New rankings from Black Enterprise, in partnership with the Executive Leadership Council, presents the corporations that have committed to take action so that African American stakeholders can reap the benefits of inclusion.
The org’s new listing of the 50 Best Companies for Diversity, as featured in its November/December 2018 issue, focuses on diversity and inclusion in Corporate America. The companies singled out for distinction demonstrated a significant commitment to diversity in four key areas: board of directors, employee base, senior management, and supplier diversity.
In 2005, Black Enterprise began publishing its list of the “Best Companies for Diversity,” identifying those corporations that proved to be the best of the best in developing a culture and executing policies that promoted inclusion of African Americans within their workforce, senior management ranks, corporate boards, and supplier pools. This year’s roster of companies recognized the value of the link between diversity and engagement, which is driven by corporate leadership.
“There are CEOs of firms on the 50 Best Companies list in this issue like Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase and Randall Stephenson of AT&T who value the contributions of all employees and have made unshakeable commitments to placing African Americans front and center as part of their diversity mantra. In fact, I applaud the fact that both have been candid and outspoken in openly addressing race within corporate settings,” says Black Enterprise president and CEO, Earl “Butch” Graves Jr., in a news release.
But not all companies were forthcoming with their diversity data: “Our content research team, however, sent surveys to more than 1,000 of the nation’s largest publicly traded corporations to gain information on their D&I efforts as it pertained to African American representation within their workforce,” Graves added. “At least two-thirds have refused to submit such data, share whether they have diversity departments, or state whether their CEO directs their company to adopt diversity best practices. There is a lot more work that needs to be done.”
In selecting the 2018 companies, Black Enterprise sent surveys to the nation’s top publicly traded companies with strong U.S. operations. The final list includes those that showed a commitment to diversifying its ranks in four areas: employee base, senior management, supplier diversity, and board of directors. Companies were also chosen based on programs created to nurture and maintain a diverse professional space. Surveys did not simply focus on black inclusion, but ethnic minority groups as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau.
The full list of the 2018 Black Enterprise 50 Best Companies for Diversity is as follows:
