And the award goes to …

Meet our 2009 Diversity Champions
They’re known and admired for excellence in cable products, operations and content. But behind the scenes, The Walter Kaitz Foundation’s 2009 Diversity Champions stand out just as prominently for their embrace of diversity as a competitive business advantage.

They’re Comcast Corp. and Turner Broadcasting System Inc. And we’re privileged to honor them at The 2009 Walter Kaitz Foundation Annual Dinner in Denver, Colorado.

An industry model
Through activities in philanthropy, management recruiting, supplier selection and more, Comcast and Turner Broadcasting System provide a model for how forward-thinking companies can weave a commitment to diversity into daily business activities and broader strategic goals.

Here are just some of the ways they make it happen:

Comcast Corporation…

The prominent U.S. cable operator, programmer and media company has made diversity a central focus throughout its entire organization, with its efforts and accomplishments reviewed monthly by the Comcast Diversity Council, an internal group made up of many of Comcast’s senior executives. From doing business with diverse suppliers to recruiting a talented and diverse workforce, Comcast has woven a commitment to diversity throughout its operations. Here’s how.

Supplier diversity: Since the inception of its Supplier Diversity Program in 2003, Comcast has increased both total spending and the percentage of its overall supplier expenditures that have gone to companies associated with women and minorities. To achieve these results, Comcast has been proactive in developing an extensive network of diverse suppliers, and has worked to make this network easily available to purchasing agents across the country. In 2008, Comcast spent more than $500 million with women and minority business enterprises (WMBE), representing represents 11.1% of the company’s total supplier expenditures. The 2008 sum also represents an 83.5% increase over 2003 levels.

Corporate philanthropy: Comcast’s commitment to diversity is exemplified through the company’s association and work with a range of community-based organizations. Through national and local initiatives, Comcast seeks to have a significant impact on the communities it serves and has a specific focus on women and people of color. With its corporate offices providing strategic direction that is implemented at both the divisional and local levels, Comcast provides significant financial support for a wide range of organizations but also prides itself with being an active participant with well over 300,000 hours of service provided by its employees. Since 2004, Comcast has increased direct contributions over 338% to over $9 million. At the same time, it also increased the share of its contributions devoted to diverse organizations to over 50%. Comcast has formed numerous partnerships with national organizations including Asian Pacific American Islander Congressional Studies, City Year, the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, the National Council of La Raza and the National Urban League, just to name a few.

Recruitment and retention: Comcast has demonstrated a commitment to attracting and retaining a talented and diverse workforce through proactive recruiting efforts and strong leadership development programs. Today, women represent over one third of the overall workforce and approximately 25% of employees at the Vice President level or above. People of color represent over 40% of the company’s workforce overall with approximately 11% at the Vice President level or above. Comcast continues its efforts to diversify its most senior leadership through activities including:

• The implementation of a consistent company-wide diversity scorecard
• The integration of talent management, diversity and inclusion approaches that increase development opportunities for women and people of color
• Leveraging NAMIC’s Executive Leadership Development Program and WICT’s Betsy Magness Leadership Institute to create mentoring opportunities and increase visibility for rising leaders

Employee programs and other initiatives: Comcast is an active supporter of many industry-based organizations including the Emma Bowen Foundation, NAMIC & WICT. In addition, Comcast has developed or expanded its partnerships with organizations such as the T. Howard Foundation, INROADS, and the National Society of Black Engineers.

Programming content: Comcast delivers programming that reflects the diverse interests of its customers. On a local level, Comcast seeks to customize offerings to reflect the demographics of the various markets in which it does business. As an organization, it interacts with more than 130 multicultural television networks. These efforts have helped Comcast achieve significant increases in the number of ethnic customers Comcast serves despite the economic downturn. Comcast has also sought out opportunities to partner in creating new programming to meet the needs of diverse audiences.

Turner Broadcasting System…

The operator of popular television networks including CNN, TBS and TNT has developed a far-reaching program to increase diversity throughout its workforce, within its programming and its supplier base. Turner Broadcasting has created a professional environment that values divergent voices, encourages innovative thinking and expression and rewards individual and collective accomplishments. The people who represent its various brands embody the broadest possible range of age, gender, sexual orientation, race and ethnicity, mirroring the diversity of the viewers they serve and the markets in which they operate. Here are some examples of Turner Broadcasting’s commitment to diversity.

Supplier Diversity: Turner Broadcasting participates in the Time Warner Supplier Diversity Program, a corporate-wide effort that including training/education, external outreach, goals/measurements and tracking/reporting elements. The Time Warner Supplier Diversity Program is affiliated with the National Minority Supplier Diversity Council and the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council.

Corporate Philanthropy: Turner Broadcasting supports community efforts through employee volunteerism, special initiatives and charitable contributions. Since its inception, Turner Broadcasting employees have volunteered in the communities where they live and work. In 1998, TBS, Inc. formalized its commitment to supporting employee volunteerism by forming the Turner Volunteers Program that has donated approximately 60,000 man hours to complete over 130 projects. As part of its business practices, TBS, Inc. encourages educational activities and community involvement. Among its special initiatives is Turner Learning, CNN Student News, the Peachtree TV Community Affairs morning program, JJ on Atlanta and an award-winning Clean Air Commute program.

Recruiting and retention: Demonstrating its commitment to diversity throughout its workforce, Turner Broadcasting has developed a career management strategy that has served as a guideline for all human resource talent programs, affecting staffing plans, training assessments, budget process and more. This strategy cuts across all business groups and is spearheaded by the executive team and its internal Diversity Council. Through this program, corporate human resource executives partner with human resource generalists across the company to communicate the rationale for supporting this strategy through the “Diversity Drives Innovation” messaging program. Additionally, Turner Broadcasting is implementing a new quarterly Diversity Scorecard that will to measure key performance indicators in the workforce, workplace and marketplace, to identify trends within each area, and to prioritize goals and investments.

Employee programs and other initiatives: Turner Broadcasting works to incorporate diversity into all of its business areas, including hiring, on-air talent, vendor selection and marketing, with help from an executive diversity committee and a comprehensive Business Group Resource strategy. The Business Groups represent various populations within Turner Broadcasting, including women, African Americans, Latinos, parents, and other professionals. Their focus is on:

• fostering professional development through networking and outreach opportunities;
• helping to educate and promote an environment of understanding, acceptance, diversity and inclusion among all employees; and
• serving as business resources.

Programming content diversity: Turner Broadcasting has made significant efforts to diversify its programs across all of it networks. Each business unit focuses on programs that will appeal to the needs of its diverse domestic and global markets. Through the development and successful launch of shows such as Tyler Perry’s House of Payne and Meet the Browns to new shows featuring artists such as George Lopez, Turner has sought to appeal to audiences of color and has been clear in its intention to implