KeyBank Foundation Awards $1.25 Million to Cleveland Metropolitan School District and Cleveland State University for “STEM” Classrooms on Cleveland State Campus

CMSD, CSU to create joint campus for 11^th and 12^th graders at MC²STEM High School

CLEVELAND – January 8, 2013 – KeyBank Foundation has awarded a $1.25 million grant that will enable the Cleveland Metropolitan School District and Cleveland State University to partner in creating a STEM school for 11^th and 12^th grade students on the CSU campus, officials from KeyBank Foundation, the school district and the university announced today. The grant agreement is expected to be approved by the boards of CMSD and CSU at their next meetings on January 8 and January 16, respectively.

The grant will fund renovations at Cleveland State’s Rhodes Tower to create facilities for students from the Cleveland schools’ MC²STEM high school. The high school, which offers a special curriculum emphasizing science, technology, engineering and math, has demonstrated significant success in preparing students for higher education. Its goal is to immerse high school students in a college environment, to better prepare them for enrollment at a four-year university. MC²STEM recently graduated its first class; 100 percent of those graduates enrolled at a university.

Currently, 9^th grade students at MC² attend classes at the Great Lakes Science Center, while 10^th graders are taught at GE Lighting’s Nela Park campus in East Cleveland.

“We are proud to invest in a partnership that we believe holds great value for Northeast Ohio as it prepares students for success in education and for advanced careers in a modern workforce,” said KeyBank Chairman and CEO Beth Mooney.

The upgraded facilities at Cleveland State will include renovated classrooms, laboratories and a fabrication lab, or FabLab, where computers and production equipment are linked through sophisticated technology that allows students to create objects based on their own designs.

In addition to renovations, KeyBank Foundation’s grant will provide scholarship support for students intending to take early college courses and enroll at CSU.  It also includes budget support for CSU to provide professional development opportunities for STEM teachers, as well as graduate student support for STEM students.

“The long-standing partnerships maintained with KeyBank and CSU have been instrumental in our ability to expand our high-performing school choices in Cleveland,” said Cleveland Metropolitan School District CEO Eric Gordon. “Support from our business and higher education communities provides additional momentum for the implementation of the Cleveland Plan that complements levy support from citizens to propel us toward our transformation goals.”

This gift is the latest in a series from KeyBank Foundation in support of STEM education at CMSD. In 2011, the Foundation awarded $700,000 to CMSD to fund STEM programming and support services at six elementary and middle schools in the District. In total, KeyBank Foundation has awarded CMSD more than $2.5 million to support STEM education initiatives. Key also announced today that they will be donating 1,900 computers to CMSD for use in classrooms and computer labs across the District.

“We are thankful to KeyBank Foundation for continued support of innovative educational programs and pathways to college for Cleveland students. The creation of the MC² partnership would not be possible without this gift and the commitment of our faculty to the mission of preparing a new generation of students to succeed in college,” said Cleveland State University President Ronald Berkman.

“In addition to offering a curriculum that prepares students for higher education, we are introducing them to a college environment, which contributes to a smoother transition after they graduate from high school,” said Margot Copeland, executive vice president and chair of KeyBank Foundation. “And, because the STEM disciplines are so rigorous, they prepare students not only to enroll in a four-year college but also to graduate.”

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Contacts:
KeyBank: Lynne Woodman, (216) 577-1374, lynne_woodman@keybank.com
Cleveland Metropolitan School District: Roseann Canfora, (216) 858-6510 roseann.canfora@cmsdnet.net
Cleveland State University: Joe Mosbrook, (216) 523-7279, j.mosbrook@csuohio.edu

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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

The post Merck Condemns Boy Scout Gay Ban, Halts Funding appeared first on DiversityInc.

A longtimeNewarkresident and PSEG employee, Kemp was honored by her employer for her exhaustive volunteer efforts. In addition to awarding her one of its “Recognizing Excellence in Volunteerism” Awards of Merit, the company gave EOLLS a $1,000 grant on Kemp’s behalf.

Kemp has worked for PSEG Power, a subsidiary of PSEG (Public Service Enterprise Group), for more than 12 years and has been volunteering with EOLLS since 2004. She is involved in many oftheir programs for young girls and boys, which range from tutoring and football to cheerleading and mentoring. Over 100 children fromEast Orangeand surrounding areas are enrolled each year.

EOLLS is funded and run by parents from the community – many of whom benefited from the organization in their youth, and now grown and wanting to give back.

