Diversity Works! Magazine - 2005 Equal Opportunity Awards Edition

2005 Equal Opportunity Awards Edition

TO BE EQUAL BUSINESS CASE FOR DIVERSITY DIVERSITY PRACTICES THAT WORK

One-on-One with Attorney Cheryl Fisher San Diego State University

contents

CREDITS

Features

Publisher - Maurice D. Wilson Managing Editor - Sheri L. Williams Associate Editor - Paulette Bartley-Royster Graphic Designer - Williams, Bartley- Royster & Associates Photographer - Carroll Paddyfoot Cover Design - Carroll Paddyfoot Contributing Writers - Maurice D. Wilson, Marc H. Morial, Sheri L. Williams, Ralph G. Moore, Billy Vaughn, Pat FitzGerald, Steven Jones, Annette Merritt Cummings, Leslie Jenness

8. Whitney M. Young Leader ship Award Based in San Diego, Dee Thomas has responsibility for colleges and universities west of the Mississippi, Alaska and Hawaii.

26. Employers Stumped by Younger Workers

Cover Story Attorney Cheryl Fisher is a member of the SDSU President’s Executive Cabinet, and holds the title of Director of Diversity and Equity. Cheryl is impeccably qualified for this position; she has served as the director of health and human resources for the San Diego...

20. One-on-One With Cheryl Fisher

Boston, June 16, 2005 - Employers are finding it harder to understand and motivate younger workers, according to global management consulting firm Novations, J. Howard & Associates.

30. The Right Hand of Privilege Many of us struggle to understand the concept of privilege, the idea that some individuals receive unearned advantages in life solely based on being a member of certain social identity groups. Some of us strongly resist the idea that we have unearned privilege.

32. Business Case for Diversity

There was a time when the words “diversity, “globalism” and “multiculturalism” were simply viewed by some business leaders as extensions of politically correct language and thought.

4. Message from the President Message from the Publisher 6. To Be Equal For four decades, businesses across the United States have invested enormous resources in making their work forces…

34. Business Case for Gender Diversity

Do you have Gender Conflict in the Workplace? According to Cheskin Research, women are leaving corporate America at twice the rate of men.

9. FYI No single force has done more to promote and more to damage diversity efforts than affirmative action.

12. Diversity Practices that Work The League’s Diversity Advisory Council kicks into gear with Board Member Sheron Maxwell, Chair...

16. Don’t Fire the Trent Lott in Your Organization The San Francisco Forty-Niners football team’s public relations director...

27. NAACP Releases Business Diversity Report When NAACP officials began grading corporations operating in the U.S. on racial diversity...

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Diversity Works!

2005 Awards Dinner

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From the President/CEO

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Urban League of San Diego County Contacts Cecil H. Steppe, President & CEO

Jimma McWilson, Executive VP/COO & Education Youth Family Services Director Maurice Wilson, Vice President, Business Workforce Development Michael Wilson, Vice President, Urban Housing & Community Development Kea Hagan, HR Manager/Executive Assistant for the President & CEO Office Mailing Address 720 Gateway Center Dr. San Diego, CA 92102 Phone Headquarters (619) 263-3115 Fax Headquarters (619) 263-3660 URL www.ulsdc.org Governance Non-profit Hours of Operation Mon - Fri 8:00am - 5:00pm United Way Agency Code: 6496 Urban League

elcome to the fall edition of Diversity Works! Magazine. ULSDC would first like to take this time to recognize the hardships that have come about from Hurricane Katrina. This catastrophe has not gone unnoticed and our hearts and prayers go out to the evacuees and to the many good samaritans who are helping those in need.

This edition is a feature to our 2005 Equal Opportunity Awards Dinner (EOD), which celebrates 52 years of service, and continues to be one of our community’s signature events. The EOD provides an opportunity for us to highlight our successful programs as well as recognize organizations and individuals who have committed themselves to assisting the Urban League in its delivery of services to communities throughout the County of San Diego.

I wish to thank the many companies and contributors to this publication. Who, without their support we could not fulfill our mission of "assisting African Americans and other undeserved people in San Diego County to achieve social and economic equality through advocacy, bridge building, program services and research."

Please know that your support, as a friend, volunteer or member of the League has been valuable to the success of our various programs. Your support makes an enormous difference in the quality of life of so many people in San Diego County—those who need a hand up to help them reach for and achieve their full potential. We hope you will continue to support the Urban League of San Diego County’s programs and events throughout the year and that you enjoy this edition of Diversity Works!

Cecil H. Steppe

I I

From the Publisher’s Desk

n today’s business environment, diversity is smart business.

Companies intent on increasing their productivity know that it makes good business sense to hire the best people available. That means accessing the broadest array of talent from the broadest possible talent pool.

It’s why diversity recruiting has never been as important or as competitive as it is today. The Urban League of San Diego County is committed to diversity and is dedicated to increasing opportunities for African Americans and other people of color.

Our Employment Network is a gateway to opportunity for the smart employer seeking access to the best talent available, and to the talented employee seeking entry to the most dynamic companies in the global marketplace.

To help facilitate getting the word our, we recently implemented our Urban Marketing/Research Division.

Their goal is to reach out to over 150,000 African Americans throughout the county carrying the message that there are diversity-committed employers who are actively seeking them as qualified candidates.

Finally, for more than 50-years, area employers have worked with the League to ensure equal access and opportunities for all San Diegans; we call them our Diversity Works! Partners. These are companies who put resources behind their words and proactively work with the League to ensure that “diversity is working” here in San Diego. We invite your company to become our Diversity Works! Partner. For more information on becoming Diversity Works! Partner, please contact me at 619-266-6244 or Maurice@sdul.org.

Let’s make Diversity Work! For all San Diegans

San Diego County

4

Equal Opportunity Awards Edition

Maurice D. Wilson

The Urban League of San Diego County’s 33rd Annual Equal Opportunity Awards Dinner Urban League Annual Equal Opportunity Day (EOD) Awards Dinner honors individuals and corporations who perpetuate the principle of equal opportunity and exhibit leadership qualities that result in notable contributions to the cause of equal rights.

Proceeds from the dinner benefit the League’s Education, Employment, and Housing and Community Development initiatives.

Past honorees include Anthony Pico, The Reverend George Walker Smith, Howard Carey, NAACP-San Diego Branch, the San Diego Voice Viewpoint Newspaper and Robert McNeely. The Dinner also honors corporations and foundations that have supported the League’s efforts in the past year, through induction into the Urban League's Hall of Fame.

The highlight of the dinner is the Whitney M. Young Jr. Leadership Award which will be presented this year to Dee Thomas, College Relations and Diversity/Outreach Administrator, Western Region, Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC). (see page 8) Whitney M. Young Jr. was the Executive

THE

Director of the National Urban League from 1961 until his tragic, untimely death in 1971. He worked tirelessly to bring the races together, and joined the tenets of social work, of which he was an outstanding practitioner, to the social activism that brought the Urban League into the forefront of the civil rights arena.

Whitney was constantly in search of solutions to the racism that plagued Americans and caused Black Americans to be relegated to second-class citizens in the land they fought and died for over the years. A relentless advocate for the poor, he visited rural and urban communities while advocating their cause to the nation. He was a close advisor to Presidents Kennedy and Johnson, and conferred with President Nixon. Thus, he helped shape the policies of three administrations and played a major role in the development of the War on Poverty. He was a key figure in bringing the now legendary 1963 March on Washington to fruition, and was a major force in bringing Black leadership together a united front for progress. Whitney’s eloquent testimony before Congressional committees and his powerful

appeals to business, professional and civic leaders helped create an environment in which African Americans forged ahead to win new opportunities. He led the National Urban League as the executive director from 1961 to 1971 before drowning while swimming with friends in Lagos, Nigeria.

Thirty three years ago, the Urban League of San Diego County established the first Equal Opportunity Awards Dinner honoring individuals and organizations that empower their communities while upholding the same values and vision of Whitney M. Young Jr.. This fundraising event also serves as a vehicle for communicating the mission and vision of the National Urban League movement while remembering the foundation of our past leaders such as Whitney M. Young Jr.. Over the years, the Equal Opportunity Awards Dinner has become a signature event in San Diego.

Diversity Awards Council Initiates President’s Award for Diversity

By Sheron Maxwell

this year, the Urban League of San Diego County convened the Diversity Advisory Council, a group of professionals dedicated to improving diversity and inclusion throughout San Diego. This year, the council is chaired by Urban League Board Member, Sheron Maxwell of CDM (a consulting, engineering, construction and operations firm) and consists of the following members: Michael Cornelius, San Diego Business Journal; Dr. Cheryl Fisher, SDSU; Keith Goosby, American Red Cross; Horace Hill, Blacks in Government; Carolyn Hollins, Sempra Energy; Leslie Jenness, National Gender Institute; Leslie Luke, County of San Diego; Sheron Maxwell, CDM; Dee Sanford, Dee Sanford International; Delores Thomas, SAIC; Dr. Billy Vaughn, DTUI; Barbara Webb, Urban League; Sheri Williams, Urban League, Maurice Wilson, Urban League.

The primary goals of the council are to steer the overall diversity efforts of the League and to advise the President/CEO on diversity matters. In addition, the council presides over the League’s annual Equal Opportunity Awards Dinner, a 33-year-old tradition that recognizes individuals and companies for their contributions to the community and showcases the social responsibility of those working to improve the quality of life for African-Americans and other underserved people. This year, the awards dinner will debut the League’s newest award—the President’s

EARLIER

Award for Diversity. This prestigious award will be presented to select San Diego County area businesses demonstrating outstanding achievements in diversity and inclusion—businesses that are “Making Diversity Work.” Awards will be presented in three distinct categories based on annual revenues: small, medium and large.

For the past several months, the council has been reviewing the many outstanding nominations received for this award and is proud to announce the following winners: BUSINESS CATEGORY • Large • Medium • Small

COMPANY Sempra Energy Starbucks Coffee Company San Diego Regional Airport Authority

These and other winners will be formally recognized at this year’s Equal Opportunity Awards dinner to be held September 9th at the Hilton La Jolla Torrey Pines.

The council’s next project will be to host a diversity forum with area employers early next year to address local issues and seek solutions by identifying “best practice” initiatives. Please contact Maurice D. Wilson, Vice President of Business & Workforce Development at 619-266-6244 for more information.

Diversity Works

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TO BE EQUAL

Corporate America's diversity gap

By Marc H. Morial four decades, businesses across the United States have invested enormous resources in making their work forces more diverse and making sure their own workers and the general public know it.

One dramatic manifestation of corporate America’s commitment to diversity came early last year amid the debate about which way the U.S. Supreme Court ought to rule in the affirmative-action case involving the University of Michigan. As the court prepared to hear oral arguments and accept friend-of-the-court briefs, scores of prominent American companies, including 64 Fortune 500 corporations and 30 of America’s top former military and civilian defense officials, joined civil rights groups, labor unions and institutions of higher learning in supporting Michigan’s pro-affirmative action position.

Kenneth Frazier, senior vice president and general counsel for Merck, the giant pharmaceutical company, succinctly expressed the “bottom-line” case for business when he said, “Diversity creates stronger companies. The work we do directly impacts patients of all types around the globe. Understanding people is essential to our success.”

And yet, in broad terms, it’s hard to tell with precision what the business community’s effort on diversity has produced because it’s never developed a meaningful measure of the effectiveness of diversity programs.

That’s one reason the National Urban League, with generous support from Enterprise Rent-A-Car, the nation’s largest rental-car company, undertook a study of perceptions about diversity in corporate America. The recently released report,

FOR

6

“Diversity Practices That Work: The American Worker Speaks” (available online at www.nul.org), surveyed more than 5,500 American workers on the topic of diversity.

It was conducted by the management consulting firm of Global Lead. The results are a wake-up call for American business in several ways. Employees, who in substantial majorities support diversity, have more favorable perceptions of diversity initiatives at companies where leaders show a personal commitment to diversity and hold themselves and others accountable. These companies establish training programs to foster greater awareness of diversity issues and the positive impact diversity can have on overall company performance. They also have a track record of recruiting people of diverse backgrounds. Their employees earn rewards for their contributions to diversity.

But the “Diversity Practices” study found that while most workers consider diversity good for business, many believe their current employers don’t have an effective diversity initiative. Even more worrisome is that one in eight employees believes their company is still at risk for a diversity-related lawsuit.

Business executives should find these results troubling because the survey determined that participating companies that had diversity practices employees considered effective boasted a productivity rate 18 percent better than that of the overall American economy. Further, three-quarters of these companies have generated productivity results equal to or better than their major competitors.

In other words, by making use of good leadership and management practices, advancing diversity actually enhances

Equal Opportunity Awards Edition

overall business performance. A fully diverse workplace can make the bottomline difference between an average company and a world-class company.

But business leaders have significant work to do. While 80 percent of employees surveyed said they were comfortable working in diverse teams and 65 percent agree that diversity improves creativity and innovation, only 45 percent believe that diversity is part of their company’s corporate culture, and only 32 percent believe their company has an effective diversity initiative.

By contrast, more than two-thirds of the corporate executives surveyed hold more favorable views of the success of their company’s current diversity programs than their employees do.

That gap in perception suggests that, at the least, companies need to review their diversity initiatives in order to ensure they’re doing what they’re supposed to: revamping programs that aren’t achieving their goals and enhancing those that are.

An inclusive workplace and a successful work environment is everyone’s business.

Marc H. Morial is president & chief executive officer of the National Urban League. www.nul.org

Diversity Works

7

Whitney M. Young Leadership Award Recipient Dee Thomas Thomas is College Relations and Diversity/Outreach Administrator for SAIC’s Western Region.

Based in San Diego, she has responsibility for colleges and universities west of the Mississippi, Alaska and Hawaii. She manages the summer intern program and develops relationships and initiatives with universities throughout the nation and with key Community-Based Organizations. She joined SAIC as Senior Employment Representative in Corporate Staffing in 1996 and was named to her current position in 1998.

A long time supporter of the Urban League, Thomas has worked with many branches around the country, including Columbus, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles and San Diego. She served on the Industry Advisory Board of the Urban League Computer Learning Center in Watts and placed many underserved individuals in gainful and meaningful employment in the Los Angeles area.

She co-chaired the Urban League of San Diego County (ULSDC) Career Fair for two years. She received the Distinguished Leadership Award-ULSDC Career Fair in 1999, the Outstanding Contributions to the ULSDC and the African-American Community Award in 2000 and the ULSDC Career Fair “Above & Beyond”Award for the last five years. She serves on the ULSDC Diversity Works! Advisory Board.

A graduate of Ohio State University, Thomas began her professional career at Chemical Abstracts Service (a Division of the American Chemical Society) in Columbus, OH, as an abstractor and editor of seven Slavic languages in chemistry and biochemistry. She later joined the Aluminum Company of America (ALCOA) in Pittsburgh and during an expansive career there, she served on assignment at the United Nations as a Technical Information Specialist. While President of the Pittsburgh Chapter of the American Records Management Association,

DEE

8

she spearheaded the establishment of the Data & Information Management Program at the University of Pittsburgh.

Upon transferring to Los Angeles with ALCOA, she became ALCOA’s Loaned Executive to the National Alliance of Businessmen (NAB), now the Private Industry Council, and generated the most job pledges in the history of the Los Angeles NAB for underserved people. She worked in every area of Human Resources at ALCOA including Employment Manager and Labor Relations Administrator in Los Angeles. She served on the Industry Advisory Council of the Mexican-American Opportunities Foundation (MAOF) in East Los Angeles and was active in the Los Angeles Basin Equal Opportunity League (LABEOL). She served on Industry Advisory Boards of the Exceptional Adult Center in Compton and the Los Angeles Youth Motivation Task Force.

Thomas traveled to Siberia in 1986 as a Russian Interpreter for the US-USSR, Alaska - Siberia Cultural Exchange for Peace, CoChaired by Gennady Gerasimov, Mikhail Gorbachev’s Spokesman, and Dixie Belcher, Artistic Director for the Alaska Performing Artists for Peace, from Alaska. The mission was to reunite Eskimos from Alaska and Siberia who had been separated by the Bering Strait for over 40 years due to political boundaries. A result of this cultural exchange was that the Chukotka Border was opened between Alaska and Siberia and Eskimo families could have direct access to each other.

Upon her return from Siberia, she exercised her entrepreneurial spirit and founded Dolores. M.Thomas & Associates, a Human Resources, Marketing and Public Affairs consulting firm in Los Angeles. Upon being retained by ALCOA, she relocated to San Diego to help establish the Human Resources Department at an ALCOA subsidiary that was being started up in Rancho Bernardo.

While at SAIC, as President of the San Diego Equal Employment Opportunity Council (SDEEOC), Thomas led the organization to national recognition as the San Diego Industry Liaison Group (SDILG) in

Equal Opportunity Awards Edition

2002. The SDILG, comprised of 74 member companies, promotes equal employment opportunity and provides leadership in developing and administering Affirmative Action Programs in the corporate community. In 2005 the SDILG received the prestigious national USDOL/OFCCP Outstanding Partnership & Liaison (OPAL) Award for Superior Achievement in EEO/AA. She received the Distinguished Service Award from the SDEEOC. She chaired the Veteran’s Job Fair in San Diego in 2000 and served as Chair of the Veteran’s Employment Committee of San Diego County (VEC) in 2001. She received the Award of Merit for Exemplary Leadership for 2000 -2001, from Anthony Principi, Secretary,USDVA, and leaders of CDVA,VVSD, SoCalVEC,SDV/UVC and the Employment Development Department.

She chaired the first U.S.Department of Labor, OFCCP/VEC Joint Symposium in 2000 in celebration of the 25th Anniversary of the Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Act. SAIC was recognized for outstanding service in employment of veterans. In 2005 she served on the Steering Committee for the USDOL/OFCCP Veteran Compliance Assistance Seminar at UCSD. Through her diversity/outreach efforts, she organized annual partnership luncheons that brought San Diego Community Based Organizations (CBOs) face to face with the SAIC staffing community. She also works with the Society of Women Engineers, the National Society of Black Engineers and Scientists, the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, Partnerships With Industry, the Center for Employment Training, the Neighborhood House Association, Impact Urban America, Caldiego Paralyzed Veteran’s of America, San Diego YWCA, San Diego National Council of Negro Women, San Diego Brain Injury Foundation,MANA (National Latina organization), UCSD Hispanic Scholarship Foundation, all serving our veterans, our inner city, our college campuses, people of color,women and people with disabilities.

FYI

For Your Information We still have a great expertise gap in the United States. Our next generation of college students will include dramatically more students of color, but their teachers will remain overwhelmingly white.” a decades-long national effort and recent enrollments gains, African Americans and Hispanics are still significantly under-represented among recipients of Ph.Ds in the United States, a new report from the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation finds.

