Although only two women of color now head Fortune 500 companies, their percentags in corporate management is growing. But is it enough? Not according to ASCENT, a bold new initiative to increase the number of multicultural women in management positions.

ASCENT made its debut in New York City last week, and DiversityInc was there. The initiative is headed by Dr. Ella L.J. Edmondson Bell, professor of business administration at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth University, who for more than 20 years has studied the impact of race and gender in the workplace.

"This is a program, the first one we know of its kind, that is totally developed to the advancement and the retention of multicultural women; translated, all women in the workplace," says Dr. Bell.

Non-white women now are 17.6 percent of all managers in corporate America, according to the latest Equal Employment Opportunity Commission data.  By comparison, they are 27 percent of the managers in The 2007 DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity^®.

(See also: The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for Executive Women)

Dr. Bell was one of the stars of DiversityInc's "Women of Color" roundtable, featuring her provocative comments about the relationships between white women and black, Latina, Asian and Native-American women. Read the roundtable in the March 2006 issue of DiversityInc magazine.

ASCENT, focused on "leading multicultural women to the top," is comprised of high-power women executives across industry lines banding together to level the playing field for women of color and add diversity to boardrooms.

Managed by a partnership between the Tuck School of Business and the Anderson School of Management at UCLA, ASCENT provides mentoring, networking and retention career training for women of color at entry, mid- and executive levels.

ASCENT held its inaugural program last Thursday at the National Museum of the American Indian in New York City. Surrounded by artifacts, more than 50 women executives filled the room optimistic about the thumbprint ASCENT will have on the workplace.

"ASCENT is about learning and journeys. We at PepsiCo view ASCENT as an opportunity for women and corporations," said Dawn Hudson, president and CEO of PepsiCola North America, which donated $430,000 toward ASCENT's research. Indra Nooyi, PepsiCo's CEO, is one of the two female CEOs of color in Fortune 500 companies. PepsiCo is No. 10 in the Top 50.

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