WASHINGTON, March 15, 2013 /PRNewswire/ – The Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) bestowed the prestigious Crystal Leadership Award to James S. Turley , Global Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Ernst & Young, at WBENC’s 2013 Salute to Women’s Business Enterprises, a gathering of over 1,000 major corporations, government entities and women’s businesses in Baltimore on March 14, 2013.

The award, the highest honor given to a corporate entity by WBENC, recognizes Turley’s leadership in influencing women’s business success. This is evidenced by the groundbreaking programs he has overseen enabling the strategic development of women-owned businesses. His stewardship of Ernst & Young’s extraordinary supplier diversity program and commitment to integrity, quality and professionalism is reflected throughout the organization.

” Jim Turley demonstrates the power of principled leadership in spurring growth among women’s businesses, from emerging entrepreneurs to established suppliers,” said Pamela Prince-Eason , President and CEO of WBENC. “His support of equal marketplace access and capacity development has resulted in stronger women’s businesses, and in turn, their contributions to a better economy.”

Ernst & Young pioneered the world-renowned Entrepreneur Of The Year® Award more than 25 years ago and founded its Entrepreneurial Winning Women^TM Program six years ago. This national competition and executive leadership program identifies a select group of high-potential women entrepreneurs whose businesses show potential for scalable growth and then guides them in achieving it.

During WBENC’s Summit & Salute to Women’s Business Enterprises (WBEs), Ernst & Young LLP was named one of WBENC’s 2012 America’s Top Corporations for Women’s Business Enterprises, an honor it has received four times. It is the only national award honoring corporations for world class programs that level the playing field for women’s business enterprises to compete for corporate business.

“Under Jim’s leadership, Ernst & Young people are encouraged to find innovative ways to help women thrive. He recognizes the tremendous economic potential of women as employees, entrepreneurs, producers and consumers, and he sets the bar very high in his efforts to help them realize that potential,” said Theresa Harrison , Director of Supplier Diversity at Ernst & Young LLP, as well as a past recipient of WBENC’s William J. Alcorn Award for excellence in 2011. Harrison is a WBENC Board Member and a tireless contributor to the organization, chairing the Corporate Membership and Revenue Generation Committee among other commitments.

WBENC’s Summit & Salute is designed to drive business development and collaborative success among WBENC’s Corporate and Government Members and WBEs.

Ernst & Young LLP is a member firm of the global Ernst & Young organization, providing assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services in offices throughout the US. Ernst & Young member firms have 167,000 people worldwide who are united by its shared values and an unwavering commitment to quality.

WBENC is the leading third-party certifier of businesses owned and operated by women, with over 11,000 WBENC-Certified WBEs. www.wbenc.org.

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“My attitude is that gays and lesbians should have access and opportunity the same way everybody else does, in every institution and walk of life,” Obama said, noting that the Boy Scouts provides young people opportunities and leadership and that “nobody should be barred from that.”

Boy Scouts to Lift Gay Ban?

Corporate pressure from companies such as Ernst & Young, AT&T and Merck & Co. certainly contributed to the Boy Scouts of America’s apparent decision to end its ban on gay scouts and troop leaders, with a formal announcement expected as early as next week. The new policy would leave membership decisions up to the Boy Scouts’ 290 local councils and 116,000 sponsors, which are comprised of religious and civic groups.

“The Boy Scouts of America have heard from scouts, corporations and millions of Americans that discriminating against gay scouts and scout leaders is wrong,” said Herndon Graddick, President of GLAAD, an advocacy group for LGBTs. “Scouting is a valuable institution, and this change will only strengthen its core principles of fairness and respect.”

“Last year Scouting realized the policy caused some volunteers and chartered organizations … to act in conflict with their missions, principles or religious beliefs,” said Boy Scouts of America spokesperson Deron Smith. “It’s important to note this policy would not require any chartered organization to act in ways inconsistent with that organization’s mission, principles or religious beliefs.”

Change of Heart?

However, many news sources say the Boy Scouts’ sudden reversal is less about conflicting missions—after all, the policy had been in place since before the Supreme Court upheld its constitutionality in 2000—and more about societal pressure to shift toward more inclusive practices.

The announcement comes just seven months after Boy Scouts of America was slammed nationally for reaffirming its anti-gay membership policy after nearly two years of examination, and just one month after Merck & Co ended its funding to the Boy Scouts.

