The
Evolution
of the
DiversityInc
Top 50 BY BARBARA FRANKEL
The 2012 DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity
are markedly different than previous Top 50 lists.
Focused efforts to use diversity-management best
practices to drive representational diversity and connect
to an increasingly multicultural marketplace are
changing the very face of these companies.
Consider the leaders of these 50 remarkable
companies from 16 different industries. CEOs
in The DiversityInc Top 50 are 8 percent
women, 4 percent Black, 4 percent Latino
and 6 percent Asian. The Fortune 500 CEOs,
by comparison, are 3. 6 percent women, 0.8
percent Black, 1 percent Latino and 1. 8 percent
Asian.
Of the current DiversityInc Top 50 chief
diversity officers, 34 are women, 18 are Black,
12 are Latino, one is Asian and one is American
Indian. Thirteen of the 50 chief diversity
officers come from line-management positions
in their organizations.
Five years ago, the demographics of the CEOs
and heads of diversity on our list were quite
different. CEOs were almost entirely white
men. CDOs were often Black or female but
they almost always came from an HR role
and usually were not considered significant
players in accomplishing business goals.
Diversity management and this list have
changed all that. The sophistication of the
questions in the four areas we measure—CEO
Commitment, Human Capital, Corporate and
Organizational Communications, and Supplier
Diversity—increases each year, with better
software and ability to discern validity and