According to the report, Diversity & the Ph.D., the two groups comprise 32 percent of all U.S. citizens between the ages of twenty-five and forty (the typical age range for Ph.D. candidates), but only 11 percent of all U.S. citizens earning Ph.Ds and only seven percent of all doctoral recipients (including international students).

“We hear this terrible phrase ‘diversity fatigue,’” said Robert Weisbuch, president of the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation and a contributor to the report, “but the numbers make it clear: We still have a great expertise gap in the United States. Our next generation of college students will include dramatically more students of color, but their teachers will remain overwhelmingly white.”

DESPITE

Urban League San Diego County

Empowering Communities.

Changing Lives.

Created as part of the foundation’s Responsive Ph.D. initiative, the report looks at the mechanisms through which foundations, nonprofits, and government agencies have sought to recruit and retain more minority students to doctoral programs, and highlights circumstances that increasingly impede their work.

Chief among them are the effect of recent court challenges to affirmative action, reduced fellowship support, reduced visibility, limited communication among programs, and too little encouragement in the earlier stages of education for minority students to consider pursuing a doctorate.

The report, which was sponsored by the Andrew Mellon Foundation and Atlantic Philanthropies, presses for the coordination of various stand-alone efforts into a single national agenda, and urges more rigorous measurement of program results in order to address what Weisbuch calls “the continuing near-exclusion of a third of our population from intellectual leadership.” It also calls for more efforts sooner - from middle school through community college - to present doctoral education as a promising and relevant career path for students of color.

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Diversity Works

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Raising the Bar REVISITING THE BENCHMARKING STANDARDS FOR CORPORATE SUPPLIER DIVERSITY PROGRAMS.

At

Ralph G. Moore &Associates, we are gratified that supplier diversity practitioners worldwide have accepted “The RGMA five levels of Corporate Suppliers D i v e r s i t y P r o g r a m Development” as an industry benchmark. However, there has been a transformation in the world of business and supplier diversity since we first explores the notion of benching marking corporate supplier diversity programs 10 years ago. These are some of the changes: • • • • • • •

An acceleration of the expansion of the ethnic minority population and its buying power.

The advent of strategic sourcing as the dominant supply chain management strategy.

The global supply chain became a reality.

The arrival of outsourcing, both domestic and offshore as a primary cost reduction strategy.

E-sourcing has become the prevailing tool for sourcing goods and services.

An explosion of innovative minorityand women-led acquisitions and joint ventures.

The Sarbanes-Oxley guidelines have increased scrutiny in the areas of corporate governance and accountability.

As we studied the effects of theses changes on private and public sector supplier diversity programs, we realized that each one significantly affected program development and program management.

These changes to the business model were so compelling that we felt a need to revisit our benchmarking standards, since RGMA has been the source of many best practices in supplier's diversity over the past 23 years. We combined that knowledge base with our substantial experience in advising corporations and organizations on enhancing their supplier diversity programs when updating these benchmarking standards.

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By Ralph G. Moore without the stigma of the word 'token' associated with it. Thus, the titles of the Five Levels at which suppliers diversity programs operates are as followers: • Level 1: Beginning Suppliers Diversity Program.

• Level 2: Basic Suppliers Diversity Program.

• Level 3: Traditional Supplier Diversity Program.

• Level 4: Advanced Supplier Diversity Process.

• Level 5: World Class Supplier Diversity Process.

Many observers make the mistake of equating the level of spending with diverse businesses as the yardstick for measuring succeeds in supplier diversity program management. Yes, there is a correlation, but there is a need to go beyond the numbers to assess a program's effectiveness.

Some of the questions that we ask when assessing a program include the following: • • • • • • •

What is the level of senior management commitment?

Is supplier diversity enjoying the same standing as the workforce initiative?

Is the supplier diversity process aligned with other key areas of the organization?

What is the title of the program's manager and how much influence does he or she have in the organization?

What is the staffing and budget level of the program?

Are there supplier diversity goals in place and how is accountability shared by the entire organization?

Is the second tire program integrated with the supply chain management process?

The only change in the titles for our Five Levels was to replace the Level 1 "Token" label with "Beginning". We realized that there must be a starting point that enables a corporation to initiate a program

Equal Opportunity Awards Edition

Level 1: Beginning Supplier Diversity Program There are two distinct types of corporations at level 1. The first is a relatively new company that has been introduced to supplier diversity through its industry groups or through its customers’ second tier initiatives. Companies in this category are exploring their options to see how supplier diversity fits into their business model.

After some initial research, most companies that are in this category quickly move to level 2, the Basic Program, as they are driven by customer requirements or competitive benchmarking to implement a program.

Characteristic of Beginning Program include: • Community affairs or human resources own the process.

• Sparse tracking.

• Nonexistent outreach.

• Fails to attend M/WBE trade fair.

• No program marking materials.

• No program budget.

• Minorities are prominent in advertising, but the company does not use minority-owned advertising agencies.

• Senior management does not understand the value proposition.

Part one of an ongoing series

Diversity Works

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Diversity Practices That Work Introduction WHAT

Sets This Study Apart?

Several characteristics make this study unique,

including the following:

Number of Persons Surveyed.This study leverages the broad and inclusive perspectives of the American Worker.

The study compiled more than 5,500 surveys among American Workers, including those who are representative of the American Worker nationally, as well as those representing employees at eight Effective Diversity Practices Companies. We believe that this is a far more comprehensive sample than other surveys in this field.

Nationally Representative Subsegments.This study has nationally and statistically representative samples of the several segments of the American Worker population, including race and ethnicity, gender, and job level. In particular, we have collected a nationally representative database of the Native American Worker — a first in the area of diversity research.

Employee Opinion as Measure of Effectiveness. This study focused on the perceptions of employees, as opposed

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Equal Opportunity Awards Edition

National Urban League: Part two of an ongoing series...

to practitioners, to measure the effectiveness of diversity initiatives.

Emphasis on Practices vs. the Practicing Company.

This study focuses on the company practices that have generated favorable employee responses, as opposed to the practicing company. This allows us to place a greater emphasis on identifying and sharing the Effective Diversity Practices that can be put to work in other organizations.

Extensive Diversity Survey. This study uses a comprehensive 95-item survey (six times as many items as the average survey) across 13 theme areas, all focused on the subject of diversity. This provides for a deeper understanding of what’s working and why.

The American Worker The American Worker Defined The American Worker profile comes from a randomly selected panel of employees who are statistically representative of the American work force. The panel includes representative sub-segments of a variety of diversity dimensions including:

A Call

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Empowering Communities.

Changing Lives.

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“For too long, the spark of curiosity in African-American children has been smothered by excuses, denials, and sidesteps. To reverse the pattern of academic failure among black urban youth, Dr. Janice E. Hale, author and scholar on early childhood education, makes it clear we must first unbank the fire: "I do not believe that extraordinary measures are called for to assist African-American children in reaching their potential. All that is necessary is for this society to remove the ashes that historically and currently stunt their development and allow what is there to come forth.”

I will help the Urban League of San Diego County’s empower, enable and advocate for our children, for our families and our future. Please accept my tax-deductible contribution in the amount of: $15 Other $

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Diversity Works

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The American Worker Speaks • Gender: men and women.

• Race and Ethnicity: African-Americans, Asians, Caucasians, Hispanics/Latinos, and Native Americans.

• Job Level: executives, managers, salaried employees, hourly employees.

• Age: 18 – 34, 35 – 54, and 55-plus.

• Company Size: <20 employees, 20 – 99 employees, 100 – 499 employees, 500 – 4,999 employees, 5,000-plus employees.

• Region: Northeast, South, Midwest, and West.

The voice of the American Worker includes persons from a wide variety of companies, ranging in size from large Fortune 500s to small businesses.

The Voice of the American Worker — A Measure of Effectiveness Central to this study is the importance of the American Worker’s voice in evaluating the effectiveness of diversity initiatives and efforts. We believe that the voice of the American Worker is critical in the evaluation of diversity initiatives because the employee is one of the most important stakeholders. This is supported by a body of research that links leadership practices, employee results, customer results, and ultimately business performance.

This High Performance Model, as published by Jack Wiley, Ph.D., in 1996, grew out of experience and extensive research with more than 7,500 business units over the course of more than a decade. It demonstrates the link between employee perceptions and business performance.

Leadership Practices Employee Results

Business Performance

Customer Results

© 1996 Gantz Wiley Research

Building on the work of Wiley and others, we presuppose that a company’s diversity practices directly impact the perceptions of employees. This makes the American Worker’s voice critical not only in evaluating the effectiveness of diversity initiatives but also in reinforcing the business case for adopting diversity leadership and business practices that positively enhance the perceptions of employees’ and, ultimately, the organization’s performance outcomes. Our focus in this study is on the link between diversity practices and employee perceptions.

Diversity Practices

Employee Perceptions

Customer and Business Outcomes

What Does the American Worker Think About Diversity?

American Workers recognize the value of diversity for themselves and for the companies in which they work. American Workers also indicate that they are aware of the expectations

14

Equal Opportunity Awards Edition

their companies have of them relating to diversity and are comfortable in meeting the expressed expectations. Each of the following questions received high favorable comments and low Base Size

Favorable Infavorable Responses Responses

I am comfortable working in diverse teams.

2,019

80%

4%

I am expected to positively interact with people who are different from me.

2,030

77%

5%

I have a good and positive relationship with my direct supervisor.

2,025

72%

12%

A diverse work force improves creativity and innovation in the workplace.

