Ernst & Young
Get on Board: Driving Action Through Gender Parity
NEW YORK CITY—Ernst & Young hosted “Get on Board: Driving Action Through Gender Parity,” a Forté Foundation event about woman representation in corporate boardrooms at which Forté released its list of Global Board-Ready Women. Nancy Altobello, Ernst & Young’s Americas Vice Chair, People, opened the program by discussing key data from a new E&Y report on the number of women on U.S. boards, and Karyn Twaronite, E&Y Partner and Chief Inclusiveness Officer, participated in a panel discussion. In attendance was DiversityInc Vice President, Consulting Debby Scheinholtz. Ernst & Young is No. 6 in the DiversityInc Top 50.

Forest City
Real Estate Associate Program (REAP)
BEACHWOOD, Ohio—DiversityInc CEO Luke Visconti spoke at a session of the Real Estate Associate Program (REAP)—a 13-week series of courses that exposes professionals from underrepresented groups to the commercial real-estate business—at the headquarters of DDR. The session, titled “Career Workshop,” was facilitated by Andrew Passen, Executive Vice President of Human Resources at Forest City; Mark Floyd, Executive Vice President of Employment at DDR; and Daniel Gold, Vice President of Human Resources at Associated Estates. Forest City and DDR sponsored the program, which had only been held in Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and Washington, D.C.

TD Bank
Women in Leadership
MT. LAUREL, N.J.—TD Bank celebrated three years of its Women in Leadership program with a presentation on TD Bank’s diversity initiatives from President and CEO Bharat Masrani, a panel with a number of the company’s most senior women leaders, and a keynote address from Betsy Myers, Founding Director of the Center for Women & Business at Bentley University and former official in the Clinton Administration. The event was attended by DiversityInc General Counsel and Senior Vice President, Transformation Services Lora Fong; Director of Benchmarking Shane Nelson; and Web Editor Stacy Straczynski. TD Bank is one of DiversityInc’s 25 Noteworthy Companies.

National Organization on Disability
NOD’s 30th Anniversary Celebration
NEW YORK CITY—The National Organization on Disability’s 30th anniversary celebration was held at the offices of McGraw-Hill. Kessler Foundation President and CEO Rodger DeRose spoke about the disability employment field and NOD’s place within it. NOD Chairman Tom Ridge and NOD President Carol Glazer presented awards to founder Alan Reich and founding board members. NOD also screened its 30th anniversary video, featuring board member and actor Robert David Hall (CSI), and highlighted its two signature programs: Bridges to Business and Wounded Warrior Career Demonstration. Members of NOD’s CEO Council, including from DiversityInc Top 50 companies Aetna (No. 24) and MetLife (No. 50), were recognized. DiversityInc Foundation Director Stuart Arnold attended the event.

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Walmart announced the promotion of Karen Roberts to Executive Vice President and General Counsel. She manages a department that is responsible for all legal matters affecting the company in its domestic and international markets. A 17-year veteran of the company, Roberts previously was Senior Vice President and President of Walmart Realty, overseeing close to 1 billion square feet of real estate. Roberts has a bachelor’s degree from Harding University and a juris doctor from the University of Arkansas.

Charmaine Brown, Director of Diversity & Inclusion at Forest City, was named Diversity Executive of the Year by Commercial Property Executive magazine. CPE cited Brown’s role in implementing a new recruitment strategy and in helping bring the Real Estate Associate Program to Forest City’s hometown of Cleveland. Brown is also involved in the Greater Cleveland Partnership’s Commission on Economic Inclusion and the Northern Ohio Minority Supplier Development Council. Brown has a bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University.

Lissiah Hundley has been named Director of Diversity and Inclusion at Cox Communications. She is the primary advisor on the research, development, execution and enhancement of D&I programs and initiatives at Cox, working closely with HR and senior leaders to develop D&I strategies for the business. Previously, Hundley was Vice President and Diversity Project Management Manager at Wells Fargo. She has a bachelor’s degree and a juris doctor from St. Mary’s University in Texas and a master’s degree from the University of Texas. She is a member of the board of directors of Urban League of Central Carolinas. Cox is No. 25 in the DiversityInc Top 50.

Kellogg Company has promoted two women to new leadership roles in its human-resources department. Sammie Long has been named Senior Vice President, Global Human Resources. In her new position, Long is responsible for all of the company’s HR functions for its 31,000-plus employees worldwide. The England native graduated from the University of Salford outside Manchester. Replacing Long as Vice President, Human Resources, Kellogg North America, covering the company’s operations in the United States and Canada, is Lyn Frantz, formerly Vice President, Human Resources, Kellogg North America Supply Chain. Frantz has a bachelor’s degree from Central Michigan University. Kellogg Company is No. 49 in the DiversityInc Top 50.

Kellogg Company announced the election of Mary Laschinger, Senior Vice President of International Paper and President of IP’s xpedx division, to its board of directors. Laschinger, who is responsible for IP’s North American distribution business, was also appointed to the board’s Manufacturing Committee and to its Social Responsibility and Public Policy Committee. Laschinger has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin and a master’s degree from the University of Connecticut.

Wyndham Worldwide has named Tiziana Sullivan as Vice President, Diversity and Inclusion. She will focus on D&I initiatives in recruitment, development and retention of global talent, as well as customer and stakeholder relations. She will also manage diversity initiatives among Wyndham’s associate business groups. Sullivan previously served as Director, University Relations and Diversity Recruitment. She has a bachelor’s degree from Concordia University. Wyndham Worldwide is one of DiversityInc’s 25 Noteworthy Companies.

