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BLACK ENTERPRISE has released its listing of the 40 Best Companies for Diversity as featured in the publication's September 2015 issue. While the list showed most companies scoring high marks in senior management and corporate governance, most were found unsatisfactory when it came to procurement dollars spent with firms owned by African Americans and ethnic minorities - demonstrating a critical need to diversify this area.

In 2005, BLACK ENTERPRISE began publishing its list of the "Best Companies for Diversity," identifying those corporations that proved to be the best of the best in executing policies and developing a culture that promoted inclusion for African Americans within their workforce, senior management ranks, corporate boards, and supplier pools. Highlights of this year's list include four companies with black CEOs, 59 black female senior managers, and 72 black board members across companies.

In compiling this year's list, the BLACK ENTERPRISE research team sent surveys to more than 1,000 of the largest publicly traded companies and global companies with significant U.S. operations. This year, BLACK ENTERPRISE gained support from the Executive Leadership Council, the pre-eminent organization of current and former CEOs, board members, senior executives, and leading entrepreneurs in producing our list.  

Companies were evaluated based on representation of African Americans in senior management and on their board of directors, percentage of African Americans within the employee base and the procurement dollars spent with African American or ethnic minority group firms. There is still work to do in terms of major corporations fully embracing diversity; hundreds of companies were either unresponsive or declined to participate in our survey process.

Of the 40 best, Exelon Corp., IBM Corp., McDonald's Corp., and MGM Resorts International were some of the companies that demonstrated significant strengths in the four areas surveyed. 

The 40 Best Companies for Diversity were acknowledged during the 2015 Executive Leadership Gala in Washington, DC.

The complete report, including methodology and selection criteria, is available in the September 2015 issue of black enterprise magazine.

BLACK ENTERPRISE, your ultimate source for wealth creation, is the premier business, investing, and wealth-building resource for African Americans. Since 1970, BE has provided essential business information and advice to professionals, corporate executives, entrepreneurs, and decision makers. Every month, BLACK ENTERPRISE magazine provides 6 million readers with information on entrepreneurship, careers, and financial management. As multimedia company, BLACK ENTERPRISE produces television programming, business and lifestyle events, Web content and digital media. BLACK ENTERPRISE is the definitive source of information for and about African American business markets and leaders, and the authority on black business news and trends.

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