1,998

65%

10%

unfavorable comments.

While American Workers provide quite favorable responses when referring to themselves and their ability to work effectively in diverse teams and with others, the perceived impact of company-led diversity initiatives is far less favorable, as demonstrated by the lack of favorable responses and the increased unfavorable responses. This reflects the American Workers’ lack of confidence in the effectiveness and potential benefit of any diversity initiatives within their organizations today. This suggests that despite a great deal of effort by corporations in America, a significant gap exists in making diversity a core part of the overall culture of corporations.

The fact that only 32 percent of employees believe that their company has an effective diversity initiative should serve as a wake-up call to every board-level director, corporate executive, and human resources or diversity practitioner. What’s more, American Workers share this unfavorable perception of diversity effectiveness across demographic subsegments. The most favorable responses come from executives, American Workers aged Base Size

Favorable Infavorable Responses Responses

I believe that I will personally benefit from my company’s effort to improve diversity.

1,988

49%

18%

Diversity is very much a part of my company’s culture.

1,970

45%

23%

My company has an effective diversity initiative.

1,927

32%

My company has an effective diversity council or team.

1,790

22%

26% 40%

My company has an effective diversity initiative. % Favorable [% Unfavorable] American Worker 32 [26]

Men 31 [26]

Women 29 [29]

White 29 [29]

AfricanAmerican 34 [26]

Hispanic American 34 [25]

Asian American 34 [23]

Native American 34 [30]

American Worker 32 [26]

Executives 47 [23]

Managers 34 [27]

Salaried 32 [28]

Hourly 28 [26]

18 - 34 29 [24]

35 - 54 31 [28]

55-plus 38 [21]

American Worker 32 [26]

<20 Employees 28 [24]

20 - 99 Employees 28 [30]

100 - 499 Employees 24 [33]

500 - 4,999 Employees 31 [26]

5,000 - plus Employees 43 [23]

55-plus, and people in companies with 5,000-plus employees.

Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Important?

As shown in the chart below, the surveyed employees consider each of the 13 Effective Diversity Practices themes important. At

least 47 percent of American Workers view each of the EDP themes as very or extremely important. The perceived importance among employees of EDP Companies is significantly higher, demonstrating that employees have increased expectations when their companies have active and effective diversity initiatives.

Effective Diversity Practices Theme

% Extremely or Very Important American Worker

Rank

EDP Company Employees

Rank

1. Marketing to Diverse Customers and Consumers

63%

1

88%

1

2. Retaining Diverse Talent

59%

2

84%

3

3. Recruiting Diverse Talent

57%

3

85%

2

4. Leadership Commitment and Involvement

57%

4

84%

4

5. Inclusive Culture and Values

57%

5

79%

9

6. Diversity Education and Training

56%

6

81%

5

7. Community Involvement

55%

7

77%

11

8. Advancing Diverse Talent

55%

8

80%

6

9. Career Development for Diverse Talent

54%

9

80%

7

10. Diversity Employee Communications

52%

10

80%

8

11. Employee Involvement

52%

11

78%

10

12. Supplier Diversity

49%

12

70%

13

13. Performance Accountability and Measurement

47%

13

72%

12

To Be Continued in the next issue of Diversity Works! Journal * The research for Diversity Practices That Work was sponsored by Enterprise Rent a Car for the National Urban League.

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Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t Fire the Trent Lott in Your Organization

By Billy Vaughn, PhD San Francisco FortyNiners football teamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s public relations director Kirk Reynolds recently resigned from his coveted job. The news media had just reported the tasteless racial and sexist humor presented in a sexual harassment training video Reynolds developed for the players. The media have covered similar stories of high profile individuals losing their jobs for intentional and unintentional insulting behaviors. Perhaps the most outstanding is the coverage of Trent Lott, the past Senate Republication Leader.

People with authority over others in organizations are the culprits of a considerable amount of the everyday indignities women, people with different abilities, and people of color under them endure.

Managers, supervisors, and people who are well liked by them, tend to be the most difficult to challenge when they are perpetrators of discrimination.

A human resources officer once confided in me that women employees were being harassed by one of the two company owners.

Even the other partner felt hopeless in doing

THE

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anything about it. They solicited me to provide the entire organization with sexual harassment training in the hope that he would be compelled to attend even though they understood that the likelihood was slim.

Human resources officers seem to seriously seek a solution only when a lawsuit or media attention creates a sense of emergency. In the meantime productivity suffers due to employees feeling unsupported and fearful. The instinctive solution in an emergency is fire the culprit, if possible.

When that is not an option, they provide diversity training for managers, the entire organization, or both.

A more cost-effective and productive solution exists in most of these situations.

Avoid firing your Trent Lott or throwing large-scale diversity training at the problem. Consider providing the individual with cultural competence coaching as an alternative initial strategy. An excellent coach is non-judgmental and solutionfocused to the benefit of everyone in the organization. The coach will help the individual understand the consequences of her or his actions on the target, the organiza-

Equal Opportunity Awards Edition

tion, any bystanders, and herself or himself. The insight the individual gains provides a foundation for the expert to help the person learn more constructive behaviors needed to avoid future infractions.

Qualcomm, Inc. started using cultural competence coaching years ago. They offer a manager eight hours of individual coaching. The result is savings in firing and rehiring, as well as increased legal protection. More importantly, coaching fosters a culture of cultural competence among managers. Managers who show improvement in cultural competence serve as a model for others.

Firing your Trent Lott can be costly and the organization loses an opportunity to create a more inclusive culture.

Billy Vaughn is Chief Learning Officer and Managing Partner for Diversity Training University International (DTUI.com), which has offices in San Diego, Washington DC, and San Francisco. You can send comments to billy@dtui.com or 888.288.1603 x1.

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18

Equal Opportunity Awards Edition

ON

with Cheryl Fisher 20

Equal Opportunity Awards Edition

ne O

Attorney Cheryl Fisher is a member of the SDSU Presidentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Executive Cabinet, and holds the title of Director of Diversity and Equity. Cheryl is impeccably qualified for this position; she has served as the director of health and human resources for the San Diego Fire Department, Associate director of human resources for San Diego State University, and deputy director in Waste Management for the City of San Diego.

As the former City of San Diego Equal Employment Investigative Officer for the 10,000+ city employees, Cheryl successfully performed the identical duties for the City of San Diego, which she now performs for SDSU. Diversity Works

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C

heryl brings to this position a diversity of community involvement and civic commitment. She has served as the chairperson of Union Bank of California advisory board, San Diego Metropolitan Credit Union and Neighborhood House Association, as well as Vice Chair of the San Diego County Law Enforcement Review Board. She is also the Treasurer of the Horton Plaza Theatres Foundation, Secretary of the World Affairs Council and a member of the San Diego Opera Advisory Board, and the Holiday Bowl Red Coats. Additionally, she is a member of the California Bar Association, the Kyoto Laureate Host Committee, and a third generation member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority.

Cheryl has won numerous awards for her commitment to diversity in particular and to the betterment of society in general. Examples of the many awards she has received are the Girl Scouts Role Model for Leadership Award, the YWCA TWIN Award, the Soroptimist International of San Diego Woman of Achievement Award, the SDSU Aztec Achievement Award for Best Practices in Diversity, the SDSU Presidential Leadership Award, the Elsie Whitmer Outstanding Volunteer Award, the National Management Association Board Member Award, and the Head Start Policy Council Volunteer of Excellence Award.

As a champion of diversity, Cheryl Fisher has had many firsts in her life. She is dedicated to equity and diversity and has shared her talents in various industries to bring about inclusion, and cohesiveness, but most importantly, she has cleared a path and extended a hand for others to follow.

Her groundbreaking accomplishments include: • the first African-American woman to serve on the Executive Cabinet of the San Diego Fire Department • the first African-American woman to serve

22

on the President’s Cabinet of San Diego State University • the first African-American woman to serve on the San Diego County Civil Service Commission (nominated by Board of Supervisor Ron Roberts) • the first African-American woman to serve as Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the San Diego Metropolitan Credit Union • the first African-American woman to serve as the Chair of the Union Bank of California Community Advisory Board representing California, Oregon, and Washington Mr. Robert McNeely was the UBOC Sr. Vice President over this function at the time, and still presently serves in that capacity • the first African-American woman to serve as an Officer on the Board of Directors for the Horton Plaza Theatres Foundation • the first African-American woman to serve as Vice Chairperson of the County Law Enforcement Review Board It is evident by the many nominations of leadership positions in these diverse venues that Cheryl is a superior leader, and an accomplished colleague, as well as a pioneer, professionally in her employment, and personally in her community. Cheryl stands as a beacon of light and constant illumination regarding diversity.

Some of Cheryl’s responsibilities include directing the Office of Diversity and Equity, including serving as a member of the President’s Cabinet to provide consultation and leadership to management, faculty and staff regarding diversity and equity issues, discrimination, and personnel concerns, and campus/community collaborations; investigating, mediating, responding to internal, State and Federal discrimination complaints concerning effective/equitable recruitment and retention, fair employment practices, and employee rights and responsibilities. These are just some of the many things she is responsible for.

Cheryl coordinated the first SDSU Diversity Scholarship Gala in 107 years, which resulted in record attendance, and raised over $139,000 in in less than six months to provide four year scholarships for 12 local, low income, high achieving students to attend SDSU in fall 2005.

Q: What message would you like to share through this interview?

