Negocios Now

www.negociosnow.com Octubre 2021 3 By Tara García Mathewson J ackie Gomez was recently appointed executive direc- tor of HACIA, the Hispanic American Construction Industry Association, and she serves as the director of supplier and workforce diversity for the Obama Founda- tion, where she is charged with, among other things, ensuring the foundation achieves transforma- tive diversity and inclusion initia- tives during the construction of the Obama Presidential Center. Gomez has been involved with supplier diversity initiatives for 15 years and shared her thoughts with Negocios Now on the state of supplier diversity efforts in Illinois. MORE THAN A PROGRAM Gomez said companies should be held accountable for doing more than simply creating a sup- plier diversity program. Having a program does not necessarily mean a company is intentional about seeking out diverse sup- pliers and it does not mean it has equitable and inclusive procure- ment practices that lead to sup- plier diversity, she said. Those things take extra work and atten- tion, and often advocacy. When Gomez first started working in this field, supplier diversity programs were simply known as affirmative action. "When I started in this space over 15 years ago, I look back and realize we still have a long way to go," she said. "We are still fighting for many of the same things we were back then." When a business creates a supplier diversity program, it sig- nals and intention to work with a broader pool of companies. It takes action, however, to achieve that. Gomez encourages people to ask what is actually being done to accomplish supplier diversity goals – things like achieving par- ity in contract language or pay- ment terms with diverse sup- pliers and removing barriers for small businesses to compete. "We as stakeholders need to ask buying organizations for more details," Gomez said, "such as does your company have minority business goals on all of its projects, do you report out on your achievements, who do you partner with to increase the diversity of your vendor pool? We have to ask the hard questions." LEGISLATIVE VICTORY HACIA's mission is to create a more equitable and inclusive environment for Latino busi- nesses in the construction field. For over 40 years, the organiza- tion has been an advocate for Latino business members, and that has long meant fighting for more inclusive state policies. HACIA recently shepherded two pieces of legislation into law through collaborations with elected officials. One, House Bill 453, requires local govern- ments to be more transparent and inclusive about their pro- curement policies. Every gov- ernment entity that levies more than $5 million in taxes, whether it be a school district, park dis- trict, county or municipality, now has to collect and report diversity data on their vendors and subcontractors. The other, House Bill 132, removes a layer of bureaucracy for small busi- nesses, allowing them to skip a lengthy minority business certi- fication application. Gomez said those applications have histori- cally taken time small business- es don't have to fill out as well as months to process. LOOKING AHEAD Gomez has big hopes for the role of Latino businesses in projects throughout the state. While being hired as subcon- tractors is an exciting accom- plishment, Gomez hopes more Latino companies will get selected as prime contrac- tors, turning those contracts into opportunities to hire from within the community, among Latino youth, and also oppor- tunities to subcontract with other diverse businesses. The community of suppliers can't make this change happen alone, however. "We need the public and pri- vate sector to be more intention- al in creating audacious, inclu- sive and equitable procurement and supplier diversity policies," Gomez said, adding that people at all levels need to constantly ask how to make those policies even better. "Let's not settle for a cookie-cutter, plain vanilla sup- plier diversity program – we're past that now." No more 'plain vanilla' supplier diversity programs THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE HISPANIC AMERICAN CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION (HACIA), JACKIE GOMEZ, HAS BIG HOPES FOR THE ROLE OF LATINO BUSINESSES IN PROJECTS THROUGHOUT THE STATE. "Let's not settle for a cookie- cutter, plain vanilla supplier diversity program, we're past that now." Jacqueline Gómez Fuentes, Executive Director of HACIA, is also director of the Illinois Tollway Board.

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