“For at least the last five years, my investments have lost money or been stagnant—even before the economic downturn,” says McMullen of his thrift savings plan, Roth IRA, and the mutual funds in his brokerage account.

He was so discouraged during the Great Recession of 2008–09 that for several months he stopped contributing to his brokerage account. “I watched it go as low as $14,000 at one point, when it had been worth $28,000,” he says. “I wanted to pull out all my money to protect it from a complete loss.”

But McMullen, who spent several years in the Armed Forces, is not one for backing away from challenges. He knows discipline gets results, and socks away $400 a month into his Roth IRA and about 10% of his salary of approximately $75,000 into the retirement plan at work.

He’s counting on these investments to fund his dream of being able to retire by age 55. His other goals include having the financial wherewithal to travel abroad once a year, and save for the college education of his 1-year-old son.

McMullen, a lieutenant in the United States Navy, serves as a naval science instructor for the University of South Carolina’s Naval ROTC unit. Although he offers guidance to students, McMullen admits that he also needs direction, “so that I can improve the performance of my investments and get the kind of growth I’m looking for.”

For the most part, his finances are on track. He has $37,000 in a money market account (which also represents his emergency funds), $5,300 in checking, additional savings of $3,000, and $92,000 invested in equities. He’s not drowning in debt—his only obligations are $2,300 for furniture, his car loan of $23,000, and $111,000 for his two mortgages.

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McMullen concedes, however, that his expenditures could be better organized: “I don’t track daily, small expenses very well. I put most everything on my American Express, so I can see where I spent my money. But with so many purchases, when I get my statement it’s overwhelming. I haven’t updated my budget in awhile.” Some of his larger bills are set up on automatic bill pay to eliminate guesswork.

Motivated by his son, McMullen is looking to fine-tune his approach to saving and investing. “I want to be able to start saving for his education, not just college, but maybe during his formative years. I want to be able to handle whatever life throws at me financially.”

The Advice
Black Enterprise and Robert Rowell, financial adviser and vice president of investments for Wells Fargo Advisors L.L.C. in Charlotte, North Carolina, devised a plan to help McMullen get the most out of his  investments and reach his financial goals.

• Diversify portfolio: McMullen’s track record calls for a closer look at his holdings. “He has all his Roth IRA contributions in large-cap stocks. He has all his eggs in one asset class and is missing out on other asset classes, such as [midcap], small-cap stocks, real estate securities, emerging markets, commodities, high-yield bonds, international stocks, investment grade bonds, etc. Rowell recommends putting 65% in equities or stocks; 32% in bonds or fixed income; 2% in commodities; and 1% in cash alternatives. “From one year to the next, one class can have a higher rate of return, and you don’t want to miss the growth opportunities,” explains Rowell. He also recommends that McMullen max out his thrift saving plan contributions and make sure he has a broad brush of assets, including bonds and international investments.

• Reinvest dividends: McMullen was so disappointed with the lack of growth in his brokerage account that he started receiving dividends. Rowell advises that he reinvest them. “When they are paid in a down market, you are more likely to invest at cheaper prices,” says Rowell

• Build savings for son’s education: Rowell suggests two options: a 529 plan or the Uniform Gift to Minors Act. With a 529 savings plan, your investment grows tax-deferred and withdrawals are tax-free, as long as the money is used for college-related expenses. The UGMA allows money or other assets to be given as a gift to a minor child while you maintain control of it. The money doesn’t have to be used only for college, Rowell says.

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“Jeremy seemed to like this because the money could be used for many purposes. He should explore the trade-offs of both,” says Rowell, who recommends McMullen talk with a tax professional to help him make a choice. Rowell suggests using the $2,000 contest winnings to seed the college fund and then saving $100 a month systematically. If he starts with $2,000 and adds $100 a month, assuming a 6% average rate of return annually, he would have nearly $40,000 in 17 years.

• Protect and prepare for the future: While McMullen has a $400,000 life insurance policy through the Navy, he’s vulnerable. “He should consider an additional, outside policy. He recommends that McMullen consider an $800,000, 30-year policy, which would cost $80 a month. “He’s young, healthy; a term policy would be inexpensive and help take care of his son’s needs,” says Rowell. “He has a 1-year-old son and no will. If something happens to Jeremy, the state will determine what happens to his son. He needs to speak with an attorney and get his will and trust done.”

Rowell also suggests McMullen consider buying a long-term care policy now obtain disability insurance through his employer.

• Tighten budget: There are several online tools offered by Wells Fargo or websites such as Mint.com that will help keep him on track to meet his financial goals. Rowell recommends McMullen find a good financial adviser and meet at least once a year for an annual checkup to determine adjustments to his finances.

–By Karen Thomas

“We wanted a different way to get brand awareness for our new club,” says Jenkins. “Poggled came up during a Google search for options, so we decided to give it a try.” Jenkins contacted the service—a daily deals app that attracts clientele to nightlife establishments—and started offering a $120 bottle service package deal, valued at $250, on designated days of the week.

“We went with the product that has the highest markup and it’s worked out really well,” says Jenkins, who hasn’t tracked specific revenues resulting from Poggled, but has picked up a respectable level of both new and repeat business from the site, which takes a margin on the deals instead of charging upfront fees. “Anytime you can promote your brand and attract new customers without writing a check, it’s great for business,” he says.

Poggled co-founders Joe Matthews and Sean Strother, both 30, launched their firm in 2009 and now have 30 employees. The service, which is available on iPhone and Android smartphones, has become the Groupon version of nightlife. Its owners—high school friends who both attended Northwestern University for graduate school—altered their original business model and, with investors, were able to raise $5.6 million at a $33 million pre-valuation.

“The investors said, ‘Look, you need to do what Groupon is doing, but in the nightlife space because Groupon can’t do nightlife,’” recalls Strother. “There’s a totally different subscriber, to Groupon’s list, and many of its functions don’t work well for nightlife.”

The pair heeded that advice and spent the majority of 2009 figuring out the right way to sell deals in the nightlife space. This was the first step toward establishing their stake in the rapidly maturing daily deals market. The firm currently has 50,000 e-mail subscribers, and 25,000 iOS (Apple’s operating system) and Android installs. It works with more than 300 venues in a small-but-expanding crop of cities including New York, Chicago, Milwaukee, and Denver.

The service uses the geographical position of mobile devices and highlights deals based on proximity to where the user is at any given moment. “Users can also browse by deal category [sports bar, club, etc.], day of the week, and by bar name,” says Strother. Using the pay-for-performance strategy, Poggled takes a margin on the deals they negotiate with their clients, which negates the upfront costs that other services may require. In addition, in comparison to traditional daily discount sites, Strother and Matthews offer distinct deals. “The difference between Poggled and traditional daily deal sites … is that most daily deal sites offer “flash” sales, which are only available for a short time, whereas our deals are always available for purchase,” says Strother.

In engineering their app, Strother and Matthews avoided troubleshooting pockets by picking all-encompassing software. “We didn’t run into many technical challenges while developing the iPhone app,” says Strother. “The thing about iOS is you only have to develop an app for one phone. The Android platform is open source, so there is a litany of devices by several manufacturers. It’s tough to develop an application that works seamlessly across all of those devices on the first shot.

“The good thing about the Android marketplace,” Strother continues, “is that as soon as you push an update it automatically pushes to devices, so many of those bugs, we’ve cleaned up.”

Looking ahead, Strother and Matthews have their eyes on longevity in the market. “We’re in it for the long haul,” Strother says. “We don’t want to be this flash in the pan company, and we want the people that work here to feel like they’re at a company that has sustaining power.”

—Bridget McCrea and Dale Coachman

You can still make good on that promise by doing a year-end review.

For the last few years Chantay Bridges has practiced the annual ritual of year-end planning. This time though, “The economy made this a necessity.”

In August, she sat not only with her pastor for spiritual advice, but with a financial planner. What topped the agenda? “Retirement. I have been concerned with the stock market and pensions being on a financial roller coaster. You have to make preparations ahead of time instead of hoping everything will fall together later on,” says Bridges, 35, a senior real estate specialist in Los Angeles.

Her meeting was fruitful. “I got a reminder of why it’s important to have your money working for you, a lesson on mutual funds, a report on the current gold and silver prices, and how to set up a financial plan that fits within our current and future lifestyle goals,” says Bridges, who is married and has a grown stepson. In addition to retirement planning, she reviewed her credit report, insurance policies, as well as her will.

