AOL’s “un-University” classes, available online and on-site, find execs sharing industry trends and advances in technology with attendees, keeping them up-to-date.

With its purchase of the Huffington Post bringing editor-in-chief Arianna Huffington to its executive team in March 2011, this web services company forged a high-profile relationship with a powerful woman. It wasn’t its first: Women now hold three of the eight spots on the board of directors and serve on all executive committees. Programs help female executives excel by targeting gaps in their professional experience and strengthening their executive presence: For three months after they reach VP or above, women receive executive coaching; they then get further mentoring, networking and sponsorship opportunities.

Chairman & CEO: Tim Armstrong

Interim Chief People Officer: Sandra Mott

% of senior managers who are women: 26%

% of corporate executives who are women: 22%

% of promotions to manager, senior manager and corporate executive positions that went to women: 37%

% of the top 10% of the company’s earners who are women: 28%

% of corporate executives with profit-and-loss responsibility who are women: 14%

% of the executives running divisions with revenues of more than a billion dollars who are women: 50%

% of executives who report directly to the CEO who are women: 30%

% of the members of the board of directors who are women: 33%

% of female workforce participating in mentoring: --

AOL employees appreciate its two on-site childcare centers in Dulles, VA, both of which remain open weekdays from 7:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.

Plenty of perks lure mothers to this Web services company. If they need to drive their kids to school events or leave at midday to make doctors’ appointments, they have the freedom to adjust their hours or work remotely—and can rely on generous paid time off when the unexpected happens. If they require extended leaves after the birth of their children, they can request 16 job-guaranteed weeks off, with six weeks fully paid. And if they are initially hired into executive positions, they can get help making the transition with 90-Day Fusion, a program that provides temporary professional coaching. Employees who enroll in AOL’s GET FIT initiative earn cash rewards for exercising and riding their bicycles to work, and they may even reduce their medical insurance premiums by completing health-risk assessments.

Chairman & CEO Tim Armstrong

VP Gillian Pon, PhD

Women managers/execs 34% 

Women among top earners 31% 

Women hires in 2010 50% 

Average weeks of fully paid maternity leave offered 6 

Allows new moms to “phase back” into work with reduced hours? Yes

Offers affinity group for new mothers? Yes

Offers backup childcare? Yes

Employees working flexibly Not tracked 

Every winter, the Cabin Fever event at AOL’s Dulles, VA, site treats kids aged two to five, to face painting and arts and crafts activities.

Kids get a great start in life when their moms work for this Web services company. Its innovative Well Baby program offers coaching on prenatal care, childbirth, lactation and newborn health. New mothers may take eight fully paid weeks after a birth, or two fully paid weeks off (with a $4,000 benefit) after adoption. There's an on-site child-care center in Dulles, VA, which boasts one building for infants and toddlers and another for preschoolers and school kids under age 12. Each winter, that site hosts a Cabin Fever event that treats kids ages 2 to 5 to face painting and arts and crafts activities. In a crisis, parents use subsidized backup care or take up to ten paid days off annually to tend to sick kids. To help moms and dads pay for dependent care, the company provides pretax accounts, into which they can put $5,000 annually. On-site fitness centers and discounts at gyms nationwide help employees stay healthy.

Chairman & CEO Tim Armstrong

VP Gillian Pon, PhD

Women managers, senior managers and corporate execs 29%

Women among top earners 27%

Women on board of directors 30%

Women corporate executive hires in 2009 17%

Women participating in management or leadership training in the past year* 8%

Women participating in formalized executive succession planning last year* 29%

Women promoted last year who utilized a formal flexible work arrangement Not tracked  

Do formal compensation policies reward managers who help women advance? No

 

*Percentages reflect number of women participants versus company’s total female workforce.

$5,000 in a company-sponsored pretax dependent-care account is how much AOL workers saving for child-care or elder-care expenses can sock away.

Hiring talented moms is only part of the family-friendly strategy for this New York City–based media, Internet and advertising firm; it also supports their rise through the ranks. While its Women’s Network Mentor program gives female associates an opportunity to bond with superiors at the director level or above, high-potential female leaders are provided with individual coaching and given specific goals designed to advance their careers. In fact, women in line for positions with profit-and-loss responsibilities are routinely urged to shadow others in those jobs and to test their skills while acquiring new ones in a job-rotation program. Through their participation in the Breakthrough Leadership program offered by Simmons College, female vice presidents learn strategies to deflect gender dynamics that could hamper their success.

Chairman & CEO: Tim Armstrong

Senior VP: Michaela Oliver

Women managers/execs: 35%

Women among top earners: 25%

Women on board of directors: 8%

Women corporate executive hires in 2008: 100%

Women participating in management or leadership training in the past year: 15%

Women participating in formalized executive succession planning last year: 100%

Women promoted last year who utilized a formal flexible work arrangement: 28%

Formal compensation policies reward managers who help women advance: No