hold three. Last year, American Express spent $255 million of its $6.4 billion in procurement dollars with minority suppliers.
Advertising Diversity Rating: 4 Stars
STRENGTHS: Senior Management, Board of Directors
ARAMARK Location: Philadelphia. Type of Business: Food & Facilities Management Services. Diversity Contact: Jennifer Tracy, Director of Staffing. The $10.9 billion company makes the grade with its “Kaleidoscope” business strategy, which covers recruitment, retention, development, supplier diversity, and marketing. The program began as part of a “war for talent,” says Tangee Gibson, senior vice president of organization and leadership development. It is a battle Aramark has been winning. Minorities now represent more than half of the company’s U.S. workforce, of which roughly 27% are African Americans. And Aramark can make a claim for one executive who appeared on BE’s 75 Most Powerful Blacks in Corporate America list. Among its senior management, minorities account for 10%, with blacks holding 5% of top executive positions.
Advertising Diversity Rating: 1 Star
STRENGTHS: Employee Base, Board of Directors
BANK OF AMERICA Location: Charlotte, NC. Type of Business: Financial Services. Diversity Contact: Geri P. Thomas, SVP, Human Resources Executive. Since 1990, Bank of America has been considered a leader in developing best practices for diversity. As the third largest commercial bank in the United States and the fourth largest company in the world, the financial services firm views diversity as a moral and business imperative. Inclusiveness is a major consideration in designing products and services marketed to changing demographics. Procurement dollars spent with minority suppliers total $485 million ($170 million is spent with African American suppliers). The company’s 182,000-member workforce is composed of 30,000 African Americans. Of its 3,000-plus senior managers, 380 are ethnic minorities (blacks hold 130 senior management positions).
Advertising Diversity Rating: 1 Star
STRENGTHS: Supplier Diversity, Senior Management
BELLSOUTH Location: Atlanta. Type of business: Telecommunications. Diversity Contact: Valencia Adams, VP & Chief Diversity Officer. BellSouth’s core business is wireline communications. Besides retaining 40% ownership of Cingular Wireless, the company handles one of the largest directory advertising businesses in the United States. Thirty-three percent of its 63,000 employees in the United States are minorities. Some of its 110 black senior executives and three corporate officers hold positions in advertising and publishing and oversee statewide operations. The company’s pledge to solicit multicultural business interactions resulted in $551 million spent with minority suppliers and vendors.
Advertising Diversity Rating: 2 Stars
STRENGTHS: Supplier Diversity, Employee Base,
EASTMAN KODAK Co. Location: Rochester, NY. Type of Business: Imaging. Diversity Contact: Essie Calhoun, Chief Diversity Officer & Director of Community Affairs; VP, Eastman Kodak Co. At Eastman Kodak, the big picture includes creating a supplier base just as diverse as the customers it serves. The $14.3 billion provider of products and services to the photographic, graphic communications, and healthcare markets has developed several strategies to achieve this goal. In late 2001, Kodak pledged that 10% of its annual domestic purchasing of materials, supplies, and equipment would be with minority- and women-owned business by 2006. Five years ago, roughly 4% of the company’s suppliers were minorities and women. Today, that figure