At a time when it’s about the parties and festivities, it can be hard to focus on all things financial. But year-end financial planning should be just as much a tradition as mistletoe. To make the task seem less daunting, don’t even think about going it alone. Pull together a team of professionals to help you: a financial planner, tax adviser, insurance agent, and estate-planning attorney. Getting expert advice is less costly than you might think, and whatever you spend you’ll recoup in savings. Remember the three C’s: credentials, character, and chemistry. Here’s what you need to build a dream team that can help you ring in financial success next year and beyond.

Why You Need a Financial Planner
A financial planner can provide a comprehensive look at the past year and plot a path for the next one, not only for investments, but debt, taxes, life changes, and more. Look for someone with credentials, specifically the certified financial planner (CFP) designation, awarded by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. to those who meet education, examination, experience, and ethics requirements.

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Once you have a few candidates, ask questions. “Who is the planner’s typical client?” asks certified financial planner and chartered financial consultant Ivory Johnson, director of financial planning at Scarborough Capital Management Inc. in Annapolis, Maryland. “There’s nothing wrong with asking how they get paid, particularly in writing. Are they the subjects of any litigation or customer complaints? Read the finance section and form questions that professionals should be able to answer,” says Johnson.

Don’t simply choose someone based primarily on proximity. “Many people believe that proximity makes for a more comfortable relationship, only to discover that their process of picking an adviser was marginalized.” Another no-no: choosing whoever is cheapest, with little regard for competency. “You may pay the price in the currency of bad advice,” says Johnson.

Advisers are paid three ways: per hour, as a percent of assets under management, or commission. As a general rule, says Johnson, advisers charge from 1% to 1.5% of assets under management. To find a financial planner and for general information on financial planning, check out the websites of the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors, and the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards.

Why You Need a CPA
A certified public accountant can help you with tax strategies. For example, should you donate to charity to lessen your tax burden? Would you benefit from increasing your 401(k) contributions for the rest of the year, or accelerating payments so that you get the credit for 2011, or deferring income to next year? A CPA might also determine that you could maximize tax benefits by matching stock losers and winners so you have no capital gains.

Meeting before the close of the year is important, too, when it comes to tax planning. Action steps taken before Dec. 31, can save you come tax time. When you’re looking for an accountant to add to your team, you want not only the CPA credential, but someone active in professional societies and who maintains continuing education requirements, and works with people in your income level and profession.

Ask how long they’ve been in business and where they worked previously. How much you will pay for a CPA’s advice depends on the scope of services you will need, but can start at $500 and go up from there, says certified public accountant Genevia Gee Fulbright, president of Fulbright & Fulbright, CPA in Durham, North Carolina. She suggests asking what the minimum fee is.

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“Sometimes unscrupulous individuals claim to have licenses and experience. It’s easy to check online lists with boards certifying professionals to see that the individual is licensed before you hire them,” says Gee Fulbright. A good place to start is the American Institute of CPAs , which can direct you to your state’s CPA society.

To prepare for the meeting, peruse prior records and come up with questions and concerns that you’ve had in the past. Ask the CPA what specifically you should bring.

Why You Need an Insurance Agent
A life insurance agent needs to know about any life changes that would impact the level and type of coverage needed. Significant life events include marriage, divorce, birth or adoption of a child, a considerable increase in income from a promotion or job change, or an increase in liabilities, due to major purchases such as a new car or home.

“Most people do their financial planning when a financial tragedy happens to one of their family members or someone they know,” says Kenneth J. Royster, senior financial planner and chartered life underwriter (CLU) with First Genesis of Virginia, an office of MetLife. Why wait?

You want to ask questions similar to those posed to other team members, as well as, “Will you be accessible when I have questions? What licenses do you hold? Where did you receive your training?” recommends Royster. You can check with your state department of insurance to see if they are licensed and whether there have been any problems with your prospective agent.

If you’re wondering how much insurance you might need and to learn more about the various types of insurance, the Life and Health Insurance Foundation for Education and www.lifeinsuranceindepth.com can get you on your way.

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Why You Need an Estate Planning Attorney
“As long as you are not dead, you need to do estate planning,” says Lori Anne Douglass, a partner with Moses and Singer L.L.P., specializing in estate planning. While nobody likes to contemplate their end, it will come. Choose to be financially ready. Estate planning isn’t only about transferring generational wealth, it’s about having your final say. Everybody needs a will.

“People don’t often realize how much their assets are worth,” she explains. It’s important to put assets in a trust because you can structure it with stipulations, such as how the money is to be used, or when. By making lifetime gifts, you remove not only the value of the asset gifted, but any subsequent appreciation on the asset, from your taxable estate. If, for example, you have a house currently worth $3 million, “you can make a gift of the house now, and if, upon your death in 20 years, the house is worth $10 million, you have removed that additional $7 million from your taxable estate.”

Douglass cautions, however, that one should never attempt to gift assets without first speaking to a qualified trusts and estates attorney because in addition to estate tax considerations there are gift tax, income tax, and other federal and state transfer tax consequences that must be taken into consideration. The cost of working with an estate attorney will vary depending on your location and estate planning needs. Some attorneys will charge an hourly rate or offer flat fee billing.

–By Karen Thomas

Here are the features:
Hardware encryption: A faster, more secure 256-bit encryption scheme won’t slow performance, and will keep sensitive company data safe—even if the Tab itself is stolen.

Mobile device management: Information technology managers will have more than 200 policy controls on the Tab by the end of this year, including remote wipe for lost or stolen devices, control over the websites and apps users can visit or install, and password policy enforcement.

Exchange ActiveSync: Android’s built-in Exchange support has frustrating limitations. Samsung’s e-mail program eliminates those shortcomings and is fully compatible with Exchange ActiveSync e-mail, calendar, and contacts.

VPN: In addition to Android’s virtual private networking abilities, the Tab can connect to your business’ secure servers and apps via Cisco/F5 VPN as well.

Cisco WebEx: Developed in conjunction with Samsung, Cisco’s mobile conference solution allows for crisp video chat across multiple devices (computer and tablet), screen sharing, and other advanced Web-meeting tools.

The Galaxy Tab makes an excellent presentation platform thanks to its ability to output the display via HDMI, which requires an adapter. Verizon Wireless 4G LTE models also feature mobile hotspot capability.

The Tab’s drawbacks are few, but particularly impact business users. There’s no microSD card slot to expand onboard memory and only one port: a proprietary 30-pin connector. Accessories that allow users to connect USB drives and SD cards are available, but at an additional cost, and cannot be used at the same time.

Pricing: $499.99 (16GB), $599.99 (32GB); Verizon Wireless 4G LTE model $529.99 (16GB), $629.99 (32GB); www.samsung.com/us.

- K.T. Bradford

Tablets
Pros: Tablets are lightweight and portable, and many offer constant connectivity via 3G or 4G cellular networks. Like smartphones, they awake from sleep instantly at the touch of a button and keep your data updated in the background.
Cons: Mobile operating systems don’t offer the same level of functionality as desktop operating systems. While there are many apps that parallel the software you’re used to, they don’t always format well.
We recommend: ASUS Eee Pad Transformer; $399 (Tablet); $149 (Dock).

Netbooks
Pros: Netbooks generally have 10-inch screens and weigh less than 3 pounds, making them perfect for portability. Most new netbooks run Windows 7 and cost $400 or less, so you won’t need to buy new software or apps, and you know they’ll work the same as on your desktop.
Cons: Because of the low-power Intel Atom processors inside, netbooks are not as powerful as full-size laptops. Their keyboards tend to be smaller, and they don’t have many ports, either.
We recommend: Samsung NF310; $399

Traditional ultraportable laptops
Pros: Just as with netbooks, an ultraportable laptop will run a full-fledged OS and the software you’re used to. Plus, you get business-centric features such as fingerprint readers and eSATA ports for accessing external storage at higher speeds than with traditional USB ports. Ultraportables weigh as little as 3 pounds and can be super thin, so they won’t weigh you down like full-sized laptops.
Cons: Though thin and light, ultraportable computers aren’t easy to break out when you’re standing in line, waiting for a train, or hunkering down in a tight space.
We recommend: Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E220s; $858.30.

–K.T. Bradford

Here are our top 40 companies for Diversity, including whether they rate on the Human Rights Campaign’s Best Places to Work list for the the LGBT community.

