Working Mother Magazine Names Verizon One of the 'Best Companies for Multicultural Women' for Third Consecutive Year

NEW YORK - For the third consecutive year, Verizon has been named to Working Mother magazine's Best Companies for Multicultural Women. The list provides an in-depth look at 20 companies that are increasingly benefitting from the talents of multicultural women in the workplace.

This year's 20 Best Companies for Multicultural Women show a dramatic 49 percent increase in the number of women of color who are senior managers.  Women of color also represented 13 percent of all new hires last year, 14 percent of all employees, and 7 percent of the top wage-earners at the companies on the list. 

The winning companies were announced in Working Mother's June/July issue, which also features three Verizon employees in an article on how young multicultural women are redefining attitudes about race, work/life and job advancement. The employees are Jess Jolly, a finance specialist; Liz Kellerman, a network engineering manager; and Magda Yrizarry, vice president of workplace culture, diversity and compliance.

"A great part of Verizon's success is based on a culture that leverages the individual experiences and backgrounds of all employees to continuously improve the quality of service and products we offer our customers," Yrizarry said. "Our culture of respect and integrity helps Verizon recruit and retain top talent."

The Working Mother Best Companies for Multicultural Women were selected through a detailed application process that covers a wide variety of questions about a company's workforce, culture, external programs and work/life programs.  This year, the most weight was given to questions involving the representation, recruitment and retention of women of color. For more information on the Best Companies for Multicultural Women, visit www.workingmother.com.

Other honors earned by Verizon in 2008 include being ranked No. 4 on BusinessWeek's 50 Top Performing Companies and being named to Conceive magazine's Top 50 Companies for fertility- and adoption-friendly workplaces.

For two out of the past three years, Verizon Communications has been named No.1 on DiversityInc magazine's Top 50 Companies for Diversity. Also this year, Diversity MBA magazine ranked Verizon No. 2 among the Top Companies for Diverse Managers to Work, the third consecutive year the company has earned a Top 10 ranking on the publication's list.

Women and people of color account for nearly 60 percent of Verizon's workforce. Diversity is part of  Verizon's business strategy across all lines of business and functions - from human resources and supplier relations, to marketing and philanthropy. 

In 2008, the Verizon Foundation, the company's philanthropic arm, increased spending on domestic violence prevention programs to $5.5 million and held the second national domestic violence summit. More than 1 million cell phones were collected via Verizon Wireless' HopeLine(r) phone recycling program, through which phones are refurbished for reuse or recycled, and the proceeds are donated to domestic violence advocacy groups or used to purchase wireless phones for survivors.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ), headquartered in New York, is a leader in delivering broadband and other wireline and wireless communication innovations to mass market, business, government and wholesale customers.  Verizon Wireless operates America's most reliable wireless network, serving more than 67 million customers nationwide.  Verizon's Wireline operations include Verizon Business, which delivers innovative and seamless business solutions to customers around the world, and Verizon Telecom, which brings customers the benefits of converged communications, information and entertainment services over the nation's most advanced fiber-optic network.  A Dow 30 company, Verizon employed a diverse workforce of approximately 232,000 as of the end of the first quarter 2008 and last year generated consolidated operating revenues of $93.5 billion.  For more information, visit www.verizon.com.

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