Hershey, Pennsylvania is commonly known as “The Sweetest Place On Earth,” but as of last week it’s also known as the location for this year’s DISCOVER (Diversity & Inclusion in Supply Chain) summit, held October 17 – 18. CSCR executive director Steve Tracey and Walmart, a CSCR corporate sponsor, were among the nine honored with an award during the event.
DISCOVER is a cross-industry organization which serves as a catalyst for the advancement of people of color in supply chain and the summit presented an opportunity for the supply chain community to learn, network, and engage in discourse on diversity and inclusion.
Tracey received the 2022 Lighthouse Award, which honors the advisor of the year. Michael del Rosario accepted the 2022 Laurel Crown, which celebrates the sponsor of the year, on behalf of Walmart who has been a CSCR sponsor since 2015 and a sponsor of DISCOVER since 2021. Other 2022 awardees included Qing Zhao of BCG who received the Soaring Eagle in recognition of volunteer of the year, and USC Marshall who received the Golden Leaf for their efforts in collaboration. The DISCOVER awards, aptly named Sweet Celebrations, debuted at last year’s summit and awards for 2021 were distributed this year.
The DISCOVER award recipients, including last year, are:
Pictured: Steve Tracey and Michael del Rosario
Laurel Crown
- 2021 – Johnson & Johnson
- 2022 – Walmart
Lighthouse Award
- 2021 – Kevin Lyons, Rutgers
- 2022 – Steve Tracey, Penn State
Soaring Eagle
- 2021 – Kartik Sharma, GEP
- 2022 – Qing Zhao, BCG
Golden Leaf
- 2021 – DiversityInc
- 2022 – USC Marshall
“It was an unexpected but heartwarming surprise to be named advisor of the year for DISCOVER,” reflected Tracey. “There are a lot of great women and men who contribute their time to these efforts and many of them would be equally as deserving. To be singled out for something you do solely out of a passion to make things better in our communities reinforces that collectively we’re making an impact on people’s lives.”
The 5th annual conference explored the theme of “Rising Together” through presentations, executive insights, panel discussions, and coaching sessions. Penn State Smeal College of Business was well represented with Steve Tracey and Felisa Higgins, associate dean for undergraduate education, in attendance. Tracey and Higgins also serve as co-academic representatives on the DISCOVER advisory council as well as subcommittee members on the academic engagement workstream.
Alongside the Smeal leaders, a host of Smeal students were exclusively invited to attend the event on October 17. A mix of supply chain and marketing majors seeking a career in the supply chain field attended the event, including Victoria Cox, Allison Sun, Ngouala Moundhala, Joshua Bisanga, Cristian Miranda, Fabiana Corcino Zegarra, Lydia Mabamije, and Tyquann Crawford. The students participated in all first-day programs and were also matched with a supply chain professional for a mentoring session.
Pictured: Steve Tracey and Penn State supply chain and marketing students at DISCOVER
Crawford, a supply chain junior, walked away the summit with several lasting experiences, including forging networking connections with senior leaders, sharing personal experiences with those focused on diversity in the workplace, and collaborating with professionals to find solutions to improve and sustain DEI initiatives.
As a first-generation African American college student, Crawford was particularly excited about the opportunity to connect around the topic of diversity.
“When your team is diverse and includes many backgrounds of talented individuals, you’re given the ability to think differently and establish a wide range of solutions from various perspectives,” said the supply chain junior. “This widened range of perspectives will also allow the team members to all learn something new from each other. This is crucial in supply chain because [it] is almost a puzzle with many global, moving pieces. If you have a team with moving pieces or suppliers, partners, employees, employers, and leaders on the case— from different backgrounds and areas around the world— you will be inclined to solve a large range of problems with the wide range of skills your employers bring to the table.”
Allison Sun, a second-year supply chain student, felt similarly. “We need people coming from all backgrounds to provide a more holistic view on solutions for problems,” she said. Through the summit, Sun had the opportunity to meet successful leaders in the supply chain industry who provided her career-focused advice.
Both students have high hopes for the future and their plans reflect that. Crawford is seeking a career in consulting, specifically in operations transformation or transportation logistics, followed by an advanced degree and an eventual senior-level position with the power to emphasis the importance of DEI. Sun hopes to work in continuous improvement and strategic sourcing in the future and is actively seeking for an internship for next summer.
The summit offed a great opportunity for students and professionals alike to network with colleagues across the supply chain industry and engage in diversity and inclusion focused discussions.
“Penn State, like many other schools, is a strong advocate for advancing diversity and inclusion in both academia and the workplace. If we can get our students engaged in these efforts early, they will have a greater appreciation for the task at hand and hopefully inspire a passion for making change happen when they enter the workforce,” said Tracey.