Harley-Davidson canceled its supplier diversity spending goals, part of a larger termination of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, according to an Aug. 19 social media post.
The company said the decision was based on an internal stakeholder review and that it has “not operated a DEI function since April 2024.” That same month, Tanika Murphy, Harley-Davidson’s former manager of inclusion and belonging for DEI and supplier diversity, left the company to join Molson Coors Beverage Company, according to her LinkedIn profile.
In a 2022 company report, Harley-Davidson said it reached 9% diverse spend with Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers, accounting for more than $265 million. In the same report, the company said it aimed to reach or surpass 15% diverse spend with suppliers by 2030.
Harley-Davidson did not publish a similar report for 2023 and did not elaborate on how its recent decision to cut supplier diversity spend goals will impact current suppliers. The company did not respond to a request for comment for this story.
Despite the announcement, Harley-Davidson’s supplier diversity policy is still published on its supplier network website. As of Aug. 29, the policy states that the motorcycle maker has an “objective of becoming an industry leader in global diversity and inclusion.”
Harley-Davidson’s supplier diversity program was once named one of the best of the decade by Minority Business News USA and Women’s Enterprise USA.
Beyond supplier diversity, as recently as December 2023, Harley-Davidson was still reporting the gender and racial makeup of its U.S. workforce, noting that 45.2% of its employees were white men in its most recent annual report.
The company first began publishing such information in its 2021 annual report after CEO Jochen Zeitz outlined the motorcycle maker’s inclusive stakeholder management program during a Q4 2020 earnings call. The program was a pillar of a five-year strategic plan the company announced in February 2021.
“Our efforts also include fostering an inclusive and welcoming dealer network and a diverse supply base focused on ethical, sustainable and equity-based purchasing and sourcing practices,” Zeitz said on the Q4 2020 earnings call.
Several other companies that previously announced DEI initiatives have walked back their commitments recently, with supplier diversity sometimes caught in the crossfire. For example, Jack Daniel’s maker Brown-Forman Corp. announced this month that it would end its “supplier diversity ambitions” as part of its DEI retreat.