Black Enterprise Magazine Names AT&T to “Best Companies List”

For the sixth consecutive year, Black Enterprise magazine has named AT&T* to its 2012 40 Best Companies for Diversity list.  The prestigious list recognizes companies for their commitment to inclusion of African Americans and other ethnic minorities in their board of directors, workforce, senior management, and supplier diversity.

Also, AT&T’s efforts to fuel innovation through inclusion have been recognized with an award of excellence from Profiles in Diversity Journal ‘s Ninth Annual Innovations in Diversity awards competition. The awards recognize corporations, organizations, and institutions that have developed innovative solutions that offer measurable outcomes in the area of workforce diversity and inclusion.

In addition, AT&T has been recognized by the Association of Diversity Councils for the outstanding contributions and achievements of its various diversity councils, led by the Chairman’s Diversity Council, comprised of Randall Stephenson and his direct report team.   “As a company  driven by continuous innovation, AT&T knows that the key to our success lies in fostering an inclusive environment where a diverse workforce feels engaged and empowered to bring their best ideas and best professional selves to work every day,” said Debbie Storey, senior vice president for Talent Development and chief diversity officer.

One key vehicle of employee engagement – and the platform recognized by Profiles in Diversity Journal – is AT&T’s TIP (The Innovation Pipeline) program, which encourages the submission of innovative ideas by employees.  More than 120,000 AT&T employees actively contribute their ideas for innovative products and services.  Another key contributor to AT&T’s recognition is its 11 employee resource groups (ERGs), with more than 35,000 members.  Community NETwork, the association of African-American Telecommunication Professionals of AT&T, provides development and networking opportunities for more than 5,000 members and serves as a vital bridge between AT&T and the African-American community.

AT&T’s diversity and inclusion practices are reflected also in the company’s supplier diversity program as well its multicultural marketing and community support efforts.

The AT&T Global Supplier Diversity organization connects certified diverse businesses with opportunities to provide products and services to AT&T around the world.  AT&T supplier diversity promotes, increases and improves the overall participation of minority, women and service disabled veteran-owned business in its supply chain.  AT&T has numerous programs in place to identify and develop certified diverse suppliers.  One such program is Operation Hand Salute, which provides cutting-edge training and mentoring for qualified CEOs with the goal of improving their business operations and enhancing their ability to win corporate contracts.  Today, AT&T continues to look for innovative, diverse suppliers in key strategic areas like mobile Internet, wireless, U-verse, and cloud services.

Black Enterprise’s Top 40 list is based on the magazine’s survey of the nation’s top 1,000 companies as well as the 50 leading global companies with strong U.S. operations. The questionnaire focuses on the participation of African Americans and members of other ethnic minority groups as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Profiles in Diversity Journal’s Innovations in Diversity Award showcases the unique, out-of-the box thinking in the area of diversity and inclusion.

AT&T’s diverse and inclusive practices have been widely recognized.   For the past four years it  has ranked among the top five companies in the  DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity® list, where it placed No. 4 overall and No. 3 for Blacks in 2012. In 2010, AT&T was named Corporation of the Year by the National Minority Supplier Development Council.