MBN USA

October 04, 2021

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AmerisourceBergen's Robinson sees opportunity to be a trailblazer

By Melissa Lowery

When Lamont Robinson joined AmerisourceBergen Corp. in February 2021, he brought 17 years of experience in health care and supplier diversity to a company ready to become a global leader in supplier diversity. His overall mission as director of supplier diversity is creating a world-class program that will — he hopes — be a model for the pharmaceutical industry.

“Working with AmerisourceBergen is an opportunity to be a trailblazer,” he said. “The health care services industry hasn’t seen a lot of success with diverse manufacturers, so this is an opportunity to work with one of the largest companies in the world, to leverage a global platform and have an impact that will be felt for generations.”

Setting out to transform an entire industry seems like a lot of pressure, but Robinson thrives on the challenge.

“It’s a fun pressure,” he said. “You have to have a big vision in any supplier diversity role, and I love to transform things.”

Transformation through strategic change

is a recurring theme in Robinson’s life. He was deeply impacted by his childhood experiences, leading him to focus on supplier diversity to help others achieve positive change.

A native of Chicago’s West Side, he attended Lower Merion High School in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, through the A Better Chance Inc. college preparatory program. He then returned to Illinois to attend Lake Forest College. After graduating from LFC, he went on to work for the Lake County Forest Preserves, while obtaining his Master of Business Administration degree from Keller Graduate School of Management at DeVry University.

“I grew up on Chicago’s West Side, but I didn’t see business owners that looked like me — even though the neighborhood was 100% African American,” he said. “That’s what led me to supplier diversity, to championing diverse and underrepresented business owners. I think it’s important for supplier diversity professionals to understand what’s driving us to be in these professions. The more passion you have, the greater your success will be internally — as well as externally.”

Before leading supplier diversity at AmerisourceBergen, Robinson oversaw supplier diversity programs at Cardinal Health Inc., VHA Inc., Novation LLC, Provista Inc. and The Nielsen Co. US LLC.

Mission: educate and transform

AmerisourceBergen is a major player in protecting the global pharmaceutical supply chain to ensure hospitals, physicians, pharmacies and veterinary clinics get the essential and lifesaving medicine precisely when needed. This is a particularly important feat in the midst of COVID-19 when delivery critical medications and working with health care providers took on a new sense of urgency. Robinson said this created the perfect opportunity to educate people about what the company does and how suppliers can partner with the pharmaceutical giant.

“The pandemic gave us a platform to describe what we do,” he said. “Not only to family and friends but to diverse suppliers who maybe weren’t aware of our needs.”

Finding diverse suppliers with the capacity to meet the needs of a company like AmerisourceBergen is a top priority for him as he endeavors to broaden the supply chain.

“For us to partner more with diverse suppliers, there has to be an increase in the number of suppliers able to support our needs at the scale we require,” Robinson said.

To that end, AmerisourceBergen and the AmerisourceBergen Foundation partnered with Inner City Capital Connections, a tuition-free executive leadership training program designed to help business owners in under-resourced communities build capacity for sustainable growth and resiliency.

“There needs to be an increase in the number of diverse suppliers in health care, especially on the manufacturing side,” Robinson said.

The first cohort of business owners sponsored by AmerisourceBergen is a group of diverse suppliers in the health care industry located in Atlanta, Georgia. Robinson and AmerisourceBergen are excited to work with ICCC to see how this program can be expanded in other areas of the supply chain for future opportunities.

Transformation requires a united effort. Recently, AmerisourceBergen launched its own internal Supplier Diversity Council with 25 leaders from across the company representing each business unit and employee resource group.

“To be successful in any endeavor, you have to combine the tactical with the strategic,” Robinson said. “The Supplier Diversity Council allows us to get to that strategic level much faster by gaining buy-in from across the company.”

The council offers a great deal of potential for patients, suppliers and the industry, according to Susan Lorenz-Fisher, vice president, corporate responsibility and sustainability and a member of the Supplier Diversity Council. “At AmerisourceBergen, we are inspired, motivated and driven by our purpose to create healthier futures for everyone,” she said. “Through our collective efforts, we have the opportunity as a global organization to learn from, respond to and create resources that can play a role in addressing injustices within health care and becoming part of a broader solution. As a part of our Supplier Diversity Council, I’m eager to see our team and company play a critical role in building an impactful supplier diversity program and, more broadly, to increase the inclusion of diverse businesses, which are the foundation of our communities.”

Goal: global supplier diversity leader

With the recent acquisition of Alliance HealthCare, Robinson’s vision for supplier diversity has gone global. With the addition of newly acquired global supplier diversity ambassadors and team members, he sees an opportunity to create a worldwide, world-class supplier diversity program.

“Our goal is to build a global program,” he said. “That doesn’t mean there aren’t opportunities for local suppliers — they are important to enhance our culture — but it does mean we have a bigger platform to positively impact diverse suppliers on a global scale.”

As Robinson implements these and other strategic and tactical initiatives, he wants diverse business owners to know that AmerisourceBergen is serious about growing the supply chain for the entire industry.

“If you are wanting to grow strategically with us, then we are open,” Robinson said. “We want to prepare you to do business with others in health care. The more successful you are, the better it is for all of us.”