Click here to see the 2011 List of the Black Enterprise 40 Best Companies for Diversity.

After surviving harsh blows from the Great Recession, CEOs in 2010 were better able to maneuver and reposition their companies for an economy in recovery. What’s the backdrop for all of this? An economic climate that’s warming. The U.S. economy grew by a healthy 3.1% in the fourth quarter of 2010 versus a scant 0.2% in 2009. Unfortunately, economic growth has slowed to 1.8% in the first quarter of 2011. The Consumer Price Index rose 1.6% for 2010 as families continued to pay higher prices for food and gas. On the other hand, personal income advanced 3% in 2010, reversing a 1.7% decline in 2009. America’s jobless rate held at 9.6% in 2010 compared to 10% in 2009. “We can stop worrying about growth because the economy is doing fine,” says black enterprise Board of Economists member Thomas D. Boston, Ph.D., a professor in the School of Economics at Georgia Tech and CEO of EuQuant, an Atlanta-based research firm. “Barring a significant natural or man-made disaster, economic growth will soon reach or exceed 4%.”

This was good news for companies tied to industrial and automotive manufacturing, such as Detroit-based Bridgewater Interiors L.L.C. (No. 2 on the BE industrial/service companies list with $1.6 billion in revenues). Over the past year, revenues for the automotive supplier that builds high-quality seat systems for Ford and General Motors vehicles grew a whopping 46% due to a surge in the volume of hot-selling models such as the revamped Ford Focus. CEO Ron E. Hall Sr. says the company has doubled work shifts to keep up with the demand for fuel-efficient cars.

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Selected as BE’s 2011 Industrial/Service Company of the Year, Bridgewater represents one of last year’s top performers. Although economists such as Boston believe the worst is over, they warn entrepreneurs to proceed with caution. Countless companies continue to be punished in the anemic housing, advertising, and banking sectors. Healthier, nimble firms still remain in cost-cutting mode as they pounce on new opportunities. Here’s a look at how the BE 100s have responded to today’s business environment and how some have successfully expanded into new, fertile territory.

Industrial/Service: Retooling for Growth
Over the past year, the nation’s leading African American CEOs had to adjust to challenge and change. As a result, the BE industrial/service companies posted a 4.66% boost in revenues to $18.7 billion and a 16.51% decrease in payroll to 56,271 employees.

Forward-looking entrepreneurs such as Sid E. Taylor, president of Warren, Michigan-based SET Enterprises Inc. (No. 18 on the BE industrial/service companies list with $222 million in revenues), have restructured operations or pursued new ventures—which include planning a southern expansion. In fact, Taylor completed a business makeover in 2010, diversifying his steel metal processing and assembly services operation by launching two new units: SET Duct Manufacturing Inc. and SET Construction Inc. The move boosted revenues by 30%, one of SET’s most impressive performances to date. Taylor projects sales to exceed $270 million in 2011. “This made good sense for us because 40% of the duct manufacturing business is steel and that is the business that we are in,” he says. “In our quest to diversify we felt that construction was another good fit for us. We hired some people to do things like drywall, carpeting, and finish interior work.”

St. Louis-based World Wide Technology Inc. (No. 1 on the BE industrial/service companies list with $3.3 billion in revenues) became one of the comeback champs. After a revenue decline of 13% to $2.2 billion in 2009, WWT’s revenues jumped 52%. Company officials maintain that sales for its products and consulting services were buoyed by corporations and government agencies expanding their tech budgets. Gartner Inc., a Stamford, Connecticut, research firm, reported that worldwide IT spending was $3.4 trillion in 2010, up 5.4% from 2009.

With a strong global presence in the U.S., Mexico, Brazil, Singapore, and China, WWT derives roughly 50% of revenues from technology hardware and equipment for data centers, while design and consulting have become its fastest growing segments. The upsurge in demand prompted the recruitment of some 200 engineers and tech specialists, increasing WWT’s total workforce to nearly 1,400 employees.

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Auto Dealers: Revved Up for Sales
The auto industry steered toward the road to profitability in 2010 after surviving its years-long trek on its version of Dead Man’s Curve. U.S. auto sales reached 11.5 million vehicles sold last year, up more than 2 million from 2009. General Motors not only emerged from government-induced bailout, the company reported its first annual profit in years. Chrysler also survived bankruptcy and now thrives under its new owner, the Italian carmaker Fiat. Ford, Hyundai, and Kia grabbed market share Toyota lost from product safety recalls. In fact, pent-up consumer demand is expected to put dealers on track to sell nearly 12% more new cars and trucks in 2011 than last year, forecasts the National Automobile Dealers Association. BE auto dealers posted a 16.29% boost in revenues to $5.6 billion and a 1.42% increase in employees to 7,155.

Despite such positive developments, scores of African American auto dealers are part of the industry’s wreckage. Gregory T. Baranco, CEO of Mercedes-Benz of Buckhead (No. 14 on the BE auto dealers list with $100.5 million in revenues), says that while TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) funds from the federal government rescued GM and Chrysler in 2009, those manufacturers used bankruptcy as “an opportunity to arbitrarily eliminate the dealers they believed to be in weaker markets. In doing so, they terminated more than 70% of the African American dealer body.” From 2008 to the beginning of 2011, the number of black-owned GM dealerships dropped from 89 to 36. Black-owned Ford stores shrank from 129 to 79. African American Toyota/Lexus stores, however, dwindled only from only 25 to 24. The BE auto dealers list, which ranked the nation’s 100 largest black franchises on the 2008 roster, now designates only 60 franchises for that distinction.

Says Marjorie Staten, president of General Motors Minority Dealers Association: “Our members had to rethink operation efficiency and incorporate new ideas to gain the maximum value from their expenditures, customer relationships, and dealership staff.”

Emanuel D. Jones’ Legacy Automotive (No. 15 on the BE auto dealers list with $100 million in revenues) drove sales after acquiring franchises at a deep discount and then retooling them into revenue-generating machines. In 2008, he purchased a 130,000 square foot store near Fort Benning in Georgia after one of the world’s largest chains of Chevrolet dealerships was forced into bankruptcy. Jones, a state senator who had reached the rank of captain in the Army Reserve, sponsored on-post activities. Now, roughly 40% of the dealership’s business comes from servicemen stationed at the military base. The McDonough, Georgia-based dealership increased its sales by 52% in 2010.

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In the current environment, the most successful dealers had to become obsessed with consumers who still had purchasing clout. Interest rates for auto finance companies’ five-year new-car loans hit a 4.1% bottom during spring and summer, and banks and finance companies made credit more readily available toward the end of the year.

Recalls forced Toyota/Lexus dealers to rework how they conducted business. Winston R. Pittman Sr., president of the Toyota/Lexus Minority Dealer Association and CEO of Winston Pittman Enterprise (No. 6 on the BE auto dealers list with $199.6 million in revenues), says: “We had to rethink satisfying our customers. Service was the key. When they came in, we had to roll out the red carpet. We were open extra hours to guarantee our customer base was well taken care of and to ensure there was no more down time for them than necessary.”

To make meaningful consumer connections, auto dealers discovered that they could no longer operate exclusively as brick-and-mortar businesses or as online stores, says A. V. Fleming, executive director of Ford Motor Minority Dealers Association. While television and radio ads broadcast celebrity endorsements, Facebook and Twitter quickly spread word-of-mouth persuasion. “Social media has replaced the strong reference person and enabled dealers to reach customers beyond old boundaries,” says Fleming.

Steve Jackson found success by going green. Located in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, Toyota of Rockwall (No. 27 on the BE auto dealers list with $51.02 million in revenues) is the country’s first black-owned facility that is LEED-certified by the U.S. Green Building Council. Since he opened shop in 2008, Jackson has been rewarded with huge savings in operating costs, national publicity, and streams of store traffic. His green cred has attracted customers from as far as Arkansas, Mississippi, and Oregon. Says Jackson of the dealership that realized a 25.1% boost in sales last year: “Each year, even through downturns and recalls, we’ve had month-over-month and year-over-year increases. Our business continues to grow.”

