OVERVIEW
Ford Motor Company’s Supplier Diversity & Inclusion (SD&I)
The program was started in 1968 as an Inner-City Supplier Development Program as a response to civil unrest in major cities, to create jobs in urban areas of minority concentration, and in recognition of corporate responsibility. Ford recognized that it had a social responsibility to provide an opportunity for minority individuals and their communities.
When Ford started this program there were few minority-owned and operated companies with the capabilities to provide the goods and services purchased by Ford and other automotive manufacturers. At the request of Henry Ford II, a program was designed to identify high potential minority business enterprises and assist them in growing their companies to competitive positions in our industry.
At Ford Motor Company, our diverse program is inclusive of, but not limited to businesses categorize as: Minority-Owned(MBE), Women-Owned (WBE), Veteran-Owned (VBE), and Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (SDVBE), Small Disadvantaged Businesses (SDB), as well as businesses located in Historically Underutilized Business regions (HUB Zone).