“I want to try and help one child at a time,” said Kemp. “Many of the kids I work with don’t have parents or positive role models. I enjoy being a mentor tohelp them make good choices in life and build self esteem.”

Participation has been extremely rewarding not only for Kemp, but also for her husband and children. On gameday, the entire family volunteers 12-14 hours to run the concession stand – including shopping for the food, cooking and serving. The money they save in self-managing the stand helps EOLLS to purchase and refurbish equipment for the players.

For the last three years, Kemp and her husband have spent countless hours coaching the nonprofit’s flag football team through drills, exercise and plays. Kemp says that sports teaches kids discipline, and for some it’s the only opportunity to play outside. Her youngest daughter is captain of the cheerleading squad and one of the reading tutors.

The Kemp family is also generous by helping to plan and finance the annual awards banquet. Their contribution pays for the rental hall and some of the trophies, which helps EOLLS assist parents without the financial means to purchase entrance tickets.

The PSEG Foundation grant will be used to help East Orange L.L. Sports purchase jerseys for the team.

East Orange L. L. Sports, Inc. is a nonprofit, privately sponsored organization, chartered and incorporated by the State of New Jersey, and dedicated to the development of better citizens through the vehicle of properly supervised academic and sports activities for youth, from seven (7) to fifteen (15) years of age. The mission of East Orange L. L. Sports, Inc., is to provide the opportunity for the youth of East Orange, ages 8 to 14 years of age, to participate in the organized sport of football at three levels of play. Each child will be instructed in the various forms ofinvolvement in the game of football; to adhere to the rules of the game, and to demonstrate good sportsmanship.  The participant will be taught to compete athletically and to develop skills that will enable him/her to be a lifetime learner. 

Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG) (NYSE:PEG) has a long tradition of caring for New Jersey’s people and communities. Each year, the company and its employees invest millions of dollars and thousands of hours to improve the quality of life in New Jersey. The company’s culture dictates that service to customers and community gohand-in-hand (www.pseg.com). 

The post Newark Resident Wins Recognition for Extraordinary Volunteer Efforts appeared first on DiversityInc.

These aspirations, however, were well outside the scope of a typical Black law student at the time. James recalls: “When I was going to school, people always focused on Legal Aid or the public defender’s office. Not knocking that, but why go to Harvard for public-interest work? Why should Blacks settle, limit ourselves to a niche?”

Leveraging Litigation for Diversity

James was named chief diversity officer of MGM in 2009, after having worked in the company’s legal department for seven years and getting footing as counsel to the diversity committee to the board of directors. Now she is responsible for driving MGM’s philanthropy, diversity and community-engagement messages throughout the organization.

Her latest project is Inspiring Our World. The 90-minute musical program showcases MGM’s corporate-responsibility platform through song and dance. Written, produced and performed by MGM employees, the show will go live Dec. 16–18 before audiences of 5,000 frontline MGM employees per show.

While her diversity work rarely crosses over into her litigation responsibilities—most EEO cases and other legal complaints stem from conflicts with management and as such are not directly related to diversity, she says—James says communication and the ability to persuade are two valuable skills that a legal background affords her.

“To be effective as CDO, you have to have the ability to speak to a lot of different types of audiences, be able to converse at the board-of-directors level,” says James, noting that she regularly reports to and has a constant interface with MGM Chairman and CEO James Murren. “I need to be able to advocate the case for diversity, that it is our corporation’s best interest—it’s like making an argument, albeit a friendly argument, to a jury.

There Were Few Like Me

Following her graduation from Harvard Law School in 1977 and a clerkship for Theodore R. Newman Jr. (then Chief Judge of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals), James was hired by San Francisco–based Pillsbury, Madison, and Sutro (now Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman), where she says “you could count on one hand the number of Black associates who ever worked at my 300-person firm.”

One partner was of American Indian heritage, which was not openly discussed, but the rest were white—and only two were women. In 1985, James would become the third woman, and first Black, partner.

“I was very conscious about the fact that no Black lawyer had been considered for partnership,” says James. “I always wanted to make sure I was excelling. I was a rarity—and wanted to make sure I set a good precedent that opened doors for others.”

Once promoted, James became heavily involved with the San Francisco Bar Association and became active in the American Bar Association’s Conference of Minority Partners in Majority Corporate Law Firms, where she led initiatives to improve the retention of nonwhite lawyers at big firms.

