When companies consider how to maximize their spending to do the most good, they take into account business and social value. Kaiser Permanente is one of the largest health care providers in the U.S. “That means we're big,” said Ije-Enu Udeze Nwosu, Kaiser’s VP of market operations, performance, and impact. “We’re spending big. So how do we make sure that we’re leveraging that spend?”

One way to positively impact communities is by purchasing goods and services from diverse suppliers–the majority of which are small, local businesses. In 2014 Kaiser became the first health care provider to reach the Billion Dollar Roundtable with its diverse supplier program, joining 18 other U.S.-based corporations that spend $1 billion or more annually with certified minority- and women-owned businesses.

Nwosu and her team wanted to go deeper. She addressed how in a fireside chat titled, “How Corporate Spending Can Have an Impact for Good,” with moderator Ken Howe, managing editor of the San Francisco Examiner, at From Day One’s recent San Francisco conference.

“Health is really 10% about how you’re feeling today,” she said. “But that’s only part of your health story. Think about your environment. Think about access to healthy food, jobs, and health care. We’re trying to tackle those upstream so that our communities are the healthiest ones that exist.” Based in Oakland, Calif., Kaiser serves 12.6 million members and has nearly 220,000 employees.

It makes sense for a managed care consortium like Kaiser to address social and environmental determinants of health, which often reveal significant racial disparities. “When you think about the climate crisis that we’re facing, that’s a health crisis as well,” said Nwosu. “Because the same communities that are disenfranchised when you think about total health, are the same communities that are disenfranchised when you talk about the climate.”

Kaiser has declared that by 2025, the organization will increase its purchase of products and materials meeting environmental standards to 50%. It also reached carbon neutrality as an organization several years ago, according to Nwosu. And Kaiser made a pledge that by 2030, it will have reduced its greenhouse-gas emissions by 50%. “The uptick of asthma in communities of color is astronomical, it’s all tied to climate change. If we don’t proactively target those areas, we’re creating a greater health crisis,” she said.

In addition to supply-chain diversity and carbon footprint, Kaiser needed to factor in the economics of the community in order to maximize its impact spending. “We are still in the midst of Covid right now,” Nwosu said, “and businesses were hit really hard; 50% of African American businesses didn’t make it. How do we stand up businesses so that they make it through Covid? How do you build up and restore, not just the financial health of the business, but also the mental health of the business leaders, which was just as important?”

As a benefit to its health plan, Kaiser began offering its members a mindfulness app for free. It developed a Resilience and Restoration Toolkit for its suppliers. Kaiser also made a commitment to spend and provide direct services for Black- and brown-owned businesses, assisting upwards of 2,000 of them, Nwosu said. None of its community programs were cut during the pandemic. One such program, called Inner City Capital Connections, combining executive education, webinars, coaching, and access to capital, was created to help small businesses led by underrepresented groups survive the economic impact of the pandemic.

In order to assess community needs, Nwosu emphasized the importance of leaving the corporate four walls to actually go talk to people, business owners, and agencies. She stressed the value of being able to pivot on the spot and stay nimble. “We have to also reset the way that we worked and the way that we thought about things.” And to make the greatest impact with spending, what’s most needed is courage.

“You have to be bold with your voice,” said Nwosu. “What is happening is bigger than you, but you taking that step is going to make it better. We can all do good and do well at the same time.”

Samantha Campos is a freelance journalist who’s written for regional publications in Hawaii and California, with forays into medical cannabis and food justice nonprofits. She currently resides in Oakland, Calif.