BUSD11001 - Strategies for Developing Diverse Professional Services Partnerships

Course Description

Strategies for Developing Diverse Professional Services Partnerships is a one-day, in-person executive education course offered by the Office of Business Diversity at the University of Chicago. The course is presented by the Business Diversity Institute – the training arm of the Office of Business Diversity, which provides vital insights into the value of business diversity programming for individuals, businesses, organizations, and government agencies. Course participants will develop a playbook of impactful strategies on how to procure diverse professional services and how to create intentional and sustainable relationships with minority-and women-owned businesses. Learners will be able to apply strategies to create opportunities for diverse businesses in a variety of contexts including at corporations, nonprofits, government agencies, and educational institutions. The course moves beyond traditional approaches to supplier diversity by focusing on contracting within professional services industries. Through interactive engagement with industry experts in each of these areas, the course will teach you what you need to know so that your organization can procure professional services from firms led by historically underrepresented leaders. The course will be offered on Thursday, August 24, 2023, at the David Rubenstein Forum at the University of Chicago located at 1201 E 60th St, Chicago, IL 60637.

•  We have extended the Early Bird 15% off tuition rate.
• Register by Thursday, August 17 and take advantage of this invaluable opportunity. 

This dynamic in-person course takes place on Thursday, August 24.  Use code: bd-eb-web to redeem 15% off at checkout.

Discounts for 10% off tuition are available for federal and state, educational institution, and nonprofit employees, and 15% off tuition for group enrollments of 2 or more. Contact  businessdiversityinstitute@uchicago.edu for more details.

Course Outline

Learner Outcomes

With This Course You Will Be Able To:

• Describe how supplier diversity initiatives fit within the environmental, social, and governance priorities of your organization.

• Explain different strategies you can use to identify, advocate for, and ultimately contract diverse businesses for professional services, specifically in the areas of Financial Services, Asset Management, and Information Technology.

• Utilize a custom playbook that includes examples of successful cases, best practices and a glossary of terminology.

• Train with the UChicago experts who have built one of the most successful business diversity models in higher education.

• Identify performance indicators to monitor progress, measure success, and report on steps taken to senior leadership in your organization.

• Engage in interactive exercises such as role-playing, decision-mapping, and strategy development to simulate the creation of a diverse businesses pipeline for minority and women-owned businesses in professional services industries.

• Receive a printed and digital version of a University of Chicago credential of completion and a digital course badge upon successful course completion.