New York Life announced the appointment of Troy Glover as Senior Vice President in charge  of the company’s Long-Term Care Insurance operation. He is responsible for all facets of product development, marketing and administration of the Long-Term Care Insurance line. Glover most recently was Chief Operating Officer of the unit, which is based in Austin, Texas. He has a bachelor’s degree from Brandeis University and a master’s degree from Cornell University.

Ernst & Young has named Chobani founder Hamdi Ulukaya as the 2012 Overall Award winner in its National Entrepreneur Of The Year program, for his vision in jumpstarting the U.S.’s Greek yogurt boom. The award encourages entrepreneurial activity and recognizes leaders and visionaries who demonstrate innovation, financial success and personal commitment as they create and build world-class businesses. Winners in 10 industries were selected by an independent panel of judges from among 244 regional honorees. Ernst & Young is No. 6 in the DiversityInc Top 50.

Rhonda Davenport Johnson has been named Senior Vice President and Director of the Comerica Loan Center. She oversees all Comerica Loan Center operations for mortgage, home equity, consumer and small-business loans generated through Comerica’s national operations. Davenport has bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Western Michigan University and is a graduate of the Consumer Bankers Association’s Graduate School of Retail Bank Management. Comerica Bank is No. 3 in DiversityInc’s Top 10 Regional Companies.

The Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual) announced two promotions: Chris Mendoza to Vice President of Multicultural Market Development and Brian K. Lee to head of the company’s Greater Los Angeles agency. Mendoza is responsible for the development of multicultural business and market strategies, including securing and leveraging strategic alliances with diverse organizations that support recruiting and business generation. Lee is building on the agency’s decades-long commitment to Los Angeles as well as expanding the agency’s multicultural reach to address the financial needs of various ethnic groups in and around the area. One of Lee’s goals is to double the number of multilingual financial professionals in the Los Angeles office. MassMutual is one of DiversityInc’s 25 Noteworthy Companies.

The Philadelphia Multicultural Affairs Congress, the division of the Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau responsible for increasing the city’s share of the multicultural meetings, conventions and tourism markets, has appointed Nicole Johnson-Reece as its new Executive Director. Reece most recently was Vice President of Global Diversity and Inclusion for ARAMARK. She has a bachelor’s degree from Rutgers University.

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Today, Brown is the director of diversity and inclusion for Forest City Enterprises (FCE), a national real-estate company. She is responsible for leading diversity management throughout the entire organization. The company is focusing on improving diversity accountability across the enterprise.

From Occupational Therapy to Diversity Management: Brown graduated from Michigan State University and planned to attend grad school for occupational therapy. But she realized her affinity for business over healthcare when she took a job as a client liaison for a therapy company in Cleveland that managed several nursing homes.

“I found excitement in making sales calls and working with processes,” says Brown, who then tried her hand at selling staffing opportunities for Kelly Services. “It was the first job I got fired from—and it was the best thing to happen to me,” she recalls. She says her firing was because she was inexperienced and was asked to supervise a region, which lost significant market share. The lesson she learned in mentoring younger people has helped her—and those she now helps—to succeed.

Brown found her niche at the Urban League of Greater Cleveland, placing Black and Latino business professionals with local banks, which she says “marked my entry into diversity and human resources.”

Eight months later, Brown went to work as a recruiter for Charter One, eventually becoming its manager of Diversity & Inclusion. “I have always had affinity toward diversity management,” she says. “I always built diversity into my recruitment efforts, even at a time when the company wasn’t really focused on it.”

Improving Diversity in Recruitment: Brown accepted her current position at FCE and has continued “helping people achieve the best that they can possibly achieve” through local community outreach. She also sits on a number of boards, including the Northern Ohio Minority Supplier Development Council and Family Connections and Milestones Autism.

“I’m extremely passionate about these organizations. [Being involved] has helped me to slow down and think about how to leverage my knowledge and expertise to really make an impact,” explains Brown. “It’s about building relationships with people from all walks of life and getting value from that.”

It’s a message she’s carrying over to Forest City as the company launches its new strategic diversity-management initiative this year to improve accountability for diversity goals throughout the organization. The plan features a talent-management component to integrate diversity into the company’s succession planning.

She is proud of the community partnerships that help Blacks and Latinos gain experience and jobs in the Cleveland area. For example, Brown is leading the launch of Cleveland’s Real Estate Associate Program (REAP) this June. The 13-week program, sponsored by Forest City and Cleveland-based real-estate company DDR, educated the city’s first class of Black, Latino and Asian professionals in commercial real estate and provided networking opportunities.

Brown relates her efforts back to a key lesson from her childhood. “My mom always said, ‘You need to be someone [not because you are Black] but because you are Charmaine. If you do that, you will empower your race,” recalls Brown.

Brown actively participates on behalf of Forest City in several organizations for economic inclusion, including the Commission on Economic Inclusion and the Northern Ohio Minority Supplier Development Council. The organization certifies MBEs and helps provide them with networking and resources.

Building Workplace Diversity in Real Estate: Diversity management overall remains a challenge for the real-estate industry, Brown notes. A report from the National Association of Realtors found that 89 percent of commercial Realtors are white and 76 percent are male.

“Many companies grew out of family businesses; they operated with similar family-owned businesses,” Brown explains. “Over the years, it evolved into the unintentional exclusion of people of color and women.”

As such, Brown’s goal is to work with President and CEO David LaRue to “position the company as a leader in an industry that has been predominantly white, male and heterosexual.”

“What I want most is for this organization to start feeling really good about its progress by executing on the strategies that everyone in the organization can own in some way,” Brown explains, emphasizing the role of accountability in achieving results.

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