50
THE TRUTH ABOUT DIVERSITY
FROM TOP 50 CEOS AND CDOS
BY T.J. DEGROAT
INTERVIEWS BY YOJI COLE AND T.J. DEGROAT
Participants:
Dennis Nally, U.S. senior partner
and chairman,
PricewaterhouseCoopers (No. 6)
Chris Simmons, chief diversity
officer, PricewaterhouseCoopers
William Lee, director of corporate
diversity, Abbott (No. 8)
F. Duane Ackerman, CEO,
BellSouth (No. 9)
Valencia Adams, vice president
and chief diversity officer,
BellSouth
Robert I. Lufrano, chairman and
CEO, Blue Cross and Blue Shield
of Florida (No. 10)
Tony Jenkins, vice president of
cultural competence and diversity
systems, Blue Cross and Blue
Shield of Florida
Sandra A. VanGilder, senior vice
president, diversity, JPMorgan
Chase (No. 11)
Ralph W. Babb Jr., CEO, Comerica
(No. 12)
Linda Forte, senior vice president,
business affairs, Comerica
Rohini Anand, senior vice president
and chief diversity officer,
Sodexho (No. 14)
Stan Sigman, president and CEO,
Cingular Wireless (No. 15)
Bob Reed, vice president of
diversity, Cingular Wireless
continued
The DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity are
leaders in this evolving business discipline. From the
CEO heading up the diversity council to promotion
rates among people of color that mirror work-force representation, these companies are head and shoulders above
most Fortune 500 companies in implementing cutting-edge diversity management because they understand the
ever-increasing need to reach diverse consumers, employees, suppliers and investors.
Following the examples set by the Top 50 is the most
effective way to improve cultural competency, attract top
talent and reach diverse consumers. With that in mind,
DiversityInc asked Top 50 companies’ CEOs and heads
of diversity how intolerance has touched their lives and
how they keep all employees engaged in diversity strategies. Here are their thoughts, in their own words:
Q. How have your company’s diversity-management
practices changed your personal management style?
NALLY: “One of the things that I’ve often heard from minorities and
women in our firm is that many of our leaders say the word ‘diversity’ but
don’t truly have an appreciation for the real, day-to-day, situational challenges
that minorities and women face, especially the more subtle challenges. As a
result, I have learned that I have to do more than just say we support diversity; rather, I have to communicate examples of the types of situations that I
know make it difficult for women and minorities in corporate America to
feel included and fairly treated in order to make clear that leadership really
‘gets it.’ And it’s my responsibility to walk the talk around this.”
BABB: “Personally, I have become very focused on ‘walking the talk.’ I
seek opportunities to lead on diversity issues. For example, in recent years,
I am proud of the fact that I have increased the number of my female and
minority direct reports. Second, I believe that it is important to maintain
dialogue about diversity at the top of the house in order to identify issues
and opportunities. To that end, I include diversity as a regular agenda item
for the Management Policy Committee, all of whom are my direct reports.
We focus on what the diversity commitment needs to look like at the
leadership level in order to achieve our objectives. Third, as the leader of
