The 15 Best Companies for Senior Management have shown their commitment to grooming diverse executives for placement into powerhouse positions. Developing diverse talent to inhabit the C-level job actually begins five to 10 years prior with promotions to vice president and senior VP levels. “In many cases, when you’re talking about the people who are doing C-level jobs, they have 20-25 years of experience,” says Marlon D. Cousin of the Marquin Group, a boutique executive search firm in Atlanta. “Well, 20 or 25 years ago minorities weren’t given an opportunity to do the jobs that would prepare them for a C-level job today and that’s why the pool is so small now.”

The companies that made the Senior Management sublist had the highest percentage of senior management positions held by African Americans and members of other ethnic minority groups. In determining the 40 Best Companies for Diversity, a heavier weighting was given to scores in Senior Management.

We will also highlight these companies in the Diversity Watch section in upcoming issues of BE. Check BlackEnterprise.com tomorrow for the entire list of 40 Best Companies for Diversity.

Click on the Job Opportunities column below for more information about diversity at a specific company.

To see all 40 companies on The 2008 BLACK ENTERPRISE Best Companies for Diversity pick up a copy of Black Enterprise magazine’s July 2008 issue. —THE EDITORS

Our Methodology:
The 2008 BLACK ENTERPRISE Best Companies for Diversity were determined by analyzing the responses to a survey of major corporations to determine investments in key diversity activities. BE engaged in a comprehensive outreach effort to the CEOs and diversity executives of the top 1,000 publicly traded companies and the diversity executives for the 50 leading global companies with strong U.S. operations.

BE’s corporate diversity survey focused primarily on activities related to the participation of African Americans and members of other ethnic minority groups.

Upon receipt of all surveys, BE performed a quantitative assessment of all corporate respondents in each survey category. Based on the analysis, each company was provided a score per category, which was compiled into a final survey score.