Show Me Your (Impact) Receipts: How Procure Impact Is Redefining Socially Responsible Supply Chains

Forbes

Lauren McCann, founder and CEO of Procure Impact, joined Forbes Chief Impact Officer Seth Cohen in the Forbes studio to discuss the role that socially responsible procurement can knock down barriers for marginalized product designers and manufacturers. Lauren also discussed Procure Impact’s new campaign in partnership with the American Hotel & Lodging Association. The “Dignity of Work Pledge” aims to provide 100,000 paid employment hours for overlooked populations via the use of Procure Impact’s B2B marketplace platform.  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00 [ Music ]

00:02 >> Hi everyone.

00:04 I'm Seth Cohen, Chief Impact Officer for Forbes.

00:07 And I'm here today with Lauren McCann, the founder

00:11 and CEO of Procure Impact.

00:14 Procure Impact is a first of its kind B2B marketplace.

00:17 There's over thousands of products manufactured,

00:20 created, designed by individuals who face barriers

00:25 and limitations in the economy in which they serve.

00:28 So Lauren, welcome.

00:29 Thank you for joining us.

00:31 >> Thank you, Seth.

00:32 Happy to be here.

00:33 >> So tell me more about Procure Impact.

00:36 I just captured what I understand it to be,

00:39 but explain to me in your terms what Procure Impact does.

00:45 >> Yeah, we're a B2B marketplace and we work with all types

00:48 of corporations, retailers, wholesalers, people looking

00:51 for corporate gifts or products for their office space.

00:55 But what makes us unique is that all of the products

00:57 on our platform are made by individuals

01:00 with barriers to work.

01:01 So that means the products are made by resettled refugees,

01:04 by veterans, by individuals who've experienced poverty,

01:07 incarceration, homelessness, individuals with disabilities,

01:11 people who have extraordinary talents.

01:13 And we're trying to help them get access to opportunities

01:16 so that they can grow and scale their talents

01:18 and grow in their income.

01:20 >> So I know this is a new model that you've been engaged in,

01:24 but it sounds like it's a new model generally.

01:26 Why is that?

01:27 Why have -- if this is such a good idea,

01:29 why hasn't this been developed before?

01:32 >> Yeah, there actually are efforts related

01:35 to what's called social procurement.

01:37 So when you think about responsible sourcing

01:39 or supplier diversity, I would say Europe is much far along

01:43 than the U.S. They're much further along than we are.

01:46 And so we're trying to make it easy for companies

01:48 to get access to these suppliers.

01:50 And so we built this product and this marketplace to really act

01:54 as a one-stop shop, because it's really hard for companies

01:58 to go out in the field and find these vendors on their own.

02:01 And so a lot of companies have stated goals and objectives

02:04 around supplier diversity,

02:05 but they really don't have the experience cultivating

02:08 relationships with local suppliers or suppliers

02:11 that employ underrepresented groups.

02:13 I had decade-plus experience working with social enterprises,

02:16 and I realized they'd never been networked

02:18 into a one-stop shop shopping experience,

02:21 and that was the gap that we're filling.

02:24 >> So tell me a little bit about your journey to this,

02:27 because I know you had a career that has always been focused

02:30 on impact and creating change.

02:32 But how did this -- do you have particular experience in this,

02:35 or was this just something you felt and saw

02:37 from some other experiences you had in the impact space?

02:41 >> Yeah, I spent years in philanthropy, and we invested

02:44 in a lot of social enterprises

02:46 and workforce development programs.

02:48 And many of those enterprises manufactured products,

02:51 and I realized these were high-quality products.

02:54 These weren't just makers making these products, but enterprises

02:57 with 30,000-square-foot manufacturing facilities

03:00 that acted as a supportive work environment

03:02 to help people get access to the ability to learn new skills,

03:06 to heal, and to ultimately find their long-term opportunities

03:10 for employment.

03:11 And then I had a personal experience,

03:12 which really drove me to build the model itself.

03:16 I have a family member who, for most of their life,

03:19 they've suffered from chronic mental health issues,

03:22 addiction, and chronic disability.

03:25 And my family member ended up becoming homeless

03:28 and a missing person at one point.

03:30 And yet, they're extremely talented.

03:33 My family member is an artist and a creative and a writer

03:36 and would paint to help themselves heal

03:39 and to share their story.

03:40 And during one of the darkest points

03:42 in my family member's life, they were discovered for their art

03:45 and their talents, companies like Pfizer and Merck

03:49 and airports started buying my family member's art

03:52 for their office facilities and spaces.

03:55 And those purchases completely changed the trajectory

03:58 of their life.

03:59 It wasn't necessarily the money.

04:00 It was about being seen, feeling valued,

04:04 feeling like they had a sense of belonging.

04:06 And that mindset shift enabled my family member

04:08 to get an art studio and ultimately live independently,

04:11 find employment, and live a life

04:14 that we never thought was possible

04:15 for my family member just a decade ago.

