Offered by the Centre for Women in Business in partnership with WBE Canada, this virtual mentorship program supports women-owned businesses across Atlantic Canada in building capacity to access and succeed in corporate supply chains. Participants are paired with both a corporate mentor and an experienced WBE-certified mentor to gain practical insights into bidding, pitching, and securing contracts.
Spots are limited to 10 mentees per cohort. Mentees must be certified at start of program.
Not yet certified? Consider our Intro to Supplier Diversity Program.
Who it's For
Women-owned businesses in Atlantic Canada interested in supplier diversity, certification, and working with large corporations or government buyers.
What to expect
- Most large companies with a supplier diversity program require certification from diverse suppliers – certification provides the best opportunity for organizations/corporates to discover and hire your company
- Learn from subject matter experts (corporate and WBE mentors)
- WBE Canada supply chain training will cover a variety of topics such as responding to an RFP, making a pitch, developing a capability statement) – learn to meet the requirements of corporate or government buyers
- Peer networking – other certified businesses are more likely to recommend your business for a product or service they don’t provide
- Certification provides opportunity to participate in networking, development, and educational events that other small businesses don’t have access to; certification means you can list your company in supplier databases.
- Most supplier diversity programs will contact you only if you are certified so you could be missing out on opportunities
- Buying locally is extremely important for corporations to support the city in which they are located
- Mentors from corporate can mean you have access to large supply chains
- Experienced WBE mentors can guide through building capacity in your company
- Use your certification as a marketing/promotional tool
- Build network and support of other Atlantic WBE’s in group training and mastermind sessions as sounding board and idea generation
What you will learn
- Increase knowledge of working with larger organizations and supply chains
- Develop capability statement
- Develop an initial “pitch” for corporations
- Identify areas to build capacity in your organization to fulfill a large contract
- Identify potential topics for mentor sessions
- Learn networking with large supply chains
