Verizon, Coca-Cola, Bank of America, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Procter & Gamble Lead the Pack

(New York, NY) April 4, 2008 - DiversityInc—the leading publication on corporate diversity-announced its 2008 Top 50 Companies for Diversity®. For the second time in three years, Verizon is No. 1 on the list.

The annual DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity® competition, now in its eighth year, is an editorial process, entirely driven by metrics obtained in a detailed survey. Top 50 companies demonstrate consistent strength in four areas: CEO Commitment, Human Capital, Corporate and Organizational Communications, and Supplier Diversity.

"Top 50 companies have clarity of their absolute values of human dignity, demonstrating a global adherence to these core beliefs," said Luke Visconti, Partner and Co-founder of DiversityInc. "These sustainable values drive margin."

The DiversityInc Top 50 list is increasingly competitive; a total of 352 companies participated this year, up 10 percent from last year and up 100 percent since 2003. Thirteen companies appeared on the list for the first time, and 16 companies went up in ranking from last year.

• Verizon Communications WDN Member
• The Coca-Cola Co.
• Bank of America
• PricewaterhouseCoopers
• Procter & Gamble
• Cox Communications
• Merrill Lynch & Co.
• Johnson & Johnson
• IBM
• American Express
• Marriott International
• Sodexo
• JPMorgan Chase
• Wachovia
• Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida
• Deloitte
• Ernst & Young
• HSBC Bank USA, NA
• Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide
• Cummins
• Merck & Co.
• AT&T
• Turner Broadcasting System
• Prudential
• Monsanto Co.
• Wells Fargo & Co.
• Ford Motor Co.
• PepsiCo
• Pepsi Bottling Group
• Xerox Corp. WDN Member
• Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp.
• General Mills
• KeyBank
• Health Care Service Corp.
• Sprint
• The Walt Disney Co.
• Abbott
• Accenture
• Macy's
• Henry Ford Health System
• Bright Horizons Family Solutions
• WellPoint
• Kaiser Permanente
• General Motors
• Citigroup
• Capital One Financial Corp.
• CSX
• Toyota Motor North America
• KPMG
• Hilton Hotels Corp.

Key findings from The 2008 DiversityInc Top 50 Companies:

 *   In the United States, the Top 50 hire 44 percent Blacks, Latinos, Asians and Native Americans, compared with the U.S. work force, which is 29 percent Black, Latino, Asian and Native American*
 *   Twenty-five percent of Top 50 companies management are Black, Latino, Asian or Native American, compared with only 15 percent nationwide*
 *   Top 50 boards of directors are 23 percent Black, Latino, Asian and Native American, compared with 13 percent nationally*
 *   Top 50 boards are 22 percent female, compared with 15 percent nationally*
 *   Although Top 50 companies employ only 5 percent of the U.S. work force, they employ 17 percent of the college-educated Black, Latino, Asian and Native American workers*
 *   Top 50 companies average 48 percent of their revenue outside the United States, compared with 38.5 percent five years ago
 *   Forty percent of the Top 50 have employee-resource groups outside the United States
 *   One hundred percent of the Top 50 offer domestic-partner health benefits for same-sex couples, compared with 53 percent of Fortune 500 companies
 *   Top 50 companies spend 9 percent of their procurement budgets with minority- and women-owned suppliers, compared with just 2 percent nationally*

DiversityInc also compiles 11 specialty lists available upon request: The Top 10 Companies for Recruitment & Retention, The Top 10 Companies for Supplier Diversity, The Top 10 Companies for African Americans, The Top 10 Companies for Latinos, The Top 10 Companies for Asian Americans, The Top 10 Companies for Executive Women, The Top 10 Companies for LGBT Employees, The Top 10 Companies for People With Disabilities, The Top 5 Global-Diversity Companies, The Top 5 Regional Utilities and The 25 Noteworthy Companies.

For a complete listing of this year's Top 50 Companies for Diversity, please visit www.DiversityInc.com/top50.

Methodology
The DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity® list is determined entirely by a statistical analysis of responses to our 200-question survey. The survey is sent to any company requesting it that has more than 1,000 employees. There is no fee to enter and no requirement to advertise. The methodology is unbiased and is completely independent of business conducted with DiversityInc.  For more detailed information on our methodology, please visit www.DiversityInc.com/top50.

About DiversityInc
With a monthly business magazine and a daily news web site, DiversityInc is the leading print and online news source covering corporate diversity. DiversityInc was launched in 1997. Please visit www.DiversityInc.com for more information.

Coming Next From DiversityInc

 *   Top 25 Colleges and Universities
Deadline: May 2; Results in October issue of DiversityInc magazine
 *   Top Federal Agencies for Diversity
Deadline: Aug. 5; Results in Nov/Dec issue of DiversityInc magazine
 *   First regional surveys
Jacksonville, Fla.
State of New Jersey

Results published in Jan./Feb. 2009 issue of DiversityInc magazine

*Sources: The DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity®, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, National Center for Education Statistics, and the Human Rights Campaign.