Working Mother Magazine Ranks Verizon Among the Top Five Best Companies for Multicultural Women

Verizon has been ranked among the top five companies on Working Mother magazine's list of Best Companies for Multicultural Women. It's the fifth consecutive year Verizon has earned a spot on the list, which honors companies dedicated to bringing more perspectives to the decision-making process by promoting multicultural women's advancement.

For Verizon and all of this year's Best Companies for Multicultural Women, "keeping cultural inclusiveness top of mind during the economic downturn was a business imperative" that manifests itself as programs and policies actively supporting multicultural employees, according to the magazine. These include mentoring, regular reviews of progress on annual diversity goals, and opportunities to increase visibility with senior leaders.

The winners are detailed in Working Mother's June/July issue and at workingmother.com.  Two Verizon employees are featured in the magazine: Tammie Cottom, vice president systems assurance and operations support, and Jeannie Diefenderfer, vice president of global engineering and planning. 

"We value the diverse opinions, experiences and backgrounds of our employees because we know we can better serve our customers when employees feel comfortable enough to bring their whole selves to work," said Magda Yrizarry, vice president for workplace culture, diversity and compliance for Verizon. "It's an honor to once again have Working Mother magazine recognize Verizon's long-standing commitment to hiring, developing and advancing women."

Women and people of color constitute nearly half of Verizon's Board of Directors, and they make up nearly 60 percent of the company's workforce.

To be considered for the list of Best Companies for Multicultural Women, each company supplied Working Mother with 2009 data about the hiring, pay and promotion of multicultural employees. Applications focused on representation of multicultural women; recruitment; retention and advancement programs; and company culture. An independent survey research firm tabulated the scores.

Earlier this year, Verizon's continued efforts to create an inclusive work environment and a highly effective workforce again earned the company several employer awards.

Diversity MBA Magazine ranked the company No. 4 on the publication's 2010 list of Top 50 Companies for Diverse Managers to Work.  DiversityInc magazine named Verizon to its 2010 list of Top 50 Companies for Diversity. The company also earned the No. 4 ranking on Training Magazine's Top 125, a list of companies that have the best training programs for their employees.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE, NASDAQ: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 nearly 93 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 more than 217,000 and last year generated consolidated revenues of more than $107 billion.  For more information, visit www.verizon.com.

####