Disability Inclusion in Corporate Supplier Diversity Initiatives.
Nanette Goodman, Fatma Altunkol Wise, Fitore Hyseni and 2 others
PMID 38578602WHAT IT FOUND
Disability inclusion in corporate supplier diversity programs has grown significantly.
Among the top 100 companies, 89% now include disability, compared to 15% in 2005. However, spending on disability-owned businesses remains under 1% of diverse supplier budgets.
Key findings
0138.0% of Fortune 500 companies have a disability-inclusive supplier diversity program, and 14.8% partially include disability.
0289% of the largest 100 companies have supplier diversity programs that include disability, up from 15% in 2005.
03Average spending allocated to disability-owned businesses among companies with such programs is below 0.1%.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The study relies on publicly available webpages and reports, so it cannot verify if stated inclusion leads to actual business contracts or spending. Data represents a single point in time (2021), so it cannot show trends or changes since then. The analysis only looked at direct supplier diversity programs of Fortune 500 companies, ignoring tier 2 contracts where small disability-owned businesses might find more opportunities. The study focuses on the largest US companies, so findings may not apply to small or medium-sized enterprises.
Declared interests
Funded by the National Institute of Disability Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that corporate inclusion of disability in supplier diversity programs translates to significant economic opportunity for disability-owned businesses. The study found that while policy inclusion has grown, actual spending on these businesses remains below 0.1% of diverse supplier budgets.