Employees of Providence Health & Services Alaska and their offspring get an annual 35% tuition break (worth nearly $6,000) at University of Great Falls.

Alaska’s largest private employer has a family feel that reflects its 79% female workforce. At the Anchorage headquarters and Wasilla offices of this health-care system, two on-site centers provide care for kids as young as 8 weeks, with full- and part-time schedules available to accommodate parents’ differing work shifts and babysitter schedules, as well as junior counselor training programs for older children. In 2008, employees who adopted became eligible for up to $2,500 in reimbursements toward related travel costs, counseling and placement fees. To find more family time, workers in nonclinical positions can telecommute or compress their schedules, while clinical staffers can request desired shifts online. Employees get discounts on hospital parenting classes in Anchorage, which brief first-timers on everything from infant development and baby food to toilet training and raising multiples.

Regional VP & Chief Executive: Al Parrish

Chief HR Officer: Scott Jungwirth

Women managers/execs: 47%

Women among top earners: 67%

Women on board of directors: 42%

Women corporate executive hires in 2008: 0%

Women participating in management or leadership training in the past year: 25%

Women participating in formalized executive succession planning last year: 1%

Women promoted last year who utilized a formal flexible work arrangement: 33%

Formal compensation policies reward managers who help women advance: No