opportunities for small businesses.
Associate Athletic Director for Business Operations Matthew LaBorde is leading the department’s supplier diversity initiative.
“Focusing on our diverse supplier spend has highlighted the opportunities and obligations Athletics has in front of us,” LaBorde said. “Our Athletics family is built to be a leader in the space, and we have the capability to make a difference and set an example throughout our campus and our community.”
The group of employee volunteers set out to find minority-owned and woman-owned business in the Baton Rouge area. In collaboration with LaunchBR’s Baton Rouge Procurement Opportunity Partnership (BRPOP), and other partners, the group was able to identify hundreds of diverse vendors the department could utilize. To date, LSU Athletics has utilized 22 diverse vendors.
Our goal is to have 10% of our controllable spend come with diverse suppliers. Below, you will find our Diverse Spend Report which shows our progress toward this goal. As of December 2020, 1.09% of our controllable spend has been with diverse suppliers. In the graph below, you can find our Top 5 sub-departments with the highest percentage of diverse spend. This percentage is found by dividing the sub-department’s amount of diverse spend by their controllable spend.
Although we have a long way to go to reach our goal, we have made considerable progress laying the groundwork for the initiative’s success. We look forward to continuing to grow our initiative, providing opportunities to local businesses, and helping the Baton Rouge community.