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Advertising Agencies: Fighting for New Accounts
For decades, black advertising agencies had been considered the connection major corporations needed to reach a relatively untapped black consumer market. Ending the practice of retaining black ad agencies is an unfortunate pattern established by major corporations over the past 18 months. A number of black firms have lost long-term corporate accounts. In one high-profile example, Burger King ended its 27-year relationship last year with Brooklyn, New York-based UniWorld Group (No. 3 on the BE advertising agencies list with $21.2 million in revenues). As co-founder and CEO of one of the nation’s oldest multicultural ad agencies, UniWorld’s Byron E. Lewis remembers when black-owned agencies had to overcome numerous business and political obstacles in order to survive. He says today’s environment is no different: “We’ve seen the dramatic change over the last several years in the media and consumer behavior. African American and minority agencies must develop more online data-driven and digital capabilities to meet the criteria of future clients.”

Investing in digital media—an area where black consumers’ usage outpaces their white counterparts—is one way that Burrell Communications Group L.L.C. (No. 4 on the BE advertising agencies list with $21 million in revenues) has stayed relevant. The firm, the 2011 BE Advertising Agency of the Year, hired Google alum Donald Moore as president of Burrell Digital. Moore was part of the team that launched travel blog BlackAtlas.com for American Airlines in 2009. Their digital prowess led cable network giant Comcast Corp. to tap Burrell as its African American agency of record in March. “It’s about going beyond surviving and thriving,” says Co-CEO Fay Ferguson. “Digital is where the industry is now and you really cannot service any client well unless you have a digital capability.”

To attract more clients, Los Angeles-based Walton Isaacson (No. 8 on the BE advertising agencies list with $12 million in revenues) decided to let its creative work speak for itself. Walton Isaacson used computer-generated graphics in three TV spots for Lexus’ five-door hybrid CT 200h. “This new CG process provided us with an opportunity to showcase the vehicle in a way that we wouldn’t have been able to accomplish with the time and budget limitations that exist with a traditional commercial shoot,” says Aaron Walton, who co-founded the agency with Cory Isaacson and counts NBA great Earvin “Magic” Johnson as a silent partner. Walton Isaacson has worked on big general market campaigns for Lexus, Dunkin’ Donuts, One.org, Pepsi, Jim Beam, and Unilever’s Axe, Ponds, and Degree. The 5-year-old agency’s diversified portfolio includes the launch of two products: a record label, wli Beats, and a digital Web series with Fox Digital.

To reflect these firms’ new approach to generating business, our editors now rank the agencies by revenues instead of billings.

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Financial Services: In Search of Healthy Returns
Applying Ariel Investments L.L.C.’s “slow and steady” technique, John Rogers Jr. has watched his firm outperform many of its peers on Wall Street. The Chicago-based firm’s founder and CEO says its investment focus helped it deliver solid returns since the stock market bottomed out on March 9, 2009. Since that time through last December, the Ariel Fund garnered a cumulative return of 215.06% versus 135.66% for the Russell 2500 Value Index.

No. 6 on the BE asset managers list with $5.47 billion in assets under management, Ariel invested in media stocks such as Gannett and CBS and retailers such as Nordstrom and Tiffany that rebounded from their lows. “We picked up great companies at bargain prices,” Rogers says. The strong performance helped Ariel boost assets under management by more than $300 million in 2010. To sustain its momentum, Ariel is launching the Ariel Discovery Fund, a small cap fund geared to individuals and institutions. The firm is also expanding its sales, marketing, and client services departments. In November, it plans a big splash to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Ariel Fund, the firm’s flagship mutual fund.

Fighting back from the scars of the financial market’s abysmal performance in 2008 and 2009, Ariel is among many black-owned asset managers, banks, investment banks, and private equity firms implementing or reviewing new strategies to boost sales and profits. Some were slugged last year by a barrage of economic punches: less consumer spending; an anemic housing market; and instability in the credit, real estate, and equity markets. To overcome such adversity, CEOs at a number of the nation’s top black-owned financial firms applied fresh approaches by targeting new clientele, aggressively marketing innovative services, and tapping into social media.

The equity markets finished up bullish last year: the Dow Jones industrial average gained 9.4%, the S&P 500 rose 11%, and the Nasdaq composite index climbed 15%, according to SNL Financial, a financial information research firm based in Charlottesville, Virginia. Meanwhile, the yield on the benchmark 30-year Treasury note slipped 31 basis points to 4.34%.

Houston-based Smith, Graham & Co. Investment Advisors L.P. (No. 7 on the BE asset managers list with $4.98 billion in assets under management) slightly grew assets under management by about $70 million last year. Aside from the aforementioned gains, Chairman and CEO Gerald B. Smith said that assets under the firm’s investment advisory business—which counts the hefty New York State Common Fund and State Street Global Advisory/U.S. Treasury as clients—total $180 billion. He plans to launch an “absolute return” product this summer in the open market geared to investors such as pension funds and endowments. “We’re real excited because it’s an alternative product in a growing market space,” Smith says.

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A number of BE banks are still reeling from hefty loan losses and the Treasury department’s more stringent capital requirements as they aim for new customers. In fact, federal banking regulators have closed or forced the sale of nearly 350 banks nationwide—including five black-owned institutions in the past eight months—since the financial meltdown of 2008. (BE’s list of the largest banks fell from 25 to 20.) In some cases, banks with stronger balance sheets were able to acquire those that failed. Seaway Bank and Trust Co. (No. 3 on the BE banks list with $516.6 million in assets) is among them, having assumed control of Legacy Bank, the 2009 BE Financial Services Company of the Year, when the institution went into receivership after hefty loan losses.

While community banks fight for survival, Buddy Howard, president and banking analyst at Equity Research Services Inc. in Raleigh, North Carolina, says other institutions need to differentiate themselves from larger competitors through a combination of local decision making, personal service, innovative product introduction, and technology-enhanced service offerings such as mobile banking.

CEO Alden McDonald Jr. at New Orleans-based Liberty Bank and Trust Co. (No. 5 on the BE banks list with $463.8 million in assets) has invested $1 million into several new technology systems, including one that will allow individual and commercial customers to process checks or make deposits from their home or office. The bank this year is also launching a mobile banking unit to allow customers, particularly young professionals, to open accounts via Facebook and Twitter. “We’re going to compete with the big banks through the social network,” McDonald says.

Chicago-based Loop Capital Markets L.L.C. (No. 1 in taxable securities with $29 billion in lead issues and No. 2 in tax-exempt securities with $2.8 billion in lead issues on the BE investment banks list) led more than $10.6 billion in underwriting transactions in 2010, up 32% year over year, says Kourtney Ratliff, a partner who works in the firm’s equity division. The firm is in growth mode: In January 2011, it acquired Gardner, Underwood & Bacon L.L.C., a Los Angeles-based independent financial advisory firm. Moreover, Loop has doubled the size of its global equity trade desk to allow it to trade in more than 50 countries, doubled its fixed-income trading and sales teams, and tripled its corporate advisory services department.

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Siebert Brandford Shank & Co., L.L.C. (No. 2 in taxable securities with $8.1 billion in lead issues and No. 1 in tax-exempt securities with $6.8 billion in lead issues) prospered from brisk activity in the transportation and public finance world. President and CEO Suzanne Shank says senior managed issues climbed $3.3 billion to finish 2010 at $9.1 billion. She attributes the gain to the firm financing several airport deals stretching from Boston to Los Angeles and running major general obligation bond deals for clients such as the state of California and the city of Chicago. But Shank warned this year could be tougher, saying all investment banks are facing an environment of lower volume for municipal bond issuance as issuers rushed to market in 2010 to take advantage of stimulus bonding programs. Now, she adds, they wrestle with obstacles such as higher interest rates and budget crises.

For private equity firms, buyout activity was driven by attractive financing options in the yield bond and leveraged loan market, says Matthew Toole, global director of deals intelligence at Thomson Reuters. Worldwide private equity-based M&A activity totaled $227.9 billion in 2010, up 92% from $118.7 billion in 2009.

West Hartford, Connecticut-based Fairview Capital Partners (No. 1 on the BE private equity firms list with $3.1 billion in capital under management) saw capital under management remain flat from 2009. The previous year was a time to rethink strategies and approaches, including staying on top of all issues related to compliance, says Co-Managing Partner JoAnn H. Price. Going forward, Fairview is placing more emphasis on providing capital in emerging markets, which will allow for expansion into Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, Brazil, Asia, and Australia. All told, Price expects to boost capital by another $400 million in 2011 by doing more business with existing investors, pushing new product offerings, and expanding globally.

