Originally published at sanofi.us. Kimberly Figueiredo is the Associate Director, Supplier Diversity at Sanofi. Sanofi ranked No. 27 on The Fair360, formerly DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity list in 2021.
Supporting Sanofi’s supplier diversity strategy is a unique and interesting role. For many years, I have been a part of a diverse ecosystem where businesses of all representations come together to work toward inclusion for everyone. At the beginning of my career, I was fortunate to have a great mentor, an individual dedicated to supplier diversity who took a chance on hiring a person who knew very little about it. My personal connection to supplier diversity connects me with individuals in my family that have health conditions such as hearing loss, rare diseases and neurological impairments. Knowing that I’ve been a part of increasing Sanofi’s utilization of diverse and small businesses is truly rewarding.
For 16 years, supplier diversity has been my sense of home. I have observed the evolution, expansion and creation of opportunities facilitated by supplier diversity, leading many businesses to thrive and flourish in the healthcare environment.
I continue to be excited about the future of supplier diversity at Sanofi. This work is critical and creates jobs, promotes equity and sustains inclusive economic viability for the community and for Sanofi. As I look ahead to the future of supplier diversity at Sanofi, I am inspired by our organization’s commitment. We recently partnered with WEConnect International and announced a major commitment to diversity in sourcing and procurement. Sanofi made the formal commitment with WEConnect, “Rising to the Challenge,” by announcing our global commitment to double woman-owned business’ spend by 2025 and to spend over 1.5 billion euros with small and diverse businesses by 2025. This will represent more than 20% of our addressable spend.
I am honored to be a part of this initiative and the continued evolution of Sanofi’s Supplier Diversity initiatives.
