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On the same day DiversityInc announced The 2007 DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversityâ in North Carolina, diversity champions PepsiCo and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), respectively Nos. 10 and 12 in the 2007 Top 50, received recognition for their women's initiatives at the 20th annual Catalyst Awards Conference in New York. Financial-services firm Goldman Sachs and Scotiabank rounded out the four 2007 winners.

Catalyst research reveals that at the current rate women ascend the corporate ladder, it would take 47 years for them to obtain parity with men in the executive suite. Overall progress has remained stagnant in the last year, but these four companies continue to plow forward.

Here's a brief look at the four winners and the programs that earned them recognition. For more detail on these initiatives and statements from four CEOs who get it, read Catalyst's full release.

PepsiCo--Women of Color Multicultural Alliance--Chairman Elect and CEO Indra Nooyi is the first woman of color to head a Fortune 50 corporation, nominated by her predecessor, diversity champion Steve Reinemund. PepsiCo climbed eight spots from last year to be No. 10 in the 2007 Top 50. More Fortune 500 CEO stats.

The Alliance--an employee-resource group--works to identify, nurture and retain female candidates of color for leadership positions in middle  and senior management to create a solid pipeline of top talent. PepsiCo promotes accountability by tying management compensation to results, which is the most important personal statement of diversity commitment a CEO can make.

The Result: Senior-level representation of women of color increased nearly 3 percent from 2002 to 2006; turnover rates for women who participate in the Alliance's Power Pairs mentoring program are half the rate of those who don't.

PwC--Unique People Experience--To truly leverage individual talent, PwC creates a corporate culture that values and respects the individual who brings it to the table. Each of PwC's 28,000 professionals is assigned a mentor who works to understand the person on an individual level, identify his or her needs and ensure those needs are met. Employee surveys benchmark program success, and results are incorporated within managerial performance evaluations to ensure managers take it seriously. 

The Result:  Women's representation at the partner level increased by 30 percent in the five years; voluntary turnover among customer-service personnel dropped eight percentage points (24 percent to 16 percent) in that time.

Goldman Sachs--Senior Women's Initiative--This global initiative takes a multi-tiered approach to professional development, beginning with recruitment and continuing through the senior-selection process. High-potential women are exposed to firm leaders throughout the process and partake in initiatives geared to increase engagement and retention. By thoroughly evaluating progress on a quarterly basis, the firm ensures it presents a diverse candidate slate for promotion opportunities and minimizes barriers to advancement.

The Result: Women's representation at the partner and managing-director levels increased 7 percent and 3 percent, respectively, in the last five years.

Scotiabank--Advancement of Women Initiative--The program creates a business case for the recruitment, promotion and retention of women on a global scale to reinforce the bank's commitment to women's advancement. A steering committee devises company-wide strategies for implementing the initiative, supervises the process and holds managers accountable for achieving results. Online tools make the promotion process transparent by outlining core competencies required for advancement, and a company-wide women's network provides visibility, mentoring and networking opportunities. Senior leaders are evaluated on results, which are incorporated within their performance evaluation and tied to their compensation.

The Result: In 2006, women comprised nearly 40 percent of corporate officers/executive vice presidents, up from 27 percent in 2003; senior-management representation jumped more than 10 percent to 31 percent in the same period.

 (See also: Board of Directors Statistics)

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