Advocating the Retention of Black Lawyers

All the major elite firms were predominantly white, and all had a problem with retaining Black associates, according to James. “It was a revolving door. Blacks were usually out by year four,” she recalls. “We wanted to help law firms understand what the cultural-isolation issues were.”

One of her key projects was a collaboration with a diversity specialist named Harry Jacob to create a video and accompanying manual that raised awareness of the negative experiences that nonwhite lawyers frequently encountered. The project, which received an award of merit from the ABA, focused on themes such as building an inclusive culture for Blacks, Latinos, Asians and American Indians, and best practices to ensure that all associates, regardless of race, received the same amount and same quality of mentoring from firm partners.

Creating Diversity Through Public Service

When Dennis Archer, a Michigan Supreme Court justice who knew James through the ABA, became mayor of Detroit in 1994, James left her firm to accept a public-service position as corporate general counsel and law director for the city.

“I took a huge pay cut and the work in some ways was harder, but it was a great opportunity. It gave me the opportunity to do work that helped to develop a primarily Black city,” says James.

While working on a casino authorization project in 1997, James met with representatives from MGM Resorts International, one of DiversityInc’s 25 Noteworthy Companies. They recruited her in 2002 to help drive the company’s diversity strategy. “Never in my wildest dreams had I thought I’d wind up working at a gaming and hospitality company,” she says.

The post MGM Resorts International’s Phyllis James Uses Law & Entertainment to Push D&I appeared first on DiversityInc.

She attributes her career and her deep motivation to give back to her family’s influence. “Both of my grandmothers gave me a strong spiritual foundation,” Dixon says. “I was taught to be a good steward and to use what I have wisely because I might not have it tomorrow.” She says it’s similar for a corporation, which first has to demonstrate that it has a right to be a part of the community before it can become a part of that community.

Providing Financial Literacy to Black & Latino Families

What was then called Wells Fargo’s Social Responsibility Group was formed four years ago to help the company address important social issues within its communities. For example, Dixon says, the bank launched a mortgage-related initiative in which employees proactively reached out to customers, many of whom come from low-income Black or Latino families, and provided them with solutions for home preservation.

Just as Dixon’s family played a foundational role in her career, Dixon explains that the core of corporate social-responsibility work similarly starts with the family unit. “Families need knowledge. They need the skills to make good decisions about money, what I call financial stability,” she says. “They need the capability to plan to meet their goals and dreams. That’s what we’re trying to do at Wells Fargo.”

The lack of access to financial education creates large gaps among households, especially for low- and moderate-income and Black and Latino families, which Dixon says traditionally are unfamiliar with how to participate in the financial markets and with fiscal options that can help with budgeting, planning and investing.

Wells Fargo, No. 33 in The DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity, partners with national organizations like the NAACP’s Financial Freedom Center and the United Negro College Fund’s Empower Me Tour, which Dixon says does well to deliver inspirational messaging and hands-on workshops to parents and their kids. Wells Fargo also sponsored the Central Scholarship Bureau‘s Financial Literacy Summit, shown in the video below, among other student-focused programs.

“One of our goals is to provide education to kids early and get them interested in finances—and young people are chomping at the bit for all the information they can get,” says Dixon. To create added engagement, the programs bring in celebrity speakers from the same socioeconomic background, such as actor Hill Harper from the TV show CSI: NY, to share how they successfully built a financial future. Read more about Wells Fargo’s commitment to financial literacy in this Q&A with Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf.

Corporate Accountability & Authenticity

“I’ve been personally impacted by the commitment,” says Dixon, who says her work provides Wells Fargo deep insight into the economic challenges faced by many customers within their communities, especially those from underrepresented groups. “Our decisions have significant impact on people’s lives. It’s the responsibility of every corporation in America to be in the business of insuring the communities we serve and making sure they are success driven,” she says.

Corporate social responsibility is a full-circle endeavor, according to Dixon: Both internally—through increased engagement, employee volunteerism and diversity—and externally—from a stakeholder and a mergers-and-acquisitions perspective—this work impacts how employees feel about the company they work for and how customers feel about the company they do business with. “It’s a personal accountability for me and a reflection of how I’ve trained and evolved and how I bring real authenticity to work every day,” Dixon says.

She adds, “What I hope to accomplish is consistent with what my company hopes: to be a leader around social responsibility, to be respected and admired by customers. We’re invested in the financial success of our customers. Our goal is to be a leader at it.”