Hartford, Connecticut-based Smith Whiley & Co. (No. 8 on the BE private equity firms list with $300 million in capital under management) saw activity remain roughly the same from 2009 to 2010 as well. CEO Gwendolyn Smith Iloani says her firm recently launched a $250 million mezzanine debt fund that will target middle-market businesses in the business services, consumer products, food and beverage, industrial products, healthcare, and technology/communications sectors. “They can use the funding for everything from executing growth strategies to doing management buyouts,” says Smith Iloani of the new fund.

To ultimately succeed, the BE 100s must continue to survey their operations and plot winning strategies. The victors will be those that produce the most flexible business models, provide unparalleled customer service, acquire the best talent, and demonstrate the audacity to win.

• Each year, BLACK ENTERPRISE welcomes new companies to its BE100s lists, which chronicle the most successful African American companies across the nation. We call them our Freshman Class. Through uncertain economic times, several companies have held fast, growing their bottom line and refusing to let the economy dictate whether they will or won’t succeed. This year, as we watch and wait for a rebound, we celebrate 20 black-owned enterprises that made it through the storm.

• Of the 20 companies, there is one auto dealer and two financial service institutions. The other 17 are industrial/service companies providing services in construction, energy, supply chain, food services, commercial transportation, IT, packaging, product manufacturing, and medical supply. Take a look at the 2011 BE100s Freshman Class.

Harvey Industries L.L.C. – Harvey Industries is a high quality aluminum casting, machining, assembly, testing, polymer injection molding producer. Founded in 1982, the company is based in Livonia, Michigan, and has three plants located in Wabash, Indiana; Westland, Michigan and Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. The company’s mission is to fulfill all of their clients’ manufacturing needs while helping them complete projects at the highest quality standards and utilizing the latest technology. (Photo: Jerome Harvey, President & CEO of Harvey Industries L.L.C.; Courtesy of Harvey Industries)

The Lewis Group L.L.P. – The Lewis Group is a petroleum marketer and operator of 20 Shell-branded convenience stores. The company also owns Jack in the Box restaurants throughout the Houston area and Cabo’s, the Original Mix-Mex Grill, in downtown Houston. The company is a member of the National Urban League, Greater Houston Partnership and NAACP, and was recognized as one of the largest minority-owned businesses in Houston by the Houston Business Journal. (Photo: Sherman Lewis Jr., Owner (l) and Sherman Lewis III, Owner, CEO & President (r) of The Lewis Group L.L.P.; Courtesy of The Lewis Group L.L.P.)

Vendor Managed Solutions Inc. – Vendor Managed Solutions is a custom service integrator and provider of integrated MRO (maintenance repairs and operations) and vendor management services. An innovator in supply chain management, VMS is changing the face of the supply chain and how clients implement purchasing operations, materials management, logistics, and inventory programs. The company consolidates clients’ purchasing operations and customizes a broad spectrum of viable value chain solutions. (Photo: Rumia Burbank, President of Vendor Managed Solutions Inc.; Courtesy of Vendor Managed Solutions)

Promet Energy Partners L.L.C. – Promet Energy Partners supplies natural gas and electricity to local distribution companies and large industrial businesses. Headquartered in Chicago, the company works with leading energy companies to provide electricity to industrial consumers in deregulated states. It also offers specialized energy consulting services. Promet Energy Partners was founded in 2004 and is one of the few minority energy companies licensed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to supply wholesale power. (Photo: Gregory R. White, CEO of Promet Energy Partners L.L.C.; Courtesy of Promet Energy Partners L.L.C.)

K. Neal International Trucks Inc. – K. Neal is a full-service commercial truck dealership representing the International, Hino, Mitsubishi Fuso, and IC Bus brands. The dealership has locations throughout the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area and provides new and previously owned sales, service, parts and maintenance for commercial trucks and buses sold under the abovementioned brands. Prior to being acquired by current owner Stephen W. Neal in 2006, the dealership was formerly known as District International and J. Price International, and had been in Prince George’s County, Maryland for more than 40 years. (Photo: Stephen W. Neal, President & CEO of K. Neal International Trucks Inc.; Courtesy of K. Neal International Trucks Inc.)

Invizion Inc. – Invizion is a company that delivers management, technical and consulting solutions worldwide. The company was established in 2003 as a privately-held Virginia corporation and was created, in part, to contribute to the transformation of the nation’s intelligence and homeland security communities. The company has implemented state-of-the-art technologies and business tools that allow it to move quickly and make sound management decisions. (Photo: Steven Johnson, Chairman & CEO of Invizion Inc.; Courtesy of Invizion Inc.)

Maricom Systems Inc. – Maricom Systems Inc. is an information technology solutions firm, specializing in data management, software engineering, business intelligence solutions, and contact center services. The company has worked with government, healthcare, and commercial sectors, providing management, maintenance, and support of large and complex data environments. A CMMI Level 3 company, Maricom provides clients with a full range of IT services in the system development life cycle, from project concept and requirements gathering to design, development, testing and post-implementation support. (Photo: Maria Beckett, CEO of Maricom Systems Inc.; Courtesy of Maricom Systems Inc.)

Zycron Inc. – Zycron is a customer-focused information technology services and solutions firm. Since 1991, the company has served a broad client base and today is the primary provider for numerous Fortune 500 companies. Zycron provides qualified, cost-effective IT solutions in the form of individual resources, full project teams and project management services to many of the nation’s largest corporations. They provide client-specific solutions across all industries, with extensive experience in healthcare, energy and utilities, and state and local government. (Photo: Darrell S. Freeman, Founder & Executive Chairman of Zycron Inc.; Courtesy of Zycron Inc.)

SLR Contracting & Service Company Inc. – SLR Contracting is a full-service general construction company specializing in all facets of commercial construction, including renovation projects and new construction, as well as construction management and design build work. The company has provided its services to federal, state and local government organizations, medical facilities, churches and schools. It has regional offices in Watertown, New York and Springville, New York. (Photo: Sundra L. Ryce, President & CEO, SLR Contracting & Service Company Inc.;  Photo by Lonnie C. Major )

World Pac Paper L.L.C. – World Pac Paper is an award-winning national distributor of high quality printing and packaging papers that serves commercial printers, catalogers, publishers, integrated and independent corrugated converters, folding carton/rigid box manufacturers, tube winders, laminators and paper converters. The company is a joint venture between The World Packaging Company, L.L.C., an innovative packaging and global solutions company, and Clifford Paper, Inc., one of the largest and fastest growing paper distributors in North America. (Photo: Edgar L. Smith Jr., Chairman & CEO of World Pac Paper L.L.C.; Courtesy of World Pac Paper L.L.C.)

The Will Group – The Will Group is the parent company of six entities:  ERM Construction, Lighting Solutions of Illinois Inc., Murray Food Services, Lyons View Supply, Rib Mountain Aggregate, and Willson Design. They specialize in engineering, design/construction and project management and have established long-term relationships with manufacturers, business partners and clients. The company has developed cost-effective ways to do business and has been successful in completing projects with sensitivity to financial budgets and timelines.  (Photos: Different lighting technologies from The Will Group.  Courtesy of The Will Group)

TME Enterprises I Ltd. – TME Enterprises I Ltd. owns and operates 20 Taco Bell and 5 Five Guys Burgers fast food franchises in the Atlanta metropolitan area. Headquartered in Smyrna, GA, the company is preparing to open 15 additional Five Guys Burgers locations in the near future. TME was started in 1997 and employs more than 500 people. (Photo: Michael E. Melton, President & Managing Partner of TME Enterprises I Ltd.; Courtesy of TME Enterprises I Ltd.)

DKW Communications Inc. – DKW Communications was formed to provide the U.S. government with a unique small business solution that can respond to a full range of professional and technical requirements. The company offers a unique management delivery organization that is 100% dedicated to providing a total solution that ensures interoperability and standards enforcement. They pride themselves on delivering seamless design, implementation and support of Net-Centric, Information Management and Facilities and Administrative solutions and services. (Photo: Darryl Washington, President & CEO of DKW Communications Inc.; Courtesy of DKW Communications Inc.)

