As the Senior Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion at Diversified Maintenance, Ciara Lilly has led the formalization of the diversity, inclusion, and supplier diversity program. This has made Diversified Maintenance one of the few facility services companies with an active diversity, inclusion, and supplier diversity program. She launched a corporate Diversity and Inclusion training program for employees and increased the network of diverse suppliers, extending over $40 million in contracting opportunities to small and diverse businesses since the program’s inception in 2020.
Ciara adheres to a five-step process for driving DEI success. Her steps are to align, assess, plan, execute, and optimize. The supplier diversity program drives economic inclusion while creating jobs, increasing wages and, investments in local economies, and supporting the broader GDP. Ciara established a $10,000 grant to assist the company’s small and diverse suppliers with the cost of certifying their businesses. Certification helps them grow their businesses, which benefits people and communities. Ciara believes their success is due to the organization’s intentionality and unwavering commitment to making the tenets of diversity, inclusion, and supplier diversity key components of the company’s DNA.