CEO: Mark Fields
The 50 companies on this year’s Best Companies for Diversity list represents brands that recognize the value of cultivating an inclusive environment, driven by company leadership through senior management and the board of directors, as shown in the BE Registry of Corporate Directors. Some are taking a step further to engage employees during turbulent and confusing sociopolitical times.
Here, we’d like to highlight Ford Motor Company, the American automaker headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, and what it’s doing to push forward and nurture diversity and inclusion.
Ford currently has 11 Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) that help to foster diversity and inclusion, notably the Ford African Ancestry Network (FAAN), which has led the way for the other ERGs.
FAAN has over 2,000 members, regional chapters, and presence in all of Ford’s major functions. It has been instrumental in a number of community initiatives, including the National Society of Black Engineers, National Black MBA Association, and the Detroit Area Pre-College Engineering Program. It seeks to promote an environment that attracts, develops, and retains salaried African American employees.
The group promotes leadership development through professional development seminars, formal and informal mentoring, counseling, and dialogues with senior management. FAAN’s members also support summer internship programs and recruit at minority career events.