Pride Enterprises – Pride Enterprises is a building, construction management and consulting firm that offers extensive experience in renovation, new construction, infrastructure, indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) and design projects. The company’s clients include the U.S. military, government bureaus and offices, and private clients. Their services include comprehensive estimating and pricing procedures, construction capabilities using state-of-the-art technology and equipment, critical path sequencing and scheduling, IDIQ and design-build contracting capabilities, materials procurement, project management, subcontractor prequalification, and value engineering and constructability reviews. (Photo: Craig T. Williams, President of Pride Enterprises; Courtesy of Pride Enterprises)

Valentine Manufacturing L.L.C. – VMFG is a New York-based manufacturer of point-of-sale merchandising and consumer product components. The company is composed of a superb team of professionals that include sales people, project managers, estimators, mechanical engineers, industrial designers, model makers and 3D renderers. And the team has a background in a wide spectrum of market segments spanning the beauty, technology, filmmaking, fashion and packaged goods industries. VMFG is certified by the National Minority Supplier Development Council as a minority business enterprise. (Photo: Tony Valentine, Owner, Valentine Manufacturing L.L.C.; Photo by Lonnie C. Major)

Neta Scientific Inc. – Established in 1999, Neta Scientific is a laboratory supply company with additional offices in North Carolina, South Carolina and California. The company supplies thousands of research and development labs in the pharmaceutical, life sciences, higher learning and chemical industries throughout the country. Neta Scientific is a minority and woman-owned business, and is SDA, SDB, NMSDC, WBE and MBE certified. They provide guidance on issues concerning product applications, product specifications, manufacturer recommendations, regulatory compliance and the occupational health and safety of the workforce. (Photo: The staff at Neta Scientific Inc.; Courtesy of Neta Scientific Inc.)

A10 Clinical Solutions Inc. – A10 Clinical Solutions is a clinical research and clinical care company that works with pharmaceutical companies, government entities and other organizations to bring new and innovative drugs and healthcare improvements to market faster. The company helps clients conduct clinical studies to improve health outcomes for patients and the community, and it provides corporate and government clients the ability to lower employee healthcare costs by providing occupational health services in eco-friendly on-site clinics. (Photo: Leah Brown, President & CEO of A10 Clinical Solutions Inc.;  Courtesy of A10 Clinical Solutions Inc.)

Jorgensen Ford Sales Inc. – Jorgensen Ford Sales Inc. is an auto dealership based in Detroit. It sells new and pre-owned Ford models: Taurus, Econoline, Explorer, Focus, Fusion, Escape, Expedition, F-150, Mustang, Flex, Ranger or Edge. The dealership came under black ownership in 2004 and employs more than 50 people. (Photo: Merlton L. Brandenberg, President of Jorgensen Ford Sales Inc.; Courtesy of Jorgensen Ford Sales Inc.)

Inheritance Capital Group L.L.C. - Inheritance Capital Group is a private equity commercial real estate firm with international capabilities. The fund is managed by ICG Real Estate Advisors L.L.C., the only minority-owned enterprise in the country certified by the Minority Business Development Council to buy and sell corporate sale lease backs. The company, based in Southfield, Michigan, specializes in single tenant net lease real estate nationwide. ICG was founded in 2006.

Grain Management L.L.C. – Grain Management is a private equity wireless communications firm with investments in the telecommunications industry. The company operates and leases cell phone towers. Founded just last year, the company employs 20 people and has government and private clientele. (Photo: David J. Grain, Founder & Managing Partner of Grain Management L.L.C.; Courtesy of Grain Management L.L.C.)

Take McDonald’s. The fast-food giant has positioned such initiatives high on its menu in all areas of the company by following three guideposts: diversity education, management commitment, and employee business networks. “Diversity is everybody’s business at McDonald’s and it’s important that we recognize and respect everyone on both sides of the counter,” says Patricia S. Harris, global chief diversity officer of the restaurant company that serves more than 60 million in 117 countries daily. “Diversity is not a destination that we will ever reach. It is a journey that we have decided to take. We are fortunate to have a management team that gets it and supports it.”

This philosophy is reflected in numbers and actions. McDonald’s, one of black enterprise’s Best Companies for Diversity, has long valued diversity in its workforce (women and minorities make up more than 80% of its workforce and nearly 50% of its officers are minorities; 22% are African American) and supplier inclusion (55% of the procurement spend, or $5 billion annually, is with minority- and female-owned businesses). Twice a year Harris presents programs and performance metrics to the board of directors. The company offers its employees workshops at the corporate and regional level. Its Leadership At McDonald’s Program (LAMP) identifies high-potential directors of diverse backgrounds to move them through the pipeline into future leadership positions. Moreover, ongoing dialogue takes place among leaders of regional and corporate employee business networks. Harris asserts: “These employee networks began more than 30 years ago, and at that time were more social in nature. Today, our employee business networks have business plans that support our company’s vision.”

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Part of the reason McDonald’s has been the model of business diversity has been executives such as Harris driving the process. Such leadership has placed her on the inaugural roster of black enterprise’s Top Executives in Diversity. This group represents C-suiters and other senior managers at the nation’s 1,000 largest publicly traded corporations and 100 leading global corporations with strong U.S. operations who oversee and develop programs to include and advance African Americans and other ethnic minorities, women, the disabled, and the LGBT (lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender) community among the employee, senior management, corporate board, and supplier ranks. Most important, these professionals view such efforts not as initiatives to communicate good corporate citizenship but as vital to expanding market share, building revenues, and increasing the bottom line.

This stewardship becomes more important as diversity has been increasingly placed on the back burner in a post-recession environment. Just review the results of a two-year global study, Developing the 21st Century Leader, conducted last year by the consulting group AchieveGlobal. In ranking six areas critical to leadership success, business initiatives to boost profits earned a No. 1 ranking while diversity fell to the bottom of the list of priorities. Additionally, the top executives on this roster can be found in less than 150 companies from a universe of 1,100. But in the face of the study and statistics, diversity is needed as corporations must become more globally competitive and our nation becomes more ethnically diverse. In fact, the National Journal recently reported that the 2010 Census revealed that America is increasingly becoming a “majority-minority” nation. It found that the non-Latino white population declined from 69.2% in 2000 to 63.7% in 2010 while the minority population expanded from 30.9% in 2000 to 36.3% in 2010.

True diversity happens at the top—that’s why Black Enterprise focused on this select group. “We are guided by our Performance with Purpose goals, which include our commitment to invest in our associates to help them succeed and to contribute to better living standards in the communities we serve,” says Pamela Culpepper, PepsiCo’s senior vice president, global diversity and inclusion officer who works closely with Chairman and CEO Indra Nooyi on the Global Diversity and Inclusion Governance Council, which is comprised of internal and external leaders from all four continents of the beverage and snack manufacturer’s international business. Another leading diversity champion, Tara Amaral, vice president of talent acquisition and chief diversity officer for payroll and tax filing processor Automatic Data Processing Inc. (ADP) seeks to expand the employee and management pipeline, in part, through the CEO-led Executive Diversity Council, a body of the most senior executives who set overall diversity management direction at every level. Moreover, diversity and inclusion are a component of ADP’s executive performance and compensation.

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Emilio Egea, Prudential Financial’s vice president of human resources and chief diversity officer, says his company approaches diversity through, in part, integrating diversity into business processes and relationship-building with diverse organizations. For example, when the company executed its IPO, Egea asked about minority participation of underwriters and worked with the top brass on a game plan to ensure that roughly 27% of the underwriters were minority-owned firms. In another instance, when there was a perception that Prudential couldn’t find black talent from HBCUs, the company sponsored a business case competition in collaboration with Hampton University’s School of Business in which students were asked to develop and recommend long-term strategies for real-life business cases within the company. “The idea is to plant the seed. Once people see the success you have, they start to run with it,” he says. “The real breakthrough comes from getting people to build authentic relationships across differences. We take people out of their comfort zones and put them in situations where they are the ones who are in the minority. That’s where the real learning comes from. My job is to expand people’s frame of reference.”

Turn the page to find other leading executives who mean business when it comes to diversity.
—Additional reporting by
Carolyn M. Brown & Sonja D. Mack

METHODOLOGY
To select our top executives in diversity, BE’s editors sought to identify the highest-ranking and most influential corporate executives in the field. We set out to identify those senior managers responsible for leading the corporate diversity initiatives in the top 1,000 largest publicly traded companies and 100 major global companies with significant American-based operations. As part of our comprehensive search, we consulted major corporations, diversity professionals, trade associations, and resources such as the Executive Leadership Council, Diversity Best Practices Reports, National Diversity Council Inc., and The Johnnetta B. Cole Global Diversity and Inclusion Institute at Bennett College for Women, among others.