04:18 And so I built Procure Impact

04:20 because I realized the transformative power

04:22 of one purchase.

04:24 And if we can make it easier for companies

04:26 to create purchases like that every day

04:28 and find underrepresented organizations and individuals

04:32 through their purchases and help them find access

04:35 to opportunity, access to income,

04:37 we can change millions of lives.

04:39 - So I really love that phrase,

04:41 the transformative power of purchase.

04:44 Obviously, today, there's a lot of brands,

04:49 a lot of businesses that are talking about impact.

04:51 We know that the consumers are very interested in this.

04:54 I think one of the more interesting parts

04:56 of Procure Impact is you really do have a methodology

04:59 and approach to measuring the impact of these purchases.

05:02 Explain that to me.

05:03 - Yeah, every time a company purchases

05:07 on the Procure Impact platform,

05:08 they get an impact receipt that shows the company

05:11 how many hours of work were created through their purchase.

05:15 And that's because we exclusively work with vendors

05:18 that are employing underrepresented populations.

05:21 And so we know their wage data.

05:22 We know how much their cost of goods are for the product

05:25 and how much their labor costs are.

05:27 And so we've been able to bring that into a calculation

05:29 that gives companies the ability

05:31 to track their social impact over time.

05:34 And social impact tends to be seen

05:36 as something you do outside of the business.

05:39 Volunteer hours, charitable contributions,

05:42 things that companies wanna do to help the community

05:44 outside of their day-to-day.

05:46 And what we're trying to demonstrate

05:47 is that it can be part of the how you do your business,

05:51 that it can be brought into all aspects of the business

05:53 and things like responsible sourcing and purchasing,

05:56 which actually create much more impact

05:58 than charity alone could ever accomplish.

06:01 - It makes a lot of sense to me.

06:04 And obviously as two people that both share a passion

06:08 for inclusivity, equity in both supply chains

06:13 in the broader marketplace,

06:15 I can understand how we see that benefit of the impact.

06:18 But I guess we both also live in a world

06:21 where some of these initiatives are right now under attack.

06:25 Diversity, equity, inclusion initiatives are under attack

06:28 in a variety of different contexts.

06:30 How is that impacting the supply chain

06:33 and the programs like you are doing around procurement?

06:36 - Yeah, what's been really encouraging and exciting for us

06:41 is that we've been able to really unify people

06:43 around shared vision.

06:44 And I think the reason that that is

06:46 is because we have an outcome

06:48 that's grounded in tangible impact.

06:50 And a lot of the skepticism around ESG or DE&I

06:54 is not really understanding the outcome we're driving towards

06:58 and getting shared vision within companies

07:00 about what that is.

07:02 And so consumers and customers and people

07:04 become really skeptical if they can't measure it,

07:06 if they don't understand it.

07:08 And I think because we've unified people

07:10 around job creation and shift hours,

07:12 we haven't seen that controversy.

07:14 We have some of the most conservative companies

07:17 working with us to some of the most progressive

07:20 because they recognize the value of the dignity of work

07:23 and the power of a job.

07:25 And so I think if we look at the outcome

07:27 and unify people around the outcome,

07:29 we can get around that politicization and debate

07:33 and really get people around shared vision

07:35 and collective impact that we can create.

07:37 - I really love that optimistic vision.

07:39 Lauren, I've followed your professional journey

07:43 for a few years now.

07:44 And as you've evolved and this project has taken root,

07:47 it's Women's History Month right now.

07:51 We're celebrating all sorts of women leaders

07:53 in different capacities.

07:55 As a woman entrepreneur right now

07:57 that's building something in this space,

08:00 what are you finding to be both kind of the challenges

08:04 and the opportunities?

08:05 Because procurement,

08:07 while there is very much diversity in that workforce,

08:10 it still also has a lot of men

08:12 that have been in those roles for a long time.

08:15 So as a woman founder,

08:17 how has your journey intersected

08:19 with the work of the procurement industry

08:23 and Procure Impact generally?

08:26 - It's been really amazing

08:28 because I think that what we're doing

08:30 is creating human connection and conversation

08:33 around people's purpose and their why.

08:36 And you don't often get on a phone call

08:39 to talk about procurement

08:40 and end up talking about people's shared pain

08:43 and their shared history

08:45 and their shared connection to the work that we do.

08:48 And so we have executives who end up sharing stories

08:51 about children that they have with disabilities

08:54 or family members that are suffering from addiction

08:56 or mental health challenges.

08:59 And I think it's helped kind of as a woman owned company

09:02 that is mission driven,

09:04 bring a bit of humanity into the business conversation

09:08 around things like what we purchase and procurement,

09:10 which tends to not be heartfelt in terms of its ethos.

09:15 And so I think that's actually been a huge advantage to us

09:19 is that we're bringing up sort of things

09:22 that all of us are dealing with

09:24 that are impacting all of our lives

09:25 but might not be hidden in the professional sphere.

