Reaching Out and Raising Up
A decade ago, Catalyst, a nonprofit membership organization, asked 1,700 multicultural women—all managers and professionals— to pinpoint what they felt were the major barriers to success at their firms. They overwhelmingly pointed to a lack of mentoring, networking or training as factors making it more difficult for them to advance.
Today, while many firms still offer a one-size-fits-all approach to career development, the savviest are customizing their programs for women of color.

Accenture’s First Step Initiative, for example, helps African- American and Hispanic senior execs score additional job training, while Kraft’s Leadership Champion program pairs high-potential employees of color with senior leaders who help them identify and accomplish specific career goals.

KPMG’s Women’s Advisory Board helps women of color learn business-critical skills, such as how to forge solid relationships in the marketplace.

And IBM, which first began tackling the problem in 1995, makes sure multicultural women are well represented in its management and leadership programs: In 2008, women of color filled 28% of the slots in its training initiatives.

Attracting the Most Diverse Candidates
Each year our winners find innovative ways to unearth new talent. Procter & Gamble attends career fairs organized by diversity groups and plucks additional candidates from Inroads, a nonprofit that trains and develops minority youths for business careers, while American Electric Power taps the services of Minority Executive Search, a firm that specializes in placing women and people of color in top jobs nationwide.

Keeping Staffers Satisfied
Women of color thrive at companies that respect their cultural differences, provide community with others and offer opportunities for achievement. Our winners retain star staffers by recognizing their value as individuals while applauding their accomplishments on the team.

State Farm supports its women of color by sponsoring the activities of major multicultural organizations such as the National African-American Women’s Leadership Institute and the Center for Asian Pacific American Women. Similarly, Cisco nominates its multicultural female employees for the National Women of Color Technology Awards.

Deloitte brings its most talented women of color into the spotlight by compiling an annual “face book” with their photos, biographies and accomplishments to increase their visibility to corporate leaders, while Citi offers up 39 employee networks, including ones targeting African Heritage, Hispanic and Asian Heritage staffers. PricewaterhouseCoopers supports many employee programs—including Multicultural Circles and the Women of Color Council—all of which have evolved from the grassroots up. Finally, Goldman Sachs hosts Women’s Career Strategies, a six-month program aimed at retaining and promoting talented women; in 2008, multicultural staffers comprised 42% of participants—a 5% increase over 2006.