Kasandy heads the British Columbia-based Black Entrepreneurs and Businesses of Canada Society, which now offers a certification program for Black-owned businesses to help owners navigate the lucrative but complicated world of government and corporate procurement."We know that the government buys just absolutely everything," she said in an interview. "So it's great to do business with the government and supply to the government.
With many governments and corporations committing to supplier diversity initiatives, including earmarking a certain percentage for Indigenous-owned businesses, the society started the Black Business Certification Program, and its first cohort of participants has just completed the 12- to 14-week program.
He said online meetups for the certification program "very quickly became the highlight of my week," featuring guest speakers and people in government procurement positions who helped explain their processes, "which proved to be, you know, priceless." "Within a few weeks, I realized that we're all in it for the same reason. All we want is an opportunity to get to the table and talk to the necessary people who would either make the decision or influence the decision. None of us are looking for handouts," White said. "All we want to do is level the playing field, and if we get a chance to sit down with these people, where doors had previously been closed, we'll take our chances on being able to prove our value.
Wheeldon said a barrier she's come up against is identifying the right people — the decision-makers who award procurement contracts.