55% of participants in Deloitte’s Leadership Development Program, which helps multicultural employees overcome obstacles to success, are women.

Efforts to increase the status of female employees have led to impressive figures at this professional services firm, which now has ten times the number of female partners, principals and directors that it had in the mid-1990s. Growth has been especially dramatic for multicultural women, who make up 35% of all female employees at the firm, an increase of 9% since 2003. Their success is due to an ever-expanding list of outreach activities and initiatives. One example: the Breakthrough Leadership program, through which top multicultural managers brainstorm strategies for effective career development, building professional networks and necessary risk-taking. In 2009, 41% of program participants were female—and nearly everyone who has been involved with it is still with the firm. Selected alumni may join a think tank that meets every few months with CEO Barry Salzberg and Chief Diversity Officer John Zamora to offer solutions to existing diversity challenges. Showing the way forward, leaders of all business units and service areas have just signed on to a three-year plan that outlines specific goals for recruiting and advancing diverse employees.

Multicultural Women 15%
CEO Barry Salzberg
Chief Diversity Officer John Zamora

At Deloitte, multicultural women represent…
3% of corporate executives
7% of senior managers
4% of the top earners
17% of the company hires
21% of the company losses
15% of participants in mentoring programs
14% of participants in career counseling programs

*Denotes a member of the Top 5 Best Companies for Multicultural Women