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UPS Delivers Inclusion to the LGBT Community

What can brown do for queers? Atlanta’s own UPS announced today that it has added lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT)-owned businesses to its supplier diversity process. As an added bonus, LGBT-owned businesses can also take advantage of discounted shipping services. The package delivery giant made the move in partnership with the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC). The company’s supplier diversity process was started in 1992 in an effort to expand business opportunities for small businesses and those owned by minorities, women, veterans and now lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals.

“Partnering with the NGLCC not only helps LGBT businesses grow by conducting business with UPS, but we also gain access to excellent suppliers,” said Lisa Johnson, UPS’s procurement and supplier diversity manager, in a company press release. “Expanding our process to include LGBT-owned businesses reinforces our commitment to supplier diversity.”

To participate in UPS’s supplier diversity process, queer-owned businesses must be certified by the NGLCC. The NGLCC is the largest LGBT business development and economic advocacy organization in the country, with an affiliate network of 45 state and local gay chambers and other business organizations. The NGLCC estimates that there are an estimated 1.4 million LGBT-owned businesses in the United States.

UPS also delivers equality to its queer employees. The company received a top rating of 100 percent, the highest in its industry, from the Human Rights Campaign’s 2008 Corporate Equality Index, which measures how LGBT employees are treated based on factors such as non-discrimination policies, diversity training, and benefits for domestic partners and transgender employees.

LGBT-owned companies interested in obtaining NGLCC certification can begin the process at www.nglcc.org. There’s more information about UPS’s supplier diversity process at community.ups.com.