09:28 And I see that as something uniquely kind of centered

09:32 in sort of the women owned and women founded companies

09:35 that we can bring vulnerability into the workplace.

09:39 - I love that, an emotional intelligence as well.

09:42 So Lauren, I saw that you had a recent announcement

09:45 with the American Hotel and Lodging Association

09:49 regarding a dignity of work pledge.

09:51 Tell me what that's all about and what people should know.

09:54 - Happy to.

09:56 Procure Impact partnered

09:58 with the American Hotel and Lodging Association,

10:00 which is the largest trade association

10:03 for hotel management companies and operators

10:05 and hoteliers in the United States

10:07 to launch this pledge, the dignity of work pledge.

10:10 And HLA has always been a trade association

10:13 that's helping the industry understand best practices

10:16 around sustainability and responsible sourcing

10:19 and social impact.

10:20 And responsible sourcing as a priority for them,

10:23 we actually do that through our marketplace.

10:26 We are a solution in the responsible sourcing space.

10:29 And so what we realized is that we could collectively

10:32 unify the sector towards action.

10:35 And again, those are sometimes challenging things

10:37 for companies to do on their own,

10:38 but if they have a tool and a strategy that's put in place,

10:41 we can really create a lot of impact in our society.

10:45 As we talked about before,

10:46 every time companies purchase through us,

10:48 they get an impact receipt

10:49 that shows them the amount of shift hours

10:51 that were created through their purchase.

10:53 And so we joined with HLA to create a goal.

10:55 Could we get the hospitality sector

10:57 to collectively create 100,000 hours of work

11:01 for overlooked and underestimated populations

11:04 by pledging an impact goal

11:06 and by shifting a percentage of their purchase

11:08 towards social enterprises on our platform?

11:10 To give you a sense, the hospitality sector,

11:12 they spend a lot of money on procurement.

11:15 In 2022, it was 120 billion

11:19 that they purchased out of US businesses.

11:21 And so if you imagine we shift a percentage

11:24 to enterprises that are helping people

11:26 that have a barrier to work,

11:28 that creates a tidal wave of change in our communities.

11:31 And so we announced with HLA just a couple of weeks ago,

11:34 eight companies joined us as founding partners,

11:38 companies like Davidson, Sage, Atrium Hospitality,

11:41 Pacific Hospitality,

11:43 and those eight founding partners,

11:45 they collectively manage 110,000 hotel rooms daily

11:49 in the United States.

11:51 So when you think about what's possible,

11:53 imagine your mini bar snacks,

11:55 the products in your retail store,

11:57 the furniture in your room,

11:59 the art on the walls can all align

12:01 to these underrepresented communities.

12:03 The collective impact is monumental.

12:05 And we've been so thrilled to see the leadership

12:07 in the hospitality sector

12:09 and the interest in joining this initiative

12:11 from others post-launch.

12:13 You know, at the core,

12:14 hospitality is about welcoming people,

12:17 about helping people feel like they belong.

12:20 And the sector has shifted from one of conformity

12:24 and hotel rooms looking the same

12:25 no matter where you are in the world

12:27 to one that is trying to create authentic guest experiences

12:32 that help people connect to purpose and location and why.

12:35 And you do that through the products you buy

12:37 by setting the tone for the space

12:39 and by creating that connection and memory

12:42 for people and guests.

12:43 And so, although you can work with any company,

12:45 any company can purchase products through us,

12:48 we've been laser focused on the hospitality sector

12:51 because of that cascade effect that can happen

12:53 just by small actions that hotels can make.

12:55 - And the raw purchasing power.

12:56 And the raw purchasing power.

12:58 So, well, I really appreciate both your personal mission

13:03 in this endeavor and obviously your efforts

13:06 and your team's efforts to make impact at scale.

13:10 Where can people find more information about Procure Impact?

13:13 - Yeah, please visit the Procure Impact website,

13:17 which is www.procureimpact.us.

13:21 You can also find us on LinkedIn and Instagram

13:24 where you can see the products

13:26 and the people behind the products

13:27 and how they're made and the incredible stories

13:30 of resilience and grit and determination

13:32 that comes with every product that we represent.

13:35 So, businesses can sign up to purchase with us

13:37 directly on our website.

13:39 And it just takes small little changes.

13:41 So, obviously there's a lot of integration opportunities

13:44 for every company that has an office space

13:47 or is doing employee gifts or onboarding gifts.

13:50 But if people just start small

13:51 and they see the quality of the products

13:53 and the opportunity set, we've seen so much scale

13:57 and opportunities for repeat orders and impact

14:00 that we can make as a society

14:02 if we think intentionally about our purchases.

14:05 - I really love that.

14:06 Intentional purchases, creating more access

14:10 and accessibility for individuals and impact at scale.

14:14 Lauren McCann from Procure Impact.

14:16 Thank you so much.

14:17 - Thanks, Seth.

14:18 (upbeat music)

14:21 (upbeat music)

14:23 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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