A: We all know that diversity cannot succeed without the unequivocal support from the President/CEO of any organization. The Diversity Officer serves as the conscience of

Equal Opportunity Awards Edition

the organization, the change agent of the institution, and is often the messenger which the institution would rather not pause to heed. Yet, the message itself is precisely what the Diversity Officer was hired to bring, and the proposed changes are precisely those which the Diversity Officer was hired to institute. Cheryl recognizes however, in doing the job with excellence, a Diversity Officer must remain cognizant, when seeking to change behaviors, address feelings, and institute change, it is only with the combination of a President/CEO who is supportive of diversity , along with other persons of collaborative good will, that the ship of diversity does not run aground in a sea of competing interests, or become mired in adverse conditions which prohibit its even leaving the shores of complacency.

Cheryl gives credit to SDSU President Stephen Weber who has on numerous occasions announced his support of, and commitment to diversity. Weber can be characterized as one “who walks the walk, and talks the talk” when it comes to diversity on the third largest campus in the state of California.

Cheryl recognizes the absolute criticality of collaborative partnerships and readily give credit to Assistant Vice President of Student Affairs, Eric Rivera, as well as to her colleagues on the Presidents cabinet for their support of diversity.

Eric not only served as the SDSU Campus Gala Chairperson, but he also Co-Chairs with Cheryl other such SDSU diversity observances as the Caesar Chavez and Black History Month Commemorations (wherein they brought Dr. Terrence Roberts of the Little Rock 9 to the campus). Cheryl and Eric also implemented the concept of “A Village” for students success which is being newly utilized at SDSU. This concept incorporates all vital aspects necessary for success at a major university including Dr. Sandra Cook of Academic Affairs, and Jose Preciado, Dir. of Faculty Students, Mentors, Tutors, and linkage with Chris Manigault, President of Associated Students (who also happens to be African-American and a member of the President’s Diversity Council), and Chrys Dutton, Dir. of Financial Aide. It is the mission of the SDSU Village to ensure that the fragility of the President’s diversity scholars circumstances does not overcome their academic success.

The Office of Diversity and Equity, although charged with the tasks we discussed, has a large articulated mission with a small staff. This is not uncommon; however, credit for diversity success goes to not only the many other supportive colleagues on the SDSU campus, and in the San Diego community, but also to Dr. James Kitchen, the SDSU Vice President of Student Affairs, who has generously loaned his staff on innumerable

occasions to assist the Office of Diversity and Equity in accomplishing their mission to implement diversity initiatives on the huge SDSU campus.

Q: What are SDSU’s recruiting and retention efforts, successes and obstacles?

A: There are some particular obstacles to high volume diversity recruitment, particularly in view of such special challenges as Proposition 209, which prohibits targeted recruitment premised upon race, and the extraordinarily high cost of housing in San Diego. However, just as when Cheryl successfully performed this job with the San Diego Fire Department, and with the City of San Diego, Cheryl regards such issues as opportunities for creativity, collaborativeness, and cooperation. Thus, the Office of Diversity and Equity not only monitors each faculty recruitment, but provides training and follow-up. Additionally, the Office provides the specific contact information of other universities and entities with a high diversity concentration of potential applicants to the Deans, Department Chairs, and other key individuals in the SDSU recruitment and selection hierarchy. As a member of the Faculty Senate Diversity and Equity Outreach Committee, Cheryl’s office was recognized as the appropriate venue to conduct “exit interviews” in acknowledgement of the fact that departing personnel need a completely neutral entity, outside of the hiring/selection hierarchy, to share their reasons for leaving the University.

Diversity is an evaluated factor for personnel at San Diego State University. Funds are budgeted for advertising in a variety of venues to facilitate the widest opportunity for knowledge of and application for positions. The University’s Chief Learning Officer, Provost Marlin, has publicly articulated and demonstrated her support for acquiring a diverse faculty and student body.

SDSU realizes there is certainly room for improvement in the success rate of the student body and in the work force. However, the diversity fact sheet below presents a snapshot of the status of SDSU regarding diversity.

SDSU Diversity Fact Sheet “San Diego State should stand up and take a bow. The University is doing a great job of recruiting, retaining and graduating Hispanics. It is clearly a vital part of the education pipeline.” -Adalyn Hixson editor, The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education San Diego State University is dedicated to ensuring equal access to higher education for students of all backgrounds. SDSU’s diversity-

related achievements and programs Tenure/Tenure Track Faculty Hires (1997-98 through 2003-04) include: % of Applicants Ethnicity

Count

Percentage

Available in the U.S.

Rankings: African-American 16 4.3% 6.0% SDSU is number nine in the Asian-American/Pacific 49 13.1% 6.7% nation and number four in Islander/Filipino California for bachelor’s degrees Hispanic 45 12.0% 3.7% awarded to Hispanics, according to Native American 3 0.8% 0.5% the May 2005 issue of Hispanic 12 3.2% N/A Outlook in Higher Education, which Other Non-White 125 33.4% 17% listed the top 100 colleges and uni- Persons of Color versities for Hispanics.

White 249 66.6% 83% SDSU ranks No. 25 in the nation Total 374 100% 100% for graduate degrees awarded to Hispanics, according to the May 2005 issue of founded in 1972. It offers a broad, interdiscipliHispanic Outlook in Higher Education, which nary program covering a variety of subjects perlisted the top 100 colleges and universities for taining to Africa and the African diaspora. The Asian Studies program’s resources include the Hispanics.

SDSU ranks number 12 in the nation for Japan Studies Institute, the China Studies bachelor’s degrees awarded to minorities, Institute and Asian/Pacific American Archives.

The McNair Scholars program identifies stuaccording to the June 2005 issue of Black Issues in Higher Education, which listed the top 100 dents from low-income backgrounds with potential to become university professors, procolleges and universities for minorities. vides them with mentors and supplies them SDSU Enrollment in Fall 2004, by Ethnicity: with a $2,800 stipend to conduct research.

Students at SDSU have organized more than 100 American 0.7% 25 clubs to support diversity on campus, includIndian African 3.7% ing the Hispanic Association, the Laotian Student American 80 Hispanic 20.5% Association, the Afrikan Student Union and the Asian 7.2% Chinese Students and Scholars Association.

60 Pacific Community Programs: 0.6% Islander Serving San Diego County’s diverse commuFilipino 6.3% 40 nity is a principal mission of San Diego State White 45.0% University.

Dozens of programs at the universiOther 11.8% 20 ty help students from area schools thrive acaInternational 4.2% demically and prepare for higher education.

Total 100% 0 SDSU and the Sweetwater Union High School District have partnered to create the Compact for Success program, a pioneering SDSU Faculty Diversity: Under the leadership of Weber’s tenure the effort in educational civil rights that is designed 1997-1998 academic year, 35.5 percent of to help the district’s highly diverse student body SDSU’s tenured or tenure-track faculty hires better prepare for higher education. The program have been people of color. This more than dou- guarantees a place at SDSU for every student bles the percentage of qualified applicants of from the district’s classes of 2006, 2007 and 2008 who meet certain academic standards. color available nationwide.

The City Heights Educational Collaborative Over the same period, 49.5 percent of SDSU’s tenured or tenure-track faculty hires involves more that 100 faculty members from were women. This exceeds the percentage of 40 departments in supporting families and eduwomen applicants available in the U.S. during cating children in one of San Diego’s most diverse neighborhoods. SDSU has also opened a this time (43 percent). refer to graph Literacy Center in City Heights and played a leading role in the Digital Bridge project to Campus and Community Programs: Dozens of student groups, scholarships and improve computer literacy in the neighborhood.

Students with dreams of a medical career bendepartmental programs support students from diverse backgrounds and help them succeed at efit from SDSU’s Health Careers Opportunities SDSU. The university’s course offerings also Program, which provides tutoring, mentoring and reflect the diversity of its student body, faculty emotional support to students who aspire to attend medical school. and staff.

In October 2002, SDSU became the first SDSU’s Africana Studies Department was Continued on p. 28

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Diversity Works

25

S T UUM D E P EMPLOYERS STUMPED BY M D ST YOUNGER WORKERS

By Pat FitzGerald

, JUNE 16, 2005 Employers are finding it harder to understand and motivate younger workers, according to global management consulting firm Novations/J. Howard & Associates. "The latest generation to enter the workforce is singularly disengaged and getting them motivated is now one of management's most urgent challenges," said Novations/J. Howard President and CEO Mike Hyter.

BOSTON

Younger employees have sharply different values and goals than preceding generations, said Hyter. "Newer employees, those under 30, seem to reject the 'corporate system' and have little interest in a lifetime career, and even less in organization loyalty. Top management doesn't seem to grasp the values of younger workers or know how to leverage their knowledge. Traditional motivators such as money or authority no longer hold much sway among younger workers."

Certain behaviors are typical of today's younger workers, said Hyter. "They change jobs at the first sign of discomfort, or blow all their money on a vacation.

They look for self-happiness, not self-sacrifice, and certainly not if the sacrifice is supposed to be for the company. Their job or their organization isn't seen as a source of their happiness. For them, a job is disposable."

A key insight into the problem, Hyter believes, is to recognize that management is a generation older and younger employees are their figurative children. "Management has to deal with a kind of generation gap, one that's likely to get worse before getting better. More than 15 percent of today's employees are under 25, three-fifths are under 45, but baby boomers dominate top management. The gap isn't a passing problem and unless management deals with it effectively intergenerational conflict will undermine organizational

26

Equal Opportunity Awards Edition

cohesion and job performance."

According to Hyter, management should also realize that younger workers' perspective has been shaped by the corporate experience of their parents. "Many saw their father or mother used by the corporation and then discarded.

