Verizon Named to List of Top 50 Companies for Executive Women by the National Association of Female Executives, for Third Consecutive Year

The National Association for Female Executives  has named Verizon to the 2010 list of NAFE Top 50 Companies for Executive Women.  This is the third consecutive year that Verizon has been named to the list.

The list spotlights corporations with practices and employment records that benefit women and encourage their advancement to top management positions. To be named to the list, a company must have at least two women on its board of directors and track gender in jobs with profit-and-loss responsibility.

Women hold 29 percent of the senior management positions at Verizon, including key roles in designing and operating Verizon's advanced broadband and global IP networks, and overseeing key functions like supply chain services and real estate.

"Verizon has a long track record of providing advancement opportunities to women, evidenced by the fact that this year, three women appear on the publically available list of its five top earners," says Dr. Betty Spence, president of the National Association for Female Executives (NAFE). "We particularly applaud the company's focus on increasing the number of women engineers." 

Recognizing that marketplace excellence is only possible with a dedicated, educated and motivated workforce, Verizon invested more than $450 million in the development, education and training of its employees. 

Long committed to diversity, Verizon has been recognized by Working Mother and Latina Style magazines as well as others for fostering a corporate culture of inclusiveness that leverages the diversity of employees, customers, community partners and suppliers. In 2009, Verizon spent $3.7 billion with diverse suppliers including women-owned businesses. Those efforts earned the company a spot on Women's Business Enterprise National Council's 2010 list of top American corporations for women's business enterprises for the sixth consecutive year.

For this year's Top 50 Companies list, NAFE examined corporate programs and policies dedicated to advancing women as well as the number of women in each company overall, in senior management and on the company's board of directors. NAFE drew particular attention to the number of women with profit-and-loss responsibility.

For more information about Verizon's commitment to diversity, visit http://newscenter2.verizon.com/kit/diversity/.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ), headquartered in New York, is a global leader in delivering broadband and other wireless and wireline communications services to mass market, business, government and wholesale customers.  Verizon Wireless operates America's most reliable wireless network, serving more than 91 million customers nationwide.  Verizon also provides converged communications, information and entertainment services over America's most advanced fiber-optic network, and delivers innovative, seamless business solutions to customers around the world.  A Dow 30 company, Verizon employs a diverse workforce of approximately 222,900 and last year generated consolidated revenues of more than $107 billion.  For more information, visit www.verizon.com.

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