Southern California Edison (SCE or Company) is committed to provide opportunities for women, minority, and disabled-veteran business enterprises (WMDVBE) to participate in its purchasing and contracting activities on a competitive bidding basis. The Supplier Diversity Program, implemented by the Supplier Diversity Division of the Equal Opportunity Department, has three major objectives:

• To increase opportunities for small businesses and WMDVBE businesses to participate in the Company's products and services contract activities.
• To increase both the dollar amount and percentage of products and services procured from WMDVBEs and the level of WMDVBE representation on a qualifiable list of commodities and services utilized by the Company.
• To assist both WMDVBE associations and individual WMDVBEs to better understand the Company's general business, procurement practices and procedures through consultations, business development workshops, seminars, trade shows and special events.

The Company provides maximum feasible opportunities for WMDVBEs to participate in its purchasing and contracting activities on a competitive basis. The purpose of the program is to increase WMDVBE participation in the supply of goods and services to the Company in a manner that is cost-effective to SCE's ratepayers.

Led by Joe Alderete, our Supplier Diversity Program staff works closely with procurement staff and internal client organizations to provide opportunities for WMDVBE's.