Younger people have seen the cost to their parents' livelihood and emotional well-being, and are determined not to get caught in the same trap. So they put their own happiness and contentment first."

The workplace generation gap, according to Hyter, is a variant of the classic organizational diversity challenge: "How does management mobilize the human assets in an organization when everyone's motivating factors are different? How does management deal with everyone as individuals and align their values with corporate objectives?"

Hyter believes diversity is no longer an issue of race, ethnicity and gender. "We now recognize that diversity has many faces. The issues, values, motives and goals of employees are also very diverse, so the workplace solutions have to be even more creative.

Established in 1977 and a division of Novations Group, Inc., J. Howard & Associates is among the country's leading resources on diversity, inclusion and human resource development and serves client organizations in North and South America as well as Europe and Asia. For more information, go to: www.jhoward.com.

Contact: Pat FitzGerald, Novations/J. Howard & Associates, 617-787-2163, pfitzgerald@jhoward.com, or Phil Ryan, Ryan Public Relations, 845-339-7858.

NAACP RELEASES BUSINESS DIVERSITY REPORT NAACP officials began grading corporations operating in the U.S. on racial diversity nine years ago, they had hoped companies would show steady gains each year.

But the latest report released in July indicates many of the 55 companies analyzed seem to be stagnating, with most earning virtually the same grades as last year - an indication some businesses are not making much effort to improve, according to Dennis C. Hayes.

The report is “a measuring tool upon which consumers can rely to make informed choices about where to spend their dollars,” Hayes said. “It is meant to serve as a catalyst for positive change.”

The report cards were released during the annual convention of the Baltimore-based National Association for the Advancement

WHEN

of Colored People held this year in Milwaukee.

The companies included in the report were in the telecommunications, lodging, finance, retail and auto industries. They self-reported their work with blacks in employment, charitable giving, advertising, contracting and community service.

Taken together, four industries earned a C grade. Retail got a D, largely because five of the 11 companies examined did not respond to the NAACP's request for information. Those companies received Fs. NAACP officials said in the future, the group may organize boycotts of companies that don't supply diversity information.

“We will no longer allow folks to just ignore this,” said Nelson Rivers, the group's chief operating officer. “It really is outrageous.”

BellSouth received the highest

rank of all the companies, a 3.3 out of a possible four points. Blacks are well represented on its work force, including managers and board members, the report shows.

“We believe we have to go to many places to find talent - we don't limit ourselves,” said Valencia Adams, vice president of diversity at Atlanta-based BellSouth Corp. “Once we bring (minorities) in, it's our belief that we have to provide a culture and environment for them to flourish and grow.”

Among the companies that responded, Mitsubishi Motors North America got the lowest rank, a 1.18. The NAACP report said the U.S. branch of the Japanese automaker had many of its black employees doing either clerical or administrative work. There were no blacks on the board of directors

or in recruiting, and the company spends no money advertising with black media, the report said.

Mitsubishi spokesman Dan Irvin said he could not comment on the ranking because he had not seen the report, but said 40 percent of his company's charitable giving goes to the black community.

“MMNA is absolutely committed to diversity,” Irvin said. “It's a part of our culture. It's a part of who we are.”

The NAACP first began compiling the report cards in 1996, when it probed the hotel industry for diversity issues following complaints that blacks received unfair treatment.

Next year, they may add more categories, such as oil and gas, Rivers said.

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27

One-on-One with Cheryl Fisher

university in California to make vital admissions and financial aid information available on-line in Spanish on the university’s web site at www.sdsu.edu/espanol. Education advocacy groups such as the Parent Institute for Quality Education say this web site will help address an on-line information gap between universities and Spanish-speaking parents of prospective students who are seeking information on how to help their kids prepare for college.

Q:What methods are you using to recruit and retain diversity?

A: There is significant innovative outreach occurring regarding recruitment and retention with respect to diversity. Cheryl and SDSU President Stephen Weber created the first SDSU President’s Diversity and Equity Corporate/ Community Diversity Advisory Council in the 107 year history of the University. Faculty Senate Vice Chair, Glen McClish, who is also a Council member, is an innovative academician with creative diversity initiatives.

The primary purpose of this SDSU President’s Advisory Council is to provide time, treasure, and advice to Weber in order to increase diversity and access and to enhance diversity collaboration between SDSU and the San Diego community.

To that end, Robert McNeely and Dan McAllister Co-Chaired the first SDSU President’s Diversity Inaugural Gala. The purpose of the event was to raise funds for four year scholarships for ten local students. The students were not only stellar leaders on their high school campuses, and in the San Diego community, but were also outstanding scholars.

For those who skeptically pronounce, “we can’t find any,” SDSU says... “we did, and they are not only our own local talent, but their collective GPA’s were 3.5.” It is heartening to note that over 124 local students were personally interviewed by members of the President’s Council, and SDSU personnel to become Presidents Diversity Scholars..

Methods to recruit and retain diversity include the responsibility of Cheryl’s office to “certify” faculty searches. This includes a review of the recruitment endeavors to ensure

28

that, within the confines permissible under Proposition 209, all appropriate methods have been utilized regarding diversity outreach.

Additionally, the Office of Diversity and Equity provides “search training” regarding appropriate policies, procedures, and outreach to enhance the depth and breadth of the recruitment pool. In addition to the standard recruitment venues, information is provided regarding those venues, institutions, and “list serves” which are affiliated with diversity populations.

This includes the HBCU, universities with large numbers of Hispanic graduates, and other diversity populations.

Q: What would you like our readers to know about your recruiting efforts.

A: As Robert McNeely, chair of Union Bank of California Foundation stated, “it is critical that we retain as many of our local, talented, high achieving students in this community as we possibly can, because they are the future doctors, lawyers, community and corporate leaders of San Diego.” To that end, SDSU has an EOP (Educational Opportunity/Ethnic Affairs) program directed by a newly appointed AfricanAmerican leader, Reginald Blaylock which is outstanding in its accomplishments for diversity. This program is currently serving a cohort of 3,250 students enrolled in the EOP Mentoring Program completed the Fall 04 and Spring 05 semesters in good standing.

SDSU diversity recruiting efforts include the City Heights Educational Collaborative, which is in its seventh year of partnership with Hoover High School. This partnership to increase the readiness of low income, diverse, local students to attend SDSU involves the collective effort and participation of Price Charities, the San Diego Unified School District, the San Diego Education Association and over 100 SDSU faculty and staff spanning more then 40 different departments. The goals are to improve the learning environment thru the involvement of parent centers, after school programs, and teacher training.

Q: Is it a challenge to retain diversity in the college environment?

A: It is indeed a challenge to retain diversity at SDSU, both in the student population and in the faculty population. Weber recognizes that commitment and change starts at the top!! To that end, diversity was highlighted as a priority in his Shared Vision statement for the University. This difficulty may be attributed to a variety of issues, which must be addressed.

The housing market in San Diego presents

Equal Opportunity Awards Edition

an onerous challenge when faculty recruitment are occurring nationwide. As we know, with the median price of housing in excess of $400,000, it is an extraordinary challenge for new Ph.D.’s to hope to have a home, in San Diego, when there is such fierce competition in other, less expensive “sun belt” areas. Additionally, California is bound by the requirements of Proposition 209 which precludes specified quotas. Thus, in the competition for a small pool of of candidates in fields such as Engineering, sciences, math etc, SDSU competitiveness is diminished. SDSU is bound by the legal requirements regarding “targeted” recruitment regarding students; however, this is a challenge to think creatively, and perform successfully.

Cheryl seeks to partner with the Urban League of San Diego County to collaboratively enhance the diversity pool at SDSU. An example of this creative thinking with outstanding outcomes is the Presidential Grant which was instituted to increase the diversity of SDSU’s student body. Research of last year’s admitted applicants showed that the greatest diversity in the regularly admitted pool came from ten Los Angeles high schools. No other areas in the state reflected this diversity including San Diego. Thus, a recruitment effort was launched and the success rate increased from nine students from these ten Los Angeles high schools last year who were enrolled as SDSU, to 20 students who have been accepted at SDSU this year.

In closing, diversity is a process which can only be successful with the united and unequivocal effort and commitment of everyone in the institution. As with all major initiatives designed to institute significant change with the intention of becoming woven into the fabric of, and operationalized within the institution, diversity must be regarded as a core value of the organization.

Cheryl recognizes, as do all diversity change agents, that behavioral, institutional, professional, and personal change requires time, talent, funding, supportive leadership, and perhaps most important of all, the individual and collective will to do so within the organization. It would seem that based on the leadership of SDSU President Weber, the colleagues of Cheryl Fisher, and the personal and professional persona, accomplishments, and qualifications of our featured interviewee, Attorney Cheryl Fisher, that diversity is making history in our time at San Diego State University.

On a personal level, Cheryl is a single mother of two daughters, one is a bilingual teacher, and the other is an attorney; Cheryl truly walks the walk of diversity personally and professionally.

San Diego State University Committed to Diversity!

SDSU is committed to enhancing diversity, ensuring equity and advancing excellence on the SDSU campus and in partnership with the community of San Diego.

SDSU President Stephen L. Weber & San Diego State University are proud to support the Urban League of San Diego County in making Diversity Work!