In addition to continual chiding from the public, Boy Scouts of America evoked strong reactions from senior executives and other diversity leaders at top corporations—in particular, Ernst & Young Chairman and CEO Jim Turley and AT&T Chairman, CEO and President Randall Stephenson, who are both BSA board members. Turley very publicly urged the Boy Scouts to reconsider the policy to better reflect the times; the Girl Scouts, 4-H clubs and the U.S. military all have policies of inclusion.

“I support the meaningful work of the Boy Scouts in preparing young people for adventure, leadership, learning and service. However, the membership policy is not one I would personally endorse,” Turley said last June. “As I have done in leading Ernst & Young to being a most inclusive organization, I intend to continue to work from within the BSA board to actively encourage dialogue and sustainable progress.”

Ernst & Young is No. 6 in the DiversityInc Top 50 and No. 4 in The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for LGBT Employees. AT&T is No. 4 in the DiversityInc Top 50 and No. 8 in The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for LGBT Employees. Merck & Co. is No. 16 in the DiversityInc Top 50. All three companies have a 100 percent rating on the Corporate Equality Index from the Human Rights Campaign, which designates those organizations demonstrating workplace equality for LGBT employees.

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The announcement, made by Merck Foundation Executive Vice President Brian Grill, is an affirmation of the company’s core value of inclusion. Merck & Co. is No. 16 in the 2012 DiversityInc Top 50.

“We cannot continue to provide support to an organization with a policy that is contrary to one of our core beliefs. We remain ready and willing to re-consider our funding position in the event that the BSA were to revise its policy,” Grill said in a statement. “We’re confident that this decision is aligned with our high ethical giving standards and strong core beliefs, and reinforces our long-standing commitment to policies that prevent against discrimination.”

The company also plans to review its other funding decisions for 2013 and will evaluate whether those contributions align with the company’s policies and ethical beliefs.

Records show that in 2011, Merck gave $30,000 to the Boy Scouts of America and $10,000 to the Cradle of Liberty Council, which governs troops in the Philadelphia area, where Merck Chairman, President and CEO Kenneth Frazier grew up.

LGBT Discrimination & Boy Scouts

The Boy Scouts’ gay ban, which prohibits LGBT people from participating in the organization as leaders and scouts, has been in place for more than a decade. In June, the BSA was slammed by LGBT supporters when it failed to make any revisions to its anti-gay ban and refused to allow Jennifer Tyrrell, a lesbian, to resume leadership of her troop.

Other corporations have suspended funding to the BSA as well. Additionally, two Boy Scouts board members have spoken out on the issue: Ernst & Young (No. 6 in the DiversityInc Top 50) Chairman and CEO Jim Turley became the first board member and corporate leader to publicly urge the BSA to change its policy, and AT&T (No. 4) Chairman, President and CEO Randall Stephenson also issued a public statement promoting diversity and inclusion. Both companies earned 100 percent scores on the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index.

Ernst & Young, No. 4 in The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for LGBT Employees, and Turley in particular have been very visible supporters of diversity and inclusion.  Turley spoke at a DiversityInc event, for example, about his public pronouncement for the rights of women in Saudi Arabia, and he served as keynote for the Committee for Economic Development’s release of its “How More Women on Corporate Boards Would Make America and American Companies More Competitive” report.

Stephenson also spoke at a DiversityInc event, discussing the need for cultural diversity in education and corporations’ responsibility to build diverse talent pipelines among talented youth. AT&T is No. 8 in The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for LGBT Employees.

Also read:

Supreme Court to Hear Prop 8, DOMA Cases

Diversity Wins: Demographic, Psychographic Shifts Decided Election

Gay-Cure Ban Stops ‘Quackery’ Therapy

LGBT Pride Facts & Figures

Ask DiversityInc: How Can Corporations Support Same-Sex Marriage?

Safe LGBT Spaces: What Schools Can Learn From Resource Groups

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The key, said Jim Turley, chairman and CEO of Ernst & Young, at a DiversityInc event, is to have multiple approaches. (Ernst & Young is No. 6 in The 2012 DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity.) He said it’s best to tailor your company’s initiatives by geography so diversity strategies remain central to local customs and beliefs. Once established, diversity leaders can then look to incrementally push the boundaries.