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Our selections met the following criteria:
• We selected chief diversity officers, global diversity executives, executive and senior vice presidents, and vice presidents who lead diversity initiatives vital to the business objectives of their company.
• We excluded all executives who have been identified as directors, managers, or assistant and associate directors and managers in this area.
• We excluded those who serve as general counsels, human resource officers, or corporate foundation executives without a diversity management designation for the entire company or major operational and/or revenue-producing unit.
• We excluded senior managers who oversee media relations, public affairs, investor relations, community development, and government affairs.
• We excluded all executives associated with nonprofit organizations and trade associations.
• All diversity appointments on this listing held their positions as of March 31, 2011.

CHIEF DIVERSITY OFFICERS

Tara Amaral
Chief Diversity Officer & VP of Talent Acquisition
Automatic Data Processing Inc. (ADP)

Rohini Anand Ph.D.
SVP, Global Chief Diversity Officer
Sodexo Inc.

Raymond J. Arroyo
VP & Chief Diversity Officer
Aetna Inc.

Terrian Barnes
Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer
Yum! Brands Inc.

Candice Barnhardt
VP & Chief Diversity Officer
Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co.

Subha V. Barry
SVP, Chief Diversity Officer
Freddie Mac

Hayward L. Bell
Chief Diversity Officer
Raytheon Co.

Cindy Brinkley
SVP, Talent Development & Chief Diversity Officer
AT&T Inc.

Carolynn Brooks
VP & Chief Diversity Officer
OfficeMax Inc.

Steve Bucherati
Chief Diversity Officer
The Coca-Cola Co.

Anthony P. Carter
VP, Global Diversity and Inclusion & Chief Diversity Officer
Johnson & Johnson

David L. Casey
VP, Workforce Strategies & Chief Diversity Officer
CVS Caremark Corp.

Jennifer Christie
Chief Diversity Officer & VP of Global Executive Recruitment
American Express Co.

Linda W. Clement-Holmes
Chief Diversity Officer & SVP, Global Business Services
Procter & Gamble Co.

Deborah Dagit
VP & Chief Diversity Officer
Merck & Co. Inc.

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Desirée Dancy
Chief Diversity Officer & VP, Corporate Human Resources
The New York Times Co.

Ralph de Chabert
Chief Diversity Officer
Brown-Forman Corp.

Lynne DiStasio
VP & Chief Diversity Officer
MetLife

Ana Duarte McCarthy
Chief Diversity Officer
Citigroup

Emilio Egea
VP, Human Resources & Chief Diversity Officer
Prudential Financial Inc.

Deborah Elam
VP & Chief Diversity Officer
General Electric Co.

Michael Escobar
VP & Chief Diversity Officer
Allstate Insurance Co.

Linda D. Forte
SVP of Business Affairs & Chief Diversity Officer
Comerica Inc.

Edward N. Gadsden
Chief Diversity Officer
Pfizer Inc.

Heide Gardner
SVP & Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer
Interpublic Group of Cos. Inc.

Ruth Ann M. Gillis
EVP & Chief Administrative and Diversity Officer
Exelon Corp.

Jacqueline Glenn
Chief Diversity Officer
EMC Corp.

Tracey Gray-Walker
SVP & Chief Diversity Officer
AXA Equitable Life Insurance Co.

Allison Green
SVP & Chief Diversity Officer
Lincoln Financial Group

Donna Griffin
SVP & Chief Diversity Officer
The Chubb Corp.

Susan Hamilton
Assistant VP of Diversity & Chief Diversity Officer
CSX Corp. Inc.

Phil Harlow
Chief Diversity and Industrial Relations Officer
Xerox Corp.

Patricia S. Harris
Global Chief Diversity Officer
McDonald’s Corp.

Shaun Hawkins
Chief Diversity Officer
Lilly

Effenus Henderson
Chief Diversity Officer
Weyerhaeuser Co.

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Michele Holton
Chief Diversity Officer
Monsanto Co.

Rosalind Hudnell
Chief Diversity Officer and Director, Education & External Relations
Intel Corp.

Phyllis James
EVP, Special Counsel-Litigation & Chief Diversity Officer
MGM Resorts International

Linda Jimenez
Chief Diversity Officer & Staff VP, Diversity and Inclusion
WellPoint Inc.

Donna Johnson
Chief Diversity Officer
MasterCard Worldwide

Marsha Jones
SVP & Chief Diversity Officer
The PNC Financial Services Group Inc.

Fred Keeton
VP, Finance and External Affairs & Chief Diversity Officer
Caesars Entertainment Corp.

Kathryn Komsa
VP, Diversity and Inclusion & Chief Diversity Officer
Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc.

Denice Kronau
Chief Diversity Officer
Siemens Corp.

Lance Lavergne
VP & Chief Diversity Officer
New York Life Insurance Co.

Paula Madison
EVP & Chief Diversity Officer
NBCUniversal

Victoria Martin
Chief Diversity Officer
Chartis International L.L.C.

Augustin Melendez
Chief Diversity Officer
Eastman Kodak Co.

Brenda Mullins
Second VP of Human Resources & Chief Diversity Officer
AFLAC Inc.

Marilyn Nagel
Chief Diversity Officer
Cisco Systems Inc.

Dian Ogilvie
Chief Diversity Officer Toyota Motor North
America Inc.

Sharon Orlopp
Chief Diversity Officer
Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

Stephen J. Pemberton
Divisional VP & Chief Diversity Officer
Walgreen Co.

Paul Richardson
SVP, Human Resources at ESPN/Chief Diversity Officer
The Walt Disney Co.

Jennifer Rickard
Chief Diversity Officer
Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP)
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Angela Roseboro
SVP & Chief Diversity Officer
Jones Lang LaSalle Inc.

Carly Sanchez
Global Head, Talent Acquisition & Chief Diversity Officer
American International Group Inc. (AIG)

Darlene Slaughter
Chief Diversity Officer & Vice President
Fannie Mae

Karen D. Taylor
SVP, HR & Chief Diversity Officer
GenOn Energy Inc.

Rosalyn Taylor O’Neale
VP & Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer
Campbell Soup Co.

Tiffany R. Warren
SVP & Chief Diversity Officer
Omnicom Group Inc.

Mark Welch
Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer & SVP
Northern Trust Corp.

Magda N. Yrizarry
Chief Talent and Diversity Officer
Verizon Communications Inc.

GLOBAL DIVERSITY EXECUTIVES

Johnnie B. Booker
Global Director, Supplier Diversity
The Coca-Cola Co.

Cecilia Carter
VP, Global Head of Diversity, Community & Government Affairs
Starbucks Corp.

Kenneth Charles
VP, Global Diversity and Inclusion
General Mills Inc.

Pamela Culpepper
SVP & Global Diversity and Inclusion Officer
PepsiCo Inc.

Laurie Curtis
VP & Global Head of Diversity and Leadership Strategies, American Airlines Inc.
AMR Corp.

Patricia A. David
Managing Director & Global Head of Diversity
JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Andrea Davitt
VP, Global Diversity and Staffing
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

Shinder Dhillon
Global Director, Talent Management, Diversity & Inclusion
Air Products and Chemicals Inc.

Sue Dodsworth
VP & Global Diversity Officer
Kimberly-Clark Corp.

Michael C. Ford
VP, Global Diversity and Inclusion
Hilton Worldwide

Lisa J. Gutierrez
Executive Director, Global Diversity
Cummins Inc.

Gwen Houston
General Manager of Global Diversity and Inclusion
Microsoft Corp.

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Gilli Howarth
Managing Director, Global Head of Diversity
UBS

Aynesh Johnson
Managing Director & Head of the Office of Global Leadership and Diversity
Goldman Sachs & Co.

T. Hudson Jordan
Director, Global Diversity and Talent Strategies
Pitney Bowes Inc.

Eugene Kelly
Worldwide Director, Global Diversity and Inclusion
Colgate-Palmolive Co.

Cheryl Kern
Global Director, Diversity and Inclusion
International Paper Co.

Yolanda Mangolini
Director, Global Diversity & Inclusion and Talent & Outreach Programs
Google Inc.

Paul Martin
VP, Global Recruitment and Inclusion
Sony Pictures Entertainment

Donna McKenna
Director, Global Staffing and Diversity
Arrow Electronics Inc.