Affinity for Leadership

Dixon studied speech, communication and theater at Tennessee State University and excelled at student leadership: She was the first female president of the university’s Student Government Association, was a student regent in the state, interned for the governor and continues to be a member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority.  As a result, Procter & Gamble offered her a sales/marketing manager position before graduation, which she’s glad her father, a 20-year U.S. Air Force veteran, talked her into accepting.

“I had absolutely no intention of working in corporate America; I was a performing artist,” says Dixon. “My parents instilled in me that I have to try new things and be open to change and new adventures, to live life to the fullest.”

The post Georgette Dixon: How Wells Fargo Helps Communities Grow appeared first on DiversityInc.

Although the rest of the country may be slow to recognize it, the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul are no cultural backwater. Changing demographics and economic prosperity are putting the region in the same league as the nation’s top cultural centers. Two area companies—lender Wells Fargo and law firm Faegre Baker Daniels—are among those leading the charge to ensure the area’s long-term prosperity by making diversity a priority in everything they do. The results are encouraging.

Minnesota is already home to 20 Fortune 500 companies—more per capita than any other state—and Minneapolis/St. Paul is the fastest-growing metro area in the Midwest. Boasting a healthy job market, lower-than-average unemployment and high wage growth, the Twin Cities’ growth is unlikely to slow down. The Metropolitan Council forecasts that by 2040, employment will grow 37 percent and the region’s gross metro product will reach a staggering $400 billion. “That would represent 1.5 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product,” according to Twin Cities Business magazine. “A significant portion considering the Twin Cities is home to less than 1 percent of the national population.”

Such growth is shifting the demographics of a predominantly white state. Between 2000 and 2010, Minnesota’s Latino, Black and Asian population grew by 55 percent and is projected to more than double over the next 30 years. And the vast majority of this non-white population will be concentrated in the Twin Cities. If the area is to succeed, it will need to transform this economic and cultural wealth into an inclusive community that continues to thrive, says Lisa Tabor, executive director of the St. Paul–based CultureBrokers Foundation. “In an intercultural city, residents and organizations creatively harness their diversity and use it as a tool to build a more prosperous future for all,” Tabor writes in a recent editorial. Corporations are banking on the idea that the key to success lies in maintaining a diverse workforce, championing the causes of underrepresented groups and reaching out to traditionally underserved communities.

A Diverse Workforce

As one of the 100 largest law firms in the United States and the largest in Minnesota, Minneapolis-based Faegre Baker Daniels sees diversity as a partnership with the wider community. According to their diversity policy, “Diversity and inclusion is not something that any one individual—or firm—achieves on their own.” With collaboration in mind, Faegre was a founding member of Diversity in Practice, an association of 28 law firms and 12 corporate legal departments that work to “attract, recruit, advance and retain attorneys of color in the Twin Cities legal community.” The association offers professional development, networking opportunities and summer clerkships for Black, Latino and Asian first-year law students. The firm has hired 28 summer associates as a result of these clerkships; after the summer, more than 90 percent of students receive offers to return to the firm for a second year.

These initiatives are helping to recruit bright law students from diverse backgrounds to the city. “We’re not New York; we’re not D.C. We don’t have the critical mass in population,” says Kristine McKinney, director of Diversity & Inclusion at Faegre Baker Daniels. “But we’ve created that through Diversity in Practice.” And the effort is working: 36 percent of the firm’s partners, attorneys and associates are women, and nearly 11 percent are Latino, Black, Native Hawaiian, Asian, American Indian, openly LGBT or a person with a disability.

Wells Fargo also prides itself on maintaining a diverse workforce. Nationally, 59 percent of the bank’s employees are women and 36 percent are Asian, Black, Latino, American Indian or Native Hawaiian. Employees will often recruit from within their communities, says David Kvamme, Minnesota Great Lakes regional president at Wells Fargo. The bank also makes promotion and advancement a priority for employees from different cultural backgrounds and has invested in programs to ensure their success. Since 2009, Wells Fargo has contracted with English Proficiency Systems, a woman-owned business.

Efforts are also being made to promote and recognize the achievements of women. In 2012, Faegre was one of 50 U.S. law firms to receive Gold Standard Certification by the Women in Law Empowerment Forum in recognition of the firm’s number of women in top leadership roles. “Women participate in every level of leadership at the firm—as members of the firm’s executive committee, management board, practice group leaders, office managers and chief executives,” says McKinney. Faegre ensures retention through groups like the Women’s Forum for Achievement, which promotes networking, leadership development and ties to professional associations.