“The mental picture I have is of somebody pushing a round, heavy stone up a hill, and you have to lean into it and put your shoulder into it, and the real art is—and we all can picture this—if you lean too far, you will fall flat on your face and the stone rolls over you and you’re back at the bottom,” said Turley.

During his presentation, “The Growing Importance of Corporate Social Responsibility,” Turley spoke with DiversityInc CEO Luke Visconti. He recounted the story of a recent trip he took to Saudi Arabia, where contact between men and women is rigidly controlled.

“We have a number of women in our professional staff,” he said. “They have to be in a separate office, separate everything. But they were sitting in the same town-hall meeting, which, technically, was probably a violation of the law in Saudi, but again, you push.”

In this 33-minute video, Turley discusses more about Ernst & Young’s global diversity strategies and shares best practices that can help companies achieve a more equitable workforce despite cultural barriers. Click here to watch.

For more on global diversity, read DiversityInc’s exclusive Global Research report with comprehensive data, demographics and best practices from 17 countries.

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The New York–based Big Four company, No. 5 in The DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity, recently held its Discover Ernst & Young event and the fourth annual Campus Diversity and Inclusiveness Roundtable in New York. 

From Talented Students … 

Discover Ernst & Young, which stems from the company’s former Discover Tax program that targets increasing interest in the tax sector, is a three-day seminar of workshops and activities, like a scavenger hunt. Its purpose is to engage the 150 freshmen, sophomores and juniors from 73 national colleges and universities who are primarily Black, Latino and American Indian. The goal is to inspire future accounting professionals for Ernst & Young’s talent pipeline. 

“I’m big on planting trees. From our talent-development pipeline, we have to invest early before students think about other careers,” said Ken Bouyer, Americas director of inclusiveness recruiting. Those initiatives also include students on the high-school level, as detailed in Rutgers Future Scholars Enhances Talent Pipelines With Corporate-Student Outreach.

At the kick-off experience, for which E&Y covered all the students’ expenses, Chairman and CEO Jim Turley directly engaged with students during a Q&A session along with other E&Y recruitment leaders, including Americas Campus Recruiting Director Dan Black and Americas Vice Chair of People Nancy Altobello, to spur excitement for the accounting profession. 

“The world is a very turbulent place. There is a lot of angst. In turbulent times there are going to be winners and losers, whether a country or a company,” said Turley. He discussed what it takes to be a winner—the mindset of an entrepreneur with an aggressive eye for opportunity. 

… To Schools That Educate 

The firm simultaneously hosted its fourth annual Campus Diversity and Inclusiveness Faculty Roundtable. University teachers and administrators from 15 schools discussed the business imperative for diversity and the need to create a culture of inclusiveness. For more about existing diversity gaps among college students, read American Universities Hinder Diversity Among STEM Students.

The roundtable sought to address three main objectives: why diversity is important to Ernst & Young, why it’s important to schools, and formulating an action plan that will move the needle.

Panelists included: Tony Anderson, vice chair and Midwest area managing partner, Ernst & Young; Denice Kronau, chief diversity officer, Siemens; and Bruce Jackson, senior counsel, Microsoft. Read How to Increase the Number of Black CPAs for recruiting and retention best practices. 

“We need you. We can’t do this without the pipeline of students,” said Bouyer during the introduction. He noted that 49 percent of Ernst & Young’s intern hires came from colleges represented in the audience. 

Blacks, Latinos and Asians make up about 32 percent of Ernst & Young’s North American workforce, and women make up 48 percent of its North American workforces. In 2011, Blacks, Latinos and Asians totaled 39 percent and women totaled 47 percent of all new North American hires. 

Global Implications 

Turley also addressed the administrators, discussing trends in global business and the economy and the business imperative for diversity and inclusiveness today. 

“The world is going through the most geopolitical economic shifts in history. Emerging markets are on fire … The slowest-growing economies in the world are the oldest, Europe and Japan,” he said. “The workers of tomorrow will be much more diverse, not just in the United States but everywhere in the world.” 

He encouraged the administrators to think about how they are going to educate students to have a broader global mindset so they can contribute to increasingly global teams of workers. It’s “building this pipeline for long-term success” that is the hardest thing, he said. 

For information on how to help fund scholarships for financially disadvantaged students, read about the DiversityInc Foundation.

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