"Our business is all about people," said Jimmie Paschall,
global diversity officer and senior vice president, external affairs for
Marriott International, Inc. "As our company grows globally, it is
imperative that we expand our diversity and inclusion strategy to
encompass cultural competencies, building upon our success in the
United States."
In 2003, Marriott's Board of Directors established the Committee for
Excellence, chaired today by board member Debra L. Lee,
chairman and CEO of BET Networks, to monitor the progress of the
company's diversity initiatives.
Marriott has surpassed both of its major diversity goals set in 2005:
to spend $1 billion with diverse suppliers and have 500
hotels owned or operated by diverse groups by 2010. To date, Marriott
has spent $2.3 billion with diverse-owned businesses, more
than doubling its 2005 goal, and has more than 550 diverse-owned hotels
that are open for business.
The company continues to be recognized for its diversity and inclusion
achievements. This year, Marriott was ranked seventh on DiversityInc's
"Top 50 Companies for Diversity" list and among the "Top 50 Companies
for Executive Women" by the National Association for Female Executives.
To select the 2010 companies, Black Enterprise sent
surveys to the nation's top 1,000 companies as well as to the
50 leading global companies with strong U.S. operations. The questionnaire
focused on the participation of African Americans and members of other
ethnic minority groups as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau. Because of
the high number of job losses since the recession, a heavier weighting
was applied to the senior management and supplier diversity areas. The
final scores, along with the results of reporting and research conducted
by the editorial staff, were used to determine the 40 Best Companies
for Diversity.
The complete report, including methodology and selection criteria, is
available in the July issue of Black Enterprise magazine, on
newsstands June 29.