Advocacy & Outreach

Faegre’s volunteer and pro bono efforts demonstrate a commitment to advocacy on behalf of traditionally underrepresented groups. In 2010, the Southern Poverty Law Center asked a team of Faegre lawyers to partner in an investigation into anti-gay policies and harassment in Minnesota’s largest school district. A settlement was reached in 2012 that granted new protections for LGBT students and provided a national blueprint for future advocacy. “The decision to go forward was consistent with the firm’s longstanding pro bono priorities, which include public-policy advocacy to effect systemic change, and protection of individual civil rights,” says McKinney.

In the same spirit, Wells Fargo believes that a successful company recognizes the needs of all members of the population. “We are working to bring a sharper focus to finding solutions to the social, economic and environmental issues faced in the communities we serve, and our diversity and inclusion efforts are an important component of this work,” says Jon Campbell, executive vice president of Wells Fargo’s Social Responsibility Group. Banking services like bilingual phone operators, a multi-language Internet site and the first-ever Hmong-language ATMs provide special outreach to the Twin Cities’ diverse demographic. “In some of our stores here in the Twin Cities metro area, there are five or more languages spoken,” says Kvamme, “which helps us ensure that customers feel welcome.”

Community Giving

Employees also play an important role in corporate giving. The bank has contributed at least $10 million annually to Minnesota nonprofit organizations, local schools and community events for the past six years. Fifty Twin Cities–based employees volunteer to sit on the bank’s Community Funding Council for three-year terms. They evaluate grant applications from nonprofit organizations centered on local issues including English-language learning programs for job seekers, violence-prevention programs for at-risk teens and kindergarten-readiness programs for children of low-income working families.

Faegre promotes a robust community-service ethic including a volunteer mentorship program with Lincoln International High School and the International Education Center, which serve the cities’ large immigrant and refugee populations. But these efforts are not handouts, says McKinney. “We believe that diversity makes us a better place to work. As a result of the firm’s community-service programs, firm employees often have a heightened awareness of community needs, an increased opportunity to interact with diverse groups and individuals and a greater understanding of how they can be more involved in our community.”

Wells Fargo has been involved in community programs as a partner in the Midtown Greenway project, which revitalizes low-income and traditionally underserved parts of the city. “The success of diverse neighborhoods and business owners contributes to the vitality and vibrancy of the entire community,” says Kvamme. It’s also creating a marketplace for minority- and women-owned enterprises. Located in the Midtown Exchange Building, the Midtown Global Market currently hosts 64 MWBEs.

As the regional economy continues to grow and demographics begin to shift, the Twin Cities have the opportunity to become a model in multiculturalism and urban renewal. It’s clear that area companies like Wells Fargo and Faegre Baker Daniels are committed to making sure that no group is left behind. They believe that inclusion makes not only their companies but the whole community stronger. “Make no mistake, interculturalism takes hard work and clear vision,” writes Tabor. “But the return on that investment of time and labor is profound.”

The post In the Twin Cities, Diversity & Economic Growth Go Hand in Hand appeared first on DiversityInc.

The Big Four professional-services firm, which must aggressively compete for new talent in its industry, opened the doors of its New York City headquarters this summer to 100 rising high-school juniors from New Brunswick and Piscataway, N.J. For two days, the students were able to discover firsthand what it’s like to be an accountant at Ernst & Young and the opportunities the profession can provide.

The students are members of the Rutgers Future Scholars (RFS) Class of 2017. The program’s mission is to increase the number of academically ambitious high-school graduates who come from low-income backgrounds by helping them meet college-admittance standards. RFS also provides scholarships to those who attend Rutgers. Students are accepted into the program in seventh grade from Newark, Camden, New Brunswick and Piscataway, N.J. Currently, there are about 800 scholars in grades 8–11.

Luke Visconti, DiversityInc CEO and co-chair of the fundraising committee for Rutgers Future Scholars, attended the event at Ernst & Young. He is also on the Rutgers board of trustees.

Scholars listened as Ernst & Young employees discussed their high-school and college experiences. The students talked to partners about what a career in accounting can offer—including potential salaries, clients and travel opportunities—and had interactive sessions that taught the students best practices in general business communication styles, leadership and goal setting. Ernst & Young even highlighted potential opportunities available to accounting majors at Rutgers University.

