The DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity list began in 2001, at the same time many corporations were beginning to understand the business value of diversity-management initiatives. Like diversity management itself, the list has evolved significantly and continues to be refined and improved to reflect how rapidly companies are adapting these strategies. Four areas are measured:

• CEO Commitment to Diversity Management: accountability, personal communications, visibility
• Workforce Diversity & Human Capital: five levels of management, promotions in and into management
• Corporate/Organizational Communications: mentoring, resource groups, philanthropy, consistency/effectiveness of diversity-management initiatives
• Supplier Diversity: spend with M/WBE companies, including companies owned by LGBTs, people with disabilities, veterans

Participation in the list has increased every year. In 2011, 535 companies participated. In 2012, 587 companies participated, up 11 percent. There is volatility on the list as new companies gain strength and others work to keep up with quickly evolving best practices. This year, two companies made the list for the first time; one is a first-time participant. Twenty companies moved up on the list; 24 moved down.

The DiversityInc Top 50 list is derived exclusively from corporate survey submissions. Companies are evaluated within the context of their own industries, with more than 15 industries represented. Subsets of the same data submission are used to determine our other lists: The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for Recruitment & Retention, The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for Supplier Diversity, The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for Blacks, The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for Latinos, The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for Asian Americans, The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for Executive Women, The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for LGBT Employees, The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for People With Disabilities, DiversityInc’s 25 Noteworthy Companies, The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for Global Diversity, The DiversityInc Top 10 Regional Companies, The DiversityInc Top 5 Regional Utilities and The DiversityInc Top 5 Hospital Systems.

In 2013, we will add The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for Veterans.

The data is purely empirical and objective and the process is editorially driven. The list is completely unbiased, and many of the companies in the DiversityInc Top 50 have no business relationship with DiversityInc. Companies that advertise with DiversityInc or have other business relationships receive NO preferential treatment.

Participation is free. Every company that participates receives a free report card, assessing its performance versus all competitors overall and in the four areas measured.

We do not divulge specific demographic data of any company, and we guarantee its confidentiality. If a company makes the DiversityInc Top 50 list or one of the other lists, we only discuss the best practices it utilizes that helped it make the list. There is no negativity associated with participation.

For more information, please read our DiversityInc Top 50 Survey FAQs page.