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Board renames DEI committee to Cultural Excellence Committee; staff reports supplier-diversity Q1 spend below targets
Summary
Trustees approved changing the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee name to the Cultural Excellence Committee. Staff reported Q1 supplier-diversity spend and set expectations for increases in Q2–Q3 tied to capital projects.
The Health and Hospital Corporation (HHC) Board of Trustees approved Resolution 4-2025 to rename its DEI Committee to the Cultural Excellence Committee, reflecting a broader reporting and governance scope that the committee adopted in its recent meeting.
Trustee Horn introduced the resolution after the committee discussed scope and reporting changes earlier in the day. The board approved the resolution by unanimous roll call.
Dr. Kimberly McElroy Jones, chief culture officer, summarized the committee’s new reporting structure organized around four strategic pillars: culture and talent; supplier engagement and economic impact; patient care and delivery of services; and community impact and corporate engagement. She said the office is expanding staff (adding Tiara Pinkens as director of health outcomes and culture engagement and hiring a manager for system integration and performance) and continuing deployment of internal training resources and “big idea” workshops.
Felicia (supplier engagement lead) presented Q1 2025 supplier-diversity spend figures. For the corporation overall (corporate division, long-term care and Eskenazi Health combined) she reported roughly $7.3 million in diversity spend — about 11.0% of an applicable corporate spend base of approximately $66.6 million. Eskenazi’s portion was about $3.8 million (45.4% of that division’s applicable spend); the long-term care division reported roughly $1.4 million (3.08% of its applicable spend). For the City-certified report covering the corporate and Eskenazi divisions, Q1 city-certified diverse-supplier spend was about $3.7 million, or 17.16% of an applicable $21.7 million; HHC’s stated goal is 27%.
Felicia broke down the Q1 percentages against HHC goals: MBE 11.2% (goal 15%), WBE 4.18% (goal 8%), VBE 0.97% (goal 3%), DBE 0.19% (goal 1%). She told trustees that Q2 and Q3 are historically HHC’s most active procurement months and staff expect diversity spend to increase as capital projects progress.
Trustees asked for continued attention to supplier engagement and to reporting that ties supplier outcomes to the committee’s strategic pillars. The committee will report progress under its new name at future board meetings.
Speakers relevant to this item include Trustee Horn, Dr. Kimberly McElroy Jones (chief culture officer) and Felicia (supplier engagement lead).
