Rosalind Hudnell is one of the most powerful multicultural women executives in the United States—and one of the few. As chief diversity officer at tech firm Intel, where she’s worked for 15 years, Hudnell is keenly aware of the dearth of women that look like her in corporate America’s top jobs: She knows what it means, how it feels and how a lack of diversity can be an opportunity as well as a challenge. “From early on, I had to get comfortable being the only one in the room who looked like me,” she says. “On one hand, you stand out from the crowd; everybody knows you, you’re not invisible. On the other, you can feel very isolated.”

Multicultural women will tell you that they face a double hurdle in corporate America—as women and as people of color or different ethnic backgrounds. “That’s so true,” says Rohini Anand, SVP and global CDO at service solutions company Sodexo. “As you go up the ranks, the number of multicultural women drops.” Their representation still hovers at a mere 3 percent at the very top of the business pyramid and on corporate boards, according to research nonprofit Catalyst. Meanwhile, the heftier ranks of minority men (12.1 percent) and white women (14.6 percent) have notched up slightly in recent years.

Among the 2011 Working Mother Best Companies for Multicultural Women, things are a bit better: multicultural women’s board representation has risen to 6 percent from 4 percent in 2009. But even among these forward-thinking firms, the downward slope is evident, with women of color representing 21 percent of the total workforce (versus 17 percent nationwide) but only 13 percent of managers, 7 percent of senior managers and 3 percent of corporate executives. And they receive half as many management promotions as white women and about a third as many as white men.

Bumping Heads
Reasons for this discrepancy are both structural and historical. “corporations were developed by and for white men, because that was the workforce at the time,” says Candice Barnhardt, VP of diversity and inclusion at financial services company Nationwide. “They weren’t originally created for women or people of color. So now we’re asking, how can we design them to be a better fit for them?”

The first step in trying to chip away at the concrete ceiling multicultural women bump into on their way up is naming the hurdles they face. “There are three major challenges we hear about across most industries,” says Cole Brown, VP of HR for the West Business Unit at Walmart U.S. “The struggle to gain the experience, support and exposure needed for success; race-based disadvantages, double standards and a lack of access to high-visibility assignments; and the lack of similar role models, negative stereotyping, decreased likelihood of connecting with others at work, lack of development opportunities and ineffective diversity practices.”

Also problematic are the microinequities many women suffer. Though a multicultural woman may be seen—she’s highly visible because different—she’s often not heard. “She might say something at a meeting and it’s ignored,” explains Anand. “When a white man says the same thing, it’s accepted.” Multicultural women may have a different leadership style, more collaborative and less aggressive, that’s dismissed or viewed as a weakness. They may find they have to work twice as hard as others to be considered for the same opportunities. Or they may be kept out of the loop altogether. “Information is key—who has it and who shares it (or not),” notes Lois Cooper, VP of corporate social responsibility and inclusion for recruitment and workforce solutions provider Adecco USA.

“This can impact performance, as you may not have the complete picture of what’s truly going on in the organization.” Adds Katherine Giscombe, Catalyst’s VP of diverse women and inclusion research, “Microinequities are harder to recognize than outright bias—but they’re major hurdles to advancement.”

Breaking Through
The best companies are working hard to remove these hurdles—and for good reason. “A culturally diverse workforce isn’t a luxury; it’s essential, especially in tough economic times,” says Subha Barry, SVP and CDO at financial giant Freddie Mac. Diversity provides obvious strategic advantages to companies competing in a global marketplace. And research shows diverse teams to be more effective in solving difficult, complex problems.

But retaining multicultural women isn’t easy: one Catalyst report on the accounting sector found that 55 percent of minority women feel no obligation to stay in their current position— and 29 percent are at risk of leaving within the year. “High-performance multicultural women are in double demand,” says Barry. “Creating an environment that brings out their best will allow us to win in a big way.” What will help multicultural women break through the concrete ceiling? Here are some powerful tools: “Mentoring and sponsorship have been critical for me,” says Sangeeta Mudnal, director of business development at Microsoft. “Having someone who helps you see your unique strengths and encourages you to double down on them is invaluable.” Strong mentors provide the guidance needed for success, while sponsors act as advocates when opportunities arise.

The result of a well-structured mentoring program can be powerful. “We find that women of color who’ve been mentored are promoted at two to three times the rate of the cohort,” says Anand. “And the return on our investment, in terms of engagement and productivity, is two dollars for every dollar spent.” Sponsorship is also important because women of color often come from cultures where modesty is valued over boasting. “as women, we’re socialized to believe good work will speak for itself, but it helps to have someone else speaking for it as well,” says Karen Sumberg, SVP at the Center for Work-Life Policy, whose recent research focused on the “sponsor effect.”

Procter & Gamble offers mentoring twists. “We have multiple types, including reverse mentoring,” says P&G CDO Linda Clement-Holmes. “This gives executives and senior leaders insight into the experience of multicultural women.”

Cultural fluency training is a tool used by P&G and others that helps managers recognize and understand differences.

Manager accountability is another boost for multicultural women. Used by P&G, Walmart and others, it links a portion of managers’ pay or bonuses to their success in creating a diverse workforce.

Affinity groups and networks are also powerful tools, used by Intel, Sodexo and others. They cut the sense of isolation multicultural women often feel incorporations by providing a community in which to share their experience and learn from others, as well as broader exposure to executives and managers beyond the confines of their department. In addition, top-down initiatives, like Freddie Mac’s Executive Diversity Council, headed by CEO Ed Haldeman, ensure there’s real muscle behind all of a company’s diversity efforts.

Authenticity is a key approach multicultural women need to be responsible for themselves. In an era when cross-cultural innovation and communication are key, more companies are realizing the importance of all employees “bringing their whole selves” to work. Maria Castañón Moats, CDO at audit, tax and advisory firm PwC, discovered that encouraging this practice can have an upside for both the company and the employee. “When my mom calls me at the office, I speak Spanish. At first I’d go where people wouldn’t hear me, but then I stayed in my cubicle. One day my boss overheard me and called me in. He was adopting a baby from Guatemala and asked for my help checking up on the process. My Spanish became a skill—and later I was put on a team to work with a big client in South America. People often feel bringing their entire selves to work isn’t in their best interest. I think it’s the opposite.”

The best companies are trying to make this possible. “Companies are microcosms of society,” says Hudnell. “We ask ourselves, ‘Can we as leaders realize that we all have biases and affinities and still pull up the talent we need to succeed? And how can we create the sense of trust and comfort that will help all our employees succeed?’” adds Barnhardt, “We want our multicultural women to say, ‘I see a future here.’”