AT&T was awarded the 2012 Corporation of the Year at the 33rd Annual National Convention by The United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (USHCC) held in Los Angeles.
“AT&T has made a visible commitment to incorporating a growing number of Hispanic-owned enterprises into their supplier networks,” said Javier Palomarez, USHCC President & CEO. “This kind of dedication is vital to the health of the Hispanic business community and will do a great deal to influence major corporations across the nation – and globally – to recognize the power of Hispanic business.”
“We’re honored by this recognition and accept it as a sign that we’re doing the right thing by weaving diversity and inclusion into everything we do at AT&T, and that includes bringing diverse suppliers, such as Hispanic business, into our supply chain,” said Tim Harden, AT&T president of Supply Chain and Fleet Operations, during his acceptance remarks at the USHCC Convention’s Chairman’s Gala.
AT&T has been a diversity leader for more than 40 years. The company has received broad recognition for its four-legged approach to diversity and inclusion to encompass workforce, supply chain, multicultural marketing, and community involvement.
People of color represent 39 percent of the AT&T workforce. Latinos represent 12 percent of the total workforce and comprise 16 percent of all new hires.
AT&T sponsors 11 employee resource groups reflecting the company’s diverse workforce. The Hispanic/Latino Employee Association of AT&T (HACEMOS), with Carmen Nava, senior vice president of Customer Information Services, as one of its executive champions, is one of the most active internally and in the community. The group is heavily focused on helping Hispanic youth stay in school and pursue careers in technology. For 14 consecutive years, HACEMOS has held High Technology Day, giving thousands of high school students nationwide a view of career possibilities in technology fields. HACEMOS was named winner of the 2010 U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Top Latino ERG Corporate Challenge.
AT&T set one of corporate America’s most aggressive supplier diversity goals—to reach 21.5 percent of total spend with certified diverse businesses by 2012. In 2011, AT&T spent $12 billion with diverse suppliers, surpassing its corporate goal a year ahead of schedule by hitting 23 percent. The company also had an increase in spending with Hispanic suppliers that provide solutions throughout its supply chain and in growth areas such as wireless cell site deployment, technical resources, and application development. Additionally, the company’s Hispanic suppliers self-reported that over 2,000 jobs have been created supporting AT&T.
On the community side, earlier this year AT&T announced an additional investment in education through its AT&T Aspire initiative. Aspire is AT&T’s $350 million commitment to education, with a focus on helping more students graduate from high school ready for careers and college, and to ensure the country is better prepared to meet global competition. Hispanic high school students represent a significant focus for AT&T Aspire funding.
AT&T serves Hispanic consumers with close to 800 bilingual (Spanish-English) retail stores nationwide, an extensive offering of news and entertainment content in Spanish, as well as substantial Hispanic advertising budget.
AT&T diversity and inclusion practices have been recognized by numerous organizations and publications including the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility (HACR), which gave AT&T its highest score on the 2011 Corporate Inclusion Index; DiversityInc, which ranked AT&T No. 5 on the Top 10 Companies for Latinos list in 2012; the National Minority Supplier Development Council, which named AT&T 2010 Corporation of the year; Hispanic Business Inc., which ranked AT&T among its top three companies for diversity for five years in a row; LATINA Style magazine, which recognized the company for 15 years; and the National Association for Female Executives, which recognized AT&T as a Top 50 company for female executives in 2012.
*AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc.
About AT&T
AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T, news, filings) is a premier communications holding company and one of the most honored companies in the world. Its subsidiaries and affiliates – AT&T operating companies – are the providers of AT&T services in the United States and around the world. With a powerful array of network resources that includes the nation’s largest 4G network, AT&T is a leading provider of wireless, Wi-Fi, high speed Internet, voice and cloud-based services. A leader in mobile Internet, AT&T also offers the best wireless coverage worldwide of any U.S. carrier, offering the most wireless phones that work in the most countries. It also offers advanced TV services under the AT&T U-verse® and AT&T | DIRECTV brands. The company’s suite of IP-based business communications services is one of the most advanced in the world.
Additional information about AT&T Inc. and the products and services provided by AT&T subsidiaries and affiliates is available at http://www.att.com. This AT&T news release and other announcements are available at http://www.att.com/newsroom and as part of an RSS feed at www.att.com/rss. Or follow our news on Twitter at @ATT.
About the USHCC 33rd Annual National Convention
The USHCC Convention is known as one of the largest gathering of Hispanic business leaders in America, attracting business associations, entrepreneurs, corporate executives, chamber leaders and members, Hispanic business enterprises, and policymakers from across the U.S. Los Angeles was selected as the host city because of, according to USHCC President and CEO Javier Palomarez, its industry diversity, the high concentration of Hispanic Business Enterprises (HBEs), among others, whose diversity efforts can have a major impact on the American business Landscape.
Founded in 1979, the USHCC actively promotes the economic growth and development of Hispanic entrepreneurs and represents the interests of nearly 3 million Hispanic-owned businesses in the United States that combined generate in excess of $400 billion annually. It also serves as the umbrella organization for more than 200 local Hispanic chambers in the United States and Puerto Rico. For more information, visit www.ushcc.com.
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