At this information technology and networking company, it’s the chairman and CEO, John Chambers, who sends the message that diversity is important. Not only does he regularly meet with the inclusion and Diversity Executive Board to gauge whether each of his divisions is advancing multicultural employees, he also keeps the board of directors up to date on the hiring of women and people of color and even reviews supplier diversity data. To make sure that this emphasis filters down, even the managers who are responsible for selecting new employees undergo three hours of training annually to root out hidden bias and learn how to conduct an inclusive interview. To widen its impact, the company spent $130 million on giving to diversity-related organizations in 2010, sponsoring conferences held by the National Society of Black Engineers and the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, among others.

Chairman & CEO John Chambers
Chief Diversity Officer Marilyn Nagel

At Cisco, multicultural women represent…
13% multicultural women
4% of corporate executives
4% of senior managers
6% of the top earners
10% of the company hires
8% of the company promotions
11% of the company losses
Not tracked participants in mentoring programs
20% of participants in affinity groups