2016 Top 50 Companies for Diversity

NEW YORK, April 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- DiversityInc Tuesday announced its 2016 Top 50 Companies for Diversity list and the company in the No. 1 slot is healthcare company Kaiser Permanente.

And among the top ten most diverse corporations in the country, women have achieved near parity when it comes to their numbers in management and are also among the top earners.

"It's clear that corporate America understands how diversity and inclusion strengthens everything, from recruiting and retention to overall business success," said Luke Visconti, DiversityInc's founder and CEO.

DiversityInc's annual survey – tracking the nation's top companies when it comes to hiring, retaining and promoting women, minorities, people with disabilities, LGBT and veterans – is the most rigorous, data-driven survey of its kind, gauging detailed demographics based on race/ethnicity and gender at some of the largest U.S. employers.

"This was a year of many companies moving up on the Top 50 list," Visconti explained. "We saw 23 companies increase their standings on the DiversityInc Top 50 and Specialty Lists in 2016, and more than 1,000 companies submitting for contention on the list. It's a sign of their commitment and dedication to diversity management."

Joining Kaiser Permanente on the Top 10 list are:

Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation
EY
AT&T
PricewaterhouseCoopers
Sodexo
MasterCard
Johnson & Johnson
Marriott International
Prudential Financial

• Among DiversityInc Top 10 companies, there are nearly 50 percent more Blacks, Latinos and Asians in management than in U.S. companies in general.
• In addition, DiversityInc Top 10 companies have achieved near parity with women in management (48 percent). In the Top 10, women also represent 40 percent of the top earners.

Companies with more than 1,000 U.S.-based employees are eligible to enter the DiversityInc Top 50 competition each year, and there is no cost to compete. Each company's rank is based on an objective analysis of 183 separate factors, based on data from a 300-question survey. The four equally weighted areas of measurement are Talent Pipeline, Equitable Talent Development, CEO/Leadership Commitment and Supplier Diversity.

In addition to the Top 50 list, DiversityInc also released lists for the following specialty areas:

• 25 Noteworthy Companies
• Top 12 Companies for Diversity Councils (EY, No. 1)
• Top 12 Companies for Employee Resource Groups (AT&T, No. 1)
• Top 12 Companies for Global Diversity (EY, No. 1)
• Top 9 Companies for LGBT Employees (EY, No. 1)
• Top 15 Companies for Mentoring (EY, No. 1)
• Top 10 Companies for Opportunity (a new list this year; Southern Company, No. 1)
• Top 9 Companies for People with Disabilities (Northrop Grumman, No. 1)
• Top 10 Companies for Recruitment (AT&T, No. 1)
• Top 13 Companies for Supplier Diversity (AT&T, No. 1)
• Top 10 Companies for Veterans (Lockheed Martin Corporation, No. 1)
• Top 10 Hospitals and Health Systems (Henry Ford Health System, No. 1)
• Top 10 Regional Companies (Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, No. 1)
• Top 7 Utilities (Ameren Corporation, No. 1)

The announcement dinner Tuesday night included a keynote address from Dr. Johnnetta B. Cole, director of the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art; a sponsor address by Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr.; and an after-party with entertainment from Kool & The Gang.

To view the entire Top 50 list, visit http://www.diversityinc.com/top50 or follow the conversation online with the hashtag #DITop50.

The 2016 DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity event is made possible thanks to the following sponsors: Abbott, Accenture, ADP, AT&T, Bayer, Boeing, Comcast NBCUniversal, Cox Communications, CVS Health, Deloitte, EMC, EY, General Motors, Hilton Worldwide, IBM, Kaiser Permanente, Marriott International, MasterCard, Monsanto, Nielsen, Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Prudential Financial, Sodexo, Target, TD Bank, The Walt Disney Company, TimeWarner, Toyota Motor North America, Wells Fargo, Wyndham Worldwide.

About DiversityInc

The mission of DiversityInc is to bring education and clarity to the business benefits of diversity. The DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity list began in 2001, at the same time that many corporations were beginning to understand the business value of diversity-management initiatives. The 2016 Top 50 Companies for Diversity results will be featured on DiversityInc.com and in DiversityInc magazine. For more information, visit www.diversityinc.com, https://www.facebook.com/DiversityInc, https://twitter.com/DiversityInc or http://www.linkedin.com/company/26561.

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SOURCE DiversityInc