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THE RIGHT HAND OF PRIVILEGE

By Steven Jones, Ph.D.

of us struggle to understand the concept of privilege, the idea that some individuals receive unearned advantages in life solely based on being a member of certain social identity groups. Some of us strongly resist the idea that we have unearned privilege. A few common reactions to having privilege are:

MANY

“Privilege. As a man,I don’t have any privilege. I’m just an individual who works hard everyday to make ends meet. This is America. Everyone gets the same opportunities. If women don’t make gender an issue, there is none.”

30

How many of you think you are advantaged in life on a daily basis because you are right-handed?

How aware are you of being a part of a social identity group in power called the righthanded people?

Equal Opportunity Awards Edition

“I am tired of hearing that White people have privilege. I am not going to feel guilty or be blamed for what has happened in the past. The playing field has been leveled.

Race has nothing to do with it anymore.”

Part of the challenge in grasping the concept of unearned privilege is to shift from an individual view to a group and systemic level of seeing the world. For example, Peggy MacIntosh, in her article White Privilege: Unpacking the Knapsack of White Privilege, identified 42 ways in which systems in the U.S. provide White people with unearned privileges. Dr. Judith Katz has written an article that

focuses on a different social identity group, heterosexuals.

In Heterosexual Privilege, she outlines a list of unearned privileges that are afforded to people who are heterosexual. These articles have helped many to understand how they receive benefits in life, partially through a system that gives them unearned privileges based on their social identity group.

Although difficult, it is important to engage in exploring the concept of unearned privilege.

Understanding unearned privilege is not about blaming people for the past. It is about identifying ways in which systems that have been created in the past and present advantage certain groups while simultaneously disadvantaging other groups.

Let us take an example that doesn’t have as much historical baggage for most people. I would like to pose the question: Do we live in a right-handed or left-handed world? My answer is that we live in a right-handed world. Look at the systems that have been created to support the successful functioning of the group called the right-handed people.

We shake with our right hands. We pledge with our right hand. We salute with our right hand. We take legal and governmental oaths with our right hand. School desks are set up for right-handed people. Most baseball mitts are designed for right-handed people. When computers first came out, the mouse was set up on the righthand side.

Cars are set up for right-handed people to drive comfortably. Notebooks are designed for right-handed people to write comfortably.

Guns are designed for right-handers to shoot. Appliances open to the right, making it easy for right-handers to open. Punch ladles are designed for right-handed people.

Most coffee mugs are designed for right- handed people to pick up and see the picture or words. If a left-handed person picks up the same mug, there is nothing there to see! I recently went into a store called the Left-handed store in San Diego, Ca. When was the last time you walked in to your local Wal-Mart, Target, or department store and thought about the fact that you were in a right-handed store?

How many of you, who are right-handed, wake up in the morning thinking that you live in a world that affords you all this privilege everyday? Privilege that you may not think about, that you didn’t work or ask for, that you did not earn. How many of you think you are advantaged in life on a daily basis because you are right-handed?

How aware are you of being a part of a social identity group in power called the right-handed people?

One of the ways in which unearned privilege occurs is when one group’s culture, values, and ways of interpreting the world gets built into the fabric of institutions within a society and are then made invisible. The group’s culture is made invisible by being called the standard instead of the right-handed cultural standard, for example. Because of this institutionalized support for the culture, members of that group are able to think about themselves as individuals only.

There is no need to

“One of the ways in which unearned privilege occurs is when one group ’s culture, values, and ways of interpreting the world gets built into the fabric of institutions within a society and are then made invisible.” define or identify with their group identity, or groupness, because it is the standard. They are not different. They are normal.

This culturally-based definition of normal is then extended to everyone and everything. It proceeds that anything that is not normal is special, different, or abnormal. For example, there are mitts and desks designed for left-handed people.

They are called left-handed desks or lefthanded mitts, as opposed to the right-handed desks and mitts which are just called

desks and mitts.

Even though being left-handed has some positive aspects, most left-handed people have negative experiences associated with their dominant hand. We have heard stories of people having their hands painfully tied behind their back so they could learn to use their right hand. People have been hit on their hand with a ruler when they were younger every time they used their left hand. Many have been told that their child’s life would be easier if they just learned to use their right hand.

Some have been teased about being a south-paw or a lefty.

How many of us right-handed people would be upset if left-handed people started to complain about being discriminated against? How many of us would tell them to shut up and quit being so sensitive?

How many of us would say, “As a right-handed person, I don’t have any privilege. I’m just an individual who works hard everyday to make ends meet.

This is America. Everyone gets the same opportunities. If left-handed people don’t make this an issue, there is none.”

After some time went by and the lefthanded people continued to bring up the issue of right-handed unearned privilege, how many of us would say, “I am tired of hearing that righthanded people have privilege. I am not going to feel guilty or be blamed for what has happened in the past.

The playing field has been leveled.

Being left-handed has nothing to do with it anymore.”

We do not have to feel guilty or blamed.

By enhancing our awareness of the ways in which we receive unearned privilege, we can become a part of creating teams, work environments, organizations, and societies that strive to create a playing field that is truly level for all.

Dr. Steven Jones is CEO of Jones &Associates Consulting, Inc., a diversity and organizational change consulting firm with locations in San Diego, CA &Washington D.C. www.jandaconsult .com • 1-800-700-7709.

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BUSINESS CASE FOR DIVERSITY “...never underestimate the bottom-line value of a diverse workforce.”

By Annette Merritt Cummings, Bernard & Hodes was a time when the words “diversity, “globalism” and “multiculturalism” were simply viewed by some business leaders as extensions of politically correct language and thought.

Yet, by 2003, things have clearly changed: The world is growing smaller, and both the United States and countries worldwide are noting an influx of new-wave immigrants. These burgeoning populations are changing the demographics of their new homelands, and, as a result, diversifying consumer markets in those regions.

In response, corporate leaders have increasingly begun to invest in consultants and strategists who can help them reach out to their new audiences, and thus, broaden their opportunities to sell product. The experts, however, aren’t telling their clients anything revolutionary. Rather, they are advising them of a credo that some human resources and organization development profession-

THERE

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als have long held: never underestimate the bottom-line value of a diverse workforce.

So, contrary to popular assumptions, it is neither altruism nor a fear of legal reprisal regarding quotas that precipitates the growing interest in workplace diversity. Rather, the business community has been met with a formidable strategic business planning challenge: how to acknowledge, strategize and capitalize on the changing populations in their midst. The solution? To find employee talent that is knowledgeable, ethnically rich, and culturally aware.

In America today, Latino spending power is expected to reach almost 10 percent of the overall nation’s spending power in five years, up from about five percent in 1990, according to the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia. It’s a heady statistic when one considers that the Latino “community”

isn’t comprised of a homogeny of consumers who have the same tastes and interests. Rather, Cubans, Puerto Ricans, Mexicans, and other groups in the United States who all fall under our simplistic category of “Hispanic,” have widely varying traditions, levels of acculturation, and brand loyalties. This makes it impossible to advertise to them successfully using one pat branding message or colorful campaign.

global marketplace can only be developed through exposure to widely diverse people, cultures, ideas, and viewpoints.” Hearing the philosophy—and sound business sense—of diversity being echoed by our highest court, leaves little room for second-guessing the wisdom of whether diversity is a best practice.

In the last 20 years, the notion of workplace diversity has transformed itself from a legal imperative to a mode of survival. Going

An obvious link between business and diversity has emerged front-and-center in American life, so much so that our highest court, the Supreme Court, recently acknowledged as much in its rulings in the cases of Gratz v. Bollinger and Grutter v. Bollinger. The court’s decisions centered on the University of Michigan’s Undergraduate and Law School admissions policies and whether the use of race in those policies is constitutional.

The same predicament our businesses face in getting the attention of Latinos, applies, for example, to Asian Americans, whom the Selig Center predicts will have a spending power of $526 billion by 2008, up from $334 billion in 2003. Looking within their ranks, organizations are realizing that their workforce is truly the front line for conceiving ways of selling their wares to diverse consumers. Having a homogenous makeup of professionals, therefore, with the same shared ethnicities, race and background, decreases the likelihood of having the multicultural savvy needed to survive.

An obvious link between business and diversity has emerged front-and-center in American life, so much so that our highest court, the Supreme Court, recently acknowledged as much in its rulings in the cases of Gratz v. Bollinger and Grutter v. Bollinger.

The court’s decisions centered on the University of Michigan’s Undergraduate and Law School admissions policies and whether the use of race in those policies is constitutional.

Frank Scruggs, shareholder at Greenberg Traurig, and a labor and employment attorney in the firm’s Miami office, says that in deciding those cases, the court had to wrangle with whether “achievement of a racially and ethnically diverse student body represents a compelling governmental interest that warrants raceconscious admissions decisions,” and, Scruggs adds, “whether the University of Michigan’s policies are narrowly tailored to achieve such interest.”

The ruling handed down was a mixed blessing of sorts. On the one hand, the Justices ruled that race could indeed be used as a consideration in admitting students; on the other hand, the court also surgically narrowed the way race can be factored in making those admissions decisions.

Scruggs puts it this way: "Because activists have expressed their determination to challenge diversity initiatives as "reverse discrimination," companies will want to use the guidance provided by the Supreme Court in the Michigan admissions cases to strengthen their programs."

In its decision, the Court wrote, “major American businesses have made clear that the skills needed in today’s increasingly

forward, as American-based businesses stake their claims on the global marketplace and on the ever-transforming populations on their home turf, those companies that have moved with the times—and amended their notions of recruitment and hiring— will be the ones to become worldwide success stories.

If pragmatism initially led the way for workforce diversity to flourish, a touch of idealism, along with good corporate citizenship, will continue to fuel it in the halls of responsible businesses across the globe.