Most students, such as Jamira Riddick, were unfamiliar with the accounting industry before the event. Riddick loves math but didn’t want anything to do with it as a career. “I always thought accounting would be boring,” she says. “I didn’t even have knowledge about what accounting really was.”

The exposure worked on Riddick. “They made me think of accounting as something that could be fun; you just have to make it fun,” she says. If she becomes an accountant, Riddick would like to work at Ernst & Young.

Diversity in Accounting

The event was part of the firm’s efforts to diversify its pipeline of talent for future recruits and to diversify the ranks of accounting professionals overall. “We work with a lot of universities around diversity and inclusiveness. It’s really important to the firm,” says Gioia Pisano, inclusiveness recruiting leader at Ernst & Young.

Latinos comprise only 3 percent of the CPA profession, and Blacks account for only 1 percent, according to the American Institute of CPAs. Of new CPA hires, 4 percent were Latino, 4 percent were Black and just 1 percent were American Indian.

Aggregate data submitted by the Big Four accounting firms for The DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity survey shows a similar lack of racial diversity in new hires, except for Asian Americans. The data shows 6.4 percent are Black, 5.2 percent are Latino and just 0.6 percent are American Indian. Asian Americans, in contrast, account for 21.1 percent of new hires at the Big Four. The Big Four are PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ernst & Young, Deloitte and KPMG, Nos. 1, 6, 8 and 22 on the DiversityInc Top 50 list, respectively.

“These young people are being exposed to organizations and corporations like Ernst & Young, interacting with professionals, engaging in conversations with them, which allows them to envision themselves in places just like this,” says Aramis Gutierrez, director of Rutgers Future Scholars.

Benefits to Students, Ernst & Young

The firm left an impression on all the students. “I think it’s wonderful that they’re giving high-school students like myself the opportunity to experience what goes on in the actual building,” says Zaire Gorrell, a junior at New Brunswick High School. “They’re actually giving us an opportunity to come here and learn, hands on, what you can do at Ernst & Young.”

Masiel Torres, a junior at New Brunswick Health Sciences Technology High School, was trying to decide between a marketing or accounting career, and she may choose accounting. “It seems like a very interesting job, something you grow in and where I can challenge myself every day,” she says.

Pisano says that, long term, Rutgers Future Scholars does more than just serve a good cause. It can help the firm deliver results to global clients. “Our clients are asking for diverse teams, and they know that diverse teams bring great solutions,” Pisano says. “It’s imperative that we go out and make sure that everyone is aware of the opportunities within accounting so that we can serve our global clients.” Pisano hopes that some of these students will eventually work for Ernst & Young.

Gutierrez agrees. “Ernst & Young benefits from just simply having the opportunity to be exposed to 800 individuals that we have in our program; it’s a pipeline of untapped talent that not many other organizations or corporations have access to,” he says. 

The 2011 summer visit to Ernst & Young was a first-time event for the firm. Ernst & Young has been a partner of Rutgers Future Scholars for two years, providing financial support for the program’s SAT-prep courses. In anticipation of the two-day event, Ernst & Young reps visited the scholars on campus to give a general overview about the company’s philosophy and mission. Scholars from Newark and Camden will visit Ernst & Young’s New York headquarters at a later date.

The Rutgers Future Scholars program selects talented seventh-graders from Newark, Camden, New Brunswick and Piscataway, N.J., providing college preparation and mentoring, as well as scholarships if admitted to Rutgers University. Currently, there are almost 800 scholars in grades 8–11. Individual and corporate contributions provide vital support for these worthwhile young scholars. For more information, contact aramis.gutierrez@rutgers.edu.

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A panel moderated by DiversityInc CEO Luke Visconti, explored the backgrounds and benefits of five chief diversity officers and was preceded by a talk from new PricewaterhouseCoopers Chief Diversity Officer Maria Castañón Moats. PricewaterhouseCoopers is No. 3 on The DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity list. “It’s a unique opportunity to get in front of our 2,400 partners,” says Moats of her new position” to talk about diversity as a critical business issue, respective to the line of service, geography and industry you are in.” 

Moats spoke of how the professional-services firm works to marry the role of CDO with that of revenue-generator. Moats recently took over from Niloufar Molavi. The position at PwC is a rotational role, where the firm’s line partners serve for two to three years at a time.