Graciela Meibar
VP, Global Self Training and Diversity
Mattel Inc.

Salvador Mendoza
VP of Global Diversity and Inclusion
Hyatt Hotels Corp.

Lisa Mink
Executive Director, Global Diversity and Inclusion
Dell Inc.

Rosalind Peebles
Director of Global Diversityand Inclusion, John Deere
Deere & Co.

Jacqui Robertson
Global Head of Diversity
ING Group

Marva Smalls
EVP, Global Inclusion Strategy, MTV Networks
Viacom

Debbie Smith Rayford
VP, Global Diversity
Discovery Communications Inc.

Susan A. Stith
Director, Global Diversity and University Relations
Peabody Energy

Kelli Stokes
Director of Global Diversity and Talent Acquisition
Caterpillar Inc.

Tyronne Stoudemire
Global Leader for Community, Diversity and Inclusion, Aon Hewitt
Aon Corp.

Geri Thomas
Global Diversity and Inclusion Executive
Bank of America Corp.

Brian Tippens
Director, Global Supplier Diversity Development and Sustainability
Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP)

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Joyce E. Tucker
VP, Global Diversity and Employee Rights
The Boeing Co.

Debra Turner Bailey
Global Diversity Officer, Human Resource Director, Global Staff and Business Services
Corning Inc.

Jimmie Walton Paschall
SVP, External Affairs & Global Diversity and Inclusion Officer
Marriott International Inc.

Lisa Wicker
Head of Global Diversity and Compliance & Director of Talent Acquisition Solutions
Chrysler Group L.L.C.

D.V. Williams
Global Diversity Lead
Whirlpool Corp.

Heather Wishik
Global Diversity and Inclusion Director
The TJX Cos. Inc.

Carole Young
General Manager, Global Offices of Diversity & Ombuds
Chevron Corp.

EXECUTIVE/SENIOR VICE PRESIDENTS

Lajuana Bradford
SVP, Diversity and Public Affairs
Regions Financial Corp.

Walt A. Buckhanan
SVP, M&I Bank/VP & Director of Corporate Diversity
Marshall & Ilsley Corp.

Margot J. Copeland
EVP & Director, Corporate Diversity and Philanthropy
KeyBank

Patricia J. Crawford
SVP & Head of Diversity and Inclusion
Wells Fargo & Co.

Sonya Dukes
SVP & Director of Corporate Supplier Diversity
Wells Fargo & Co.

Lisa Garcia Quiroz
SVP, Corporate Responsibility
Time Warner Inc.

William L. Hawthorne III
SVP, Diversity Strategies and Legal Affairs
Macy’s Inc.

Erika Irish Brown
SVP, Diversity and Inclusion
Bank of America Corp.

Rhonda Mims
President, ING Foundation & SVP, Office of Corporate Responsibility and Multicultural Affairs
ING Financial Services

Delena Sunday
EVP, Human Resources and Diversity Affairs
Nordstrom Inc.

VICE PRESIDENTS

Kim Adams
VP, Diversity, Inclusion & Equal Opportunity Programs
Lockheed Martin Corp.

Terri D. Austin
VP, Diversity & Inclusion
The McGraw-Hill Cos.

Edward W. Bullock
VP, Diversity & Inclusion
L’Oreal USA

(Continued on next page)

Jason Buss
VP, Talent Acquisition and Diversity
Ameriprise Financial

Paul Campbell
VP, Human Resources,
Labor Community Relations & Diversity
Polo Ralph Lauren

Kathy Clements
VP of Culture and Inclusion
Ecolab Inc.

Kathryn Collins
VP, Associate Recruitment and Inclusion & Diversity
J.C. Penney Co. Inc.

Maurice Cox
VP for Diversity and Inclusion Development
PepsiCo Inc.

Lourdes Diaz
VP, Diversity Relations
Sodexo Inc.

Grace Figueredo
VP, Diversity and Inclusion
Hartford Financial Services

Leny Garcia-Hill
VP of Diversity and Enrichment
Flowers Foods

Al Gaylor
VP of Industry Relations and Diversity
Sysco Corp.

Amy George
VP, Talent, Diversity & Inclusion
Terex Corp.

Ron Glover
VP, Diversity and Workforce
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM)

Belinda Grant Anderson
VP of Workplace Development and Diversity
AT&T Services Inc.

Arlette Guthrie
VP, Talent Management and Diversity
Home Depot Inc.

Teuila Hanson
VP, Diversity and Inclusion
AECOM

Terri Harrell
VP of HR Diversity Compliance
Dr. Pepper Snapple Group

Charles A. Harvey
Corporate VP, Diversity and Public Affairs
Johnson Controls Inc.

Joelle Hayes
VP, Enterprise Diversity and Inclusion
Travelers

Angela Jones
VP, Human Resources Diversity and Inclusion
ConAgra Foods Inc.

Victoria Jones Ph.D.
Diversity Officer VP
Apollo Group Inc.

Robert Keeling
VP, Diversity and Communications
Capital One Financial Corp.

(Continued on next page)

Debra Langford
VP, Inclusion and Business Diversity
NBCUniversal

Lydia Mallett Ph.D.
VP, Staffing and Diversity
Tyco International Ltd.

Debra Nelson
VP of Corporate Diversity, Communications & Community Affairs
MGM Resorts International

James E. Norman
VP of Diversity
Kraft Foods Inc.

Eric Peterson
U.S. VP – Diversity
General Motors Co.

Evelin Potts
VP, Diversity & Inclusion
Wyndham Worldwide Co.

Marilyn Priestley
VP & Head, Diversity & Inclusion
Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp.

Lauventria Robinson
VP, Diversity Business Development
The Coca-Cola Co.

Linda Rutherford
VP, Communication and Strategic Outreach & Sr. Sponsor of Diversity Council
Southwest Airlines Co.

Aida Sabo
VP, Diversity and Inclusion
Cardinal Health Inc.

Kim Strong
VP, Diversity and Inclusion
Target Corp.

Alfred Torres
VP, Talent Management and Diversity
Verizon Communications Inc.

Damayanti Vasudevan Ph.D.
VP, Diversity and Inclusion
R.R. Donnelley

Gina Warren
VP of Diversity
Nike Inc.

Francene Young
VP of Diversity, Inclusion and Talent
Shell Oil Co.

Technology columnist Hajj Flemings talks about the beauty of coworking spaces (Image: Courtesy of subject)

Coworking spaces are wired hubs of innovation that are radically changing how and where work gets done. These spaces are not just Starbucks coffee shops on steroids, but flexible modern workspaces that are fostering a sense of community among the mobile workforce. The coworking movement has been embraced in cities like San Francisco and New York where there are large concentrations of entrepreneurs and startups companies.

The idea of coworking is to create a communal workspace that inspires creativity, innovation, and enables productivity. A coworking space is a creative think tank, educational network and collaboration system that offers traditional workspaces, conference rooms that can be rented, and workshops for educational development. The infrastructure of these spaces enables startups and independent professionals to share desks, resources, and ideas with other like-minded people versus working at home alone. With the help of collaborative tools like dropbox, Google Docs, and Skype, working remotely in shared spaces is feasible.

What are the benefits?

• Reduced Overhead Expenses – You can rent daily, monthly or yearly the services or space that you need without committing to long-term office space lease agreements.
• Stable Environment – In a coworking space you’re operating in a stable work environment with reliable Internet access. If you have an important meeting, the noisy environment of coffee shop and/or the potential loss of an Internet connection is no longer a concern.
• Collaboration – When working independently there are times you will need to bounce ideas off someone. Coworking communities are typically a diverse group of thinkers that could include designers, strategist, developers, creatives and entrepreneurs that can provide valuable feedback.

There are some really cool technologies to connect you to flexible workspaces. For example, Worksnug is an augmented reality mobile app that can connect you to available workspaces from your iPhone. Loose Cubes is a visual online directory with over 1,000 workspaces located worldwide to determine the space that best fits your needs.

Coworking Spaces: Some of the prominent examples of coworking spaces in New York and San Francisco are Hive at 55, New Work City, Citizens Space, and Hub So Ma.

Hajj Flemings is a weekly technology columnist for BlackEnterprise.com, Founder of Brand Camp University, and the author of the Brand YU Life. As a speaker and brand strategist he works with some of the largest brands covering the topics of branding and digital technology. Check back next Wednesday for his next column.