What is the Linkana Diverse Company Certificate?
Linkana Diverse Company Certificate identifies and categorizes suppliers belonging to underrepresented or economically disadvantaged groups. This certification uses Linkana's unique methodology, which is based on the best international practices for inclusive procurement.
Our certification Methodology involves three main requirements:
Ownership: At least 50% + 1 share or equity must be owned by one or more individuals from underrepresented or economically disadvantaged groups.
Control: The diverse individual or group must have full authority for administrative and business actions, independent of non-diverse individuals or groups.
Underrepresented or Economically Disadvantaged Groups Include:
Women → Woman-Owned Business
Black or Brown individuals → Black-Owned Business
Persons with Disabilities (PcD) → PcD-Owned Business
Indigenous Peoples → Indigenous-Owned Business
LGBTQIA+ Individuals → LGBTQIA+-Owned Business
Why is the Diverse Company Certification Important?
Identifying spend with diverse suppliers is a key ESG indicator in procurement. There's growing pressure and demand from consumers, investors, and governments for more diverse and inclusive supply chains.
Benefits of the Diverse Company Certification
This certification provides greater assurance in identifying diverse suppliers, aiding in the development of Supplier Diversity Programs and inclusive purchasing initiatives within your organization.
How Does the Diverse Company Certification Work?
Understanding how our certification methodology works is crucial for using the Diverse Company Certification in your supplier selection and relationship processes. Knowing the objective criteria for a supplier's certification by Linkana helps align with your corporation's requirements.
Exclusion from the Diverse Company Certification
Certain conditions, either alone or in combination, can disqualify a company from being certified as diverse:
Inactive Registration Status → Companies with suspended, unsuitable, inactive, or closed CNPJ are not certifiable.
Legal Nature ≠ Public bodies, Public companies, Foundations, etc. → We exclude legal natures that preclude ownership and control by individuals.
Shareholders and Administrators ≠ Legal entities → Companies controlled by legal entities (corporations) or government entities are not considered.
Levels of Certification
Currently, the Linkana Diverse Company Certification includes two certification levels for all groups and a special pre-certification for Woman-Owned Businesses.
Pre-certification (Automatic) for Woman-Owned Business
Ensures the company does not meet any disqualification criteria.
Probabilistic gender identification of names in the Shareholders and Administrators Register (SAR) is over 95% female, based on the 2010 Brazilian demographic census by IBGE.
Only individuals are present in the SAR.
There is only one person or group identified as female in the SAR, holding qualifications determining ownership and control.
Note:
Pre-certification is not issued if the above requirements are not met.
Pre-certification can be invalidated by changes in CNPJ and SAR data, or incompatible self-declaration information in Level I Certification or validations in Level II Certification.
Level I Certification (Self-Declaration)
Validates the self-declared information about ownership and control by any underrepresented or economically disadvantaged group.
Confirms that the company does not meet any disqualification criteria and that the declared group owns 50% + 1 of the property and has administrative and control powers.
Note:
Level I Certification is not issued if the requirements are not met.
It can be invalidated by changes in CNPJ and SAR data.
Level I Certification does not guarantee the authenticity or legal ownership of self-declared data.
Level II Certification (Ownership and Control)
Confirms ownership of 50% + 1 of shares or equity by the self-declared underrepresented or economically advantaged group and verifies administrative and control powers through validation of corporate and business registration documents.
Note:
Level II Certification is not issued if the requirements are not met.
It can be invalidated by changes in CNPJ and SAR data.
Level II Certification does not guarantee the authenticity or legal ownership of self-declared data.
It is automatically granted to pre-certified WOBs after Level I Certification, i.e., after self-declaration of ownership and control by a woman or group of women.