We’re helping to kick off the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) national conference and business fair this week in Austin, and I can think of no better time to reflect on our continuing mission to bring diversity and inclusion into Dell’s business practices around the world.
At Dell, we believe championing diversity in all its forms is the best investment we can make to ensure the high degree of collaboration and innovation necessary to deliver outstanding products and services. We do this by both committing to serve our diverse team members and leaders internally, and by widening our vision to foster diverse groups and partnerships externally.
This thriving network of partnerships is important, as we have learned over time that a business is only as successful as the ecosystem in which it exists. To make Dell’s ecosystem successful, we believe like WBENC, that it starts with creating mutually beneficial partnerships with suppliers, professional development organizations, and multicultural business and community groups.
One of the most successful examples of this external investment has been our own Dell Women’s Entrepreneur Network—a community founded in 2010 to support women founders in their pursuit of business growth.
Through DWEN, thousands of women have been able to connect and exchange ideas in powerful, business-shaping ways. They’ve been able to create global business opportunities for one another, and in doing so they have made partnerships and breakthroughs in markets that might have otherwise been unreachable.
We have made some amazing strides towards this end at Dell, spending more than $4 billion with our small-, women- and minority-owned suppliers last year. And I am proud of the recognition we have received from WBENC as a Top Corporation for women-owned businesses for that last six consecutive years. In the future I know we will only continue to grow this mission and be the change we wish to see.
You can learn more about WBENC’s national conference and their commitment to serving women here, or follow the hashtag #WBENCConf on Twitter. And let us know what inspires you about our commitment to diversity in business in the comments below or by joining the conversation with us on social media.