DIVERSITY at Diversity Works

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Business Case for GENDER Diversity

By Leslie Jenness, President National Gender Institute

Do

you have Gender Conflict in the Workplace?

According to Cheskin Research, women are leaving corporate America at twice the rate of men. Why are they leaving? In an article published by The Conference Board entitled Escape From Corporate America, author Laurel Delaney states, they are seeking freedom, flexibility, recognition, more money, and opportunities to leave a legacy. In a study entitled Women Entrepreneurs: Why Companies Lose Female Talent And What They Can Do About It (conducted by Catalyst, the National Foundation for Women Business Owners, the Committee of 200, and Salomon Smith Barney), the study participants cited the following four reasons for leaving corporate jobs to start their own businesses: • • • •

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The need for more flexibility (51 percent) The glass ceiling (29 percent) Unhappiness with the work environment (28 percent) Lack of challenge (22 percent)

Why should companies be concerned about this exodus of women?

Certainly there are significant costs associated with turnover and the loss of valuable institutional knowledge. However, there are also significant competitive advantages that can be gained by companies that pursue and properly manage gender diversity.

These four advantages include: • Better financial results • Improved access to a growing, welleducated segment of the workforce • Improved market share • Better management Here are a few sample research findings and related data sources on these four advantages : BETTER FINANCIAL RESULTS the 25 Fortune 500 firms with the best record of promoting women to high positions are between 18 and 69 percent more profitable than the median Fortune 500 firms in their industries.

Adler, Roy D. (2001). Women in the

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Executive Suite Correlate to High Profits.

Glass Ceiling Research Center. http://glass-ceiling.com/ InTheNewsFolder/HBRArticlePage1.html The group of companies with the highest representation of women on their top management teams experienced better financial performance than the group of companies with the lowest women’s representation. This finding holds for both financial measures analyzed: Return on Equity (ROE), which is 35.1 percent higher, and Total Return to Shareholders (TRS), which is 34.0 percent higher.

Catalyst. (2004). The Bottom Line: Connecting Corporate Performance and Gender Diversity. http://www.catalystwomen.org/research/leadership.htm#bottomline.

Between 1997 and 2002 (sales for) privately held 50 percent or more womenowned businesses were up 32 percent compared to an increase of 24 percent for all firms.

Center for Women Business Research.

(2003). Nearly Half of All Privately Held U.S. Businesses are Women-Owned. Press

Release dated May 6, 2003. “http://www.nfwbo.org/Research/5-62003/5-6-” http://www.nfwbo.org/ Research/5-6-2003/5-6-2003.htm IMPROVED ACCESS TO A GROWING, WELL-EDUCATED SEGMENT OF THE WORKFORCE Women share of the labor force is expected to increase from 46.5 percent in 2002 to 47.5 percent in 2012.

Toossi, M. (2004). Labor force projections to 2012: the graying of the U.S. Workforce. Monthly Labor Review, February 2004. U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2004/02/art3 exc.htm.

In the academic year 2001-2002, women earned 57.4 percent of bachelor’s degrees, 58.7 percent of master’s degrees, and 46.3 percent of doctorates.

U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2003).

Postsecondary Institutions in the United States: Fall 2002 and Degrees and Other Awards Conferred: 2001-02. http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=72

IMPROVED MARKET SHARE In consumer businesses, the more a company mirrors its markets demographically, the better positioned it is to sense and respond to evolving market needs.

Catalyst. (2002). Making Change: Creating a Business Case for Diversity. http://www.catalystwomen.org Women are responsible for 83 percent of all consumer purchases. When you add the purchasing officers who are women, it is an American Woman’s Economy that accounts for over half of the U.S. GDP about $5 trillion.

Barletta, M. (2002). Marketing to Women: How to Understand, Reach, and Increase Your Share of the World’s Largest Market Segment. Dearborn Trade Publishing.

Forty-six percent (46 percent), nearly half, of all businesses are at least 50 percent owned by a woman or women.

Center for Women Business Research.

(2003). Top 10 Facts About Women Business Owners. http://www.nfwbo.org/key.html.

The number of women-owned employer firms grew by 37% between 1997 and 2002, four times the growth rate of all employer firms.

Center for Women’s Business Research.

(2003). Top 10 Facts About Women Business

Owners. http://www.nfwbo.org/key.html.

Women-owned firms continue to diversify into all industries. Construction, manufacturing and transportation have seen the largest recent increases in the number of women-owned firms, although services and retail still make up the largest share of women-owned firms.

Center for Women’s Business Research.

(2003). Top 10 Facts About Women Business Owners. http://www.nfwbo.org/key.html.

BETTER MANAGEMENT Women possess a unique combination of interpersonal and work ethic traits that seem tailor-made for the management ranks…in a study of 425 high-level executives performed by the Hagberg Consulting Group, female managers were rated higher than their male counterparts in 42 of 52 skills measured.

Collison, J. Female bosses rate higher as effective leaders: What must employers and males do? “http://www.employerhelp.org/jimcollison/stories/female_bosses.htm” http://www.employerhelp.org/jimcollison/stories/female_bosses.htm.

For five years data was collected on 2,482 managers (1,727 males, 755 females) from 459 organizations across nineteen states. Employees rated female managers higher than male managers in seventeen of the twenty skill areas, fifteen at a statistically significant level. Bosses rated female managers higher than male managers in sixteen of the twenty skill areas, all sixteen at a statistically significant level.

Pfaff, L. Women Versus Men as Managers, “Are they different?” tp://www.selectpro.net/index.php/ScrArtW omenMen.htmlhttp://www.selectpro.net/in dex.php/ScrArtWomenMen.html.

What the studies really show is that the best bosses for today’s workforce are people “men as well as women” who have leadership styles most often associated with women and more often possessed by women than by men.

Collison, J. Female bosses rate higher as effective leaders: What must employers and males do? “http://www.employerhelp.org/jimcollison /stories/ female_ bosses. htm” http://www.employerhelp.org/jimcollison/ stories/female_ bosses.htm.

CONCLUSION When managed properly, gender diversity creates incremental opportunities for both women and men. These opportunities

result from improvements in sales, profits, market s h a r e , access to talent, and management performance.

Both men and women have unique and valuable talents to contribute to organizations. When these talents are merged in a supportive, equitable business culture, the result is not a redistribution of promotions, authority, and other rewards from men to women.

Rather, the result is the creation of a larger and growing pie that can be shared by all participants. This win-win scenario provides a meaningful justification for active participation by both men and women in gender diversity programs.

About the Author Leslie Jenness is President and Founder of National Gender Institute a leading provider of diversity programs, consultation, gender conferences and symposiums.

Founded in 1994, Leslie’s vast experience working with corporations, educators, and government agencies provided the framework to provide quality programs that assist businesses and individuals in establishing a working environment that fosters understanding, respect, and equity for all men and women. The Institute provides onsite programs as well as gender awareness e-learning courses. You can contact Leslie at: 866-955-5984 “mailto: leslie@gendertraining.com” leslie@gendertraining.com or visit her company’s website at “http://www.gendertraining .com” www.gendertraining.com and the elearning division at “http://www.diversityacademy.com” www.diversityacademy.com.

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Diversity Works! Partners Employer: As one of over 3000 businesses in San Diego we are counting on your support to help make Diversity Work! here in Americaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s finest city. For over 50 years, the Urban League of San Diego has assisted many of its citizens in preparing for and finding meaningful employment. For most of that time, you, our area employer, has been there assisting us along the way. And now more than ever, your help is needed to assist us meet our mission. That is why we are asking you to become a Diversity Works! Partner.

According to research by the Hudson Institute, a nationally recognized social trends think tank, within the next 10 to 15 years, demographic trends, technological advances, and economic globalization will shape the workplace.

The U.S. workforce will continue to expand, although at a much slower rate. However, its composition will shift to a more balanced distribution by age, sex, and race/ethnicity.

Keeping pace with these changing workplace

DEAR

dynamics, while implementing the mandate of our mission to assist African Americans and other undeserved people achieve social and economic equality, the Urban League of San Diego County has strategically positioned itself to better serve San Diego through our Diversity Works! initiative.

Through Diversity Works!, we help you find, and if necessary, develop scarce diverse human resources. For example, our Diversity Job Bank has attracted over 700 jobseekers. And the students who attend our workshops undergo behavior modification training in conjunction with our award-winning workreadiness and diversity training, producing outstanding results. This combination produces employees who are truly work-ready. Consequently, as our employer investor-partner, you will benefit not only from finding highly qualified job candidates in our job bank, but perspective employees who attend our workshops are also prepared attitudinally to enter the workplace.

To be a diversity works partner is only $1,200

year. This is not a donation, but an investment and a smart business move. It will provide you with unlimited posting/reviews to our Diversity Job Bank (www.ulsdcjobs.net), a 4x2 ad in each of our Diversity Works! magazines, featured employer on our website, and discounts on our next Career Fair scheduled for April, 2006.

To facilitate answering your questions, we have set up two lunch seminars to explain the benefits of this initiative: September 30 and October 28 from 11:15 to 12:45 here at the League; 720 Gateway Center Drive, San Diego CA 92102. Please RSVP with Barbara Webb, Deputy Director, at 619-266-6232 as space is limited and for lunch ordering purposes.

Hereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s to the continued success in making diversity work.

Maurice D. Wilson

Sincerely,

Vice President, Business and Workforce Development maurice@sdul.org

Putting San Diegoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Diverse Resources to work!

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