“I am not an expert,” she says, admitting that the rotational model only works because “I have a terrific team supporting me.” She acknowledges that her team’s knowledge of diversity and its insight into the continuity of business relationships is critical to her success. Read the full-length, 1,039-word What Background Is Best for Chief Diversity Officers? article at DiversityIncBestPractices.com to watch the exclusive videos of her presentation.

Putting Diversity in P&L Terms

“Diversity is hard to measure but having a hard-ended discussion with our leadership is something I have done and am not afraid to do,” says Shaun Hawkins, chief diversity officer at Eli Lilly (No. 39). Hawkins has an investment background and attributes those P&L roots to his success as chief diversity officer. “We really rely on employee engagement, so diversity and inclusion have to be there. We have to be able to translate what we are doing here to some sort of business in an appropriate way.

Hawkins discussed these issues along with three other diversity leaders—Linda Jimenez, chief diversity officer and vice president, diversity and inclusion, WellPoint (No. 36), who is an attorney; Steve Bucherati, chief diversity officer at The Coca-Cola Company (No. 12), who was previously with the Coca-Cola Foundation; and Andrea Snorton, manager of diversity and inclusion at Southern Company (one of DiversityInc’s 25 Noteworthy Companies and Top Company for Diversity-Management Progress), who has an HR background. Read the full-length, 1,039-word What Background Is Best for Chief Diversity Officers? article at DiversityIncBestPractices.com for more insights and the exclusive video of this interactive panel.

Making Friends with Legal

Jimenez says that her background as a lawyer has helped her in finding solutions and ultimately becoming a mediator for employees and managers’ qualms with diversity issues and goals. “It’s one of the things we like to do as a CDO. It’s about having everyone walk away with a win-win situation,” she says.

Understanding the Community

Chief Diversity Officers with experience in corporate community outreach know the value of these good relationships within and outside the company. Bucherati used to run the Coca-Cola Foundation, which enabled him to see the value in “connecting the dots” and working as a team, especially since CDO’s don’t manage every aspect of the business.

Linking Back to HR 

This is not to discredit those in traditional HR careers, as Andrea Snorton attests that her “background in HR has definitely been an asset, in terms of what our succession slates look like, determining which organizations we’re going to recruit from.” Knowledge of HR gave her the understanding of what the challenges were, allowing her to leverage her relationships and credibility within the organization.

Read the full-length, 1,039-word What Background Is Best for Chief Diversity Officers? article at DiversityIncBestPractices.com for more insight and the exclusive videos of these sessions.

Referenced Articles:
PwC Chairman Bob Moritz Makes Diversity Personal
Why Do P&L Guys Head Diversity at Deloitte, Lilly?
Retention Best Practices
Employee-Volunteer Programs
4 Ways to Overcome Global Diversity Challenges

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Prudential exemplifies corporate citizenship reflecting its core values. The company’s efforts to revitalize its home city of Newark, N.J., as well as its philanthropic, employee-volunteer and educational initiatives, are changing lives throughout the country.

Specifically:

• Sixty-eight percent of its donations are allocated to multicultural nonprofits, including Boys and Girls Clubs of Newark, Children Defense Fund, and YouthBuild Newark. This compares with 37 percent for the DiversityInc Top 50.
• Two-thirds (67 percent) of its senior executives (CEO and direct reports and one level down) sit on the boards of multicultural nonprofits. The average for the DiversityInc Top 50 is 23 percent.
• The Prudential Foundation spends more than $25 million annually on public education, workforce development, business development, community revitalization, arts and civic infrastructure, and helping neighborhood organizations rebuild.
• The company has invested more than $1 billion in local redevelopment since 1976. Social Investments, an asset-management group for Prudential and The Prudential Foundation, manages portfolios of private placement debt, equity and tax credits, including low-income housing and new-markets tax credits. Current social investments include Newark, N.J.; Los Angeles; San Francisco; New York City; Hartford, Conn.; Philadelphia; Chicago; Boston; New Orleans; Dallas; Houston; Phoenix; and Jacksonville, Fla.

Award accepted by John Strangfeld, chairman and CEO:

“We at Prudential are very proud of what we do in the area of community service. As corporate citizens, we’ve come to realize that this is not always easy. Therefore what we’ve been doing through our foundation has been to build community capacity, strength for initiatives that help nonprofits function better and enhance their ability to be continually effective in the community. It’s not just about having programs: it’s about enabling these nonprofits in making decisions and to use their resources to achieve levels of success that have not historically been achieved. We are all called to be leaders in different ways, to create a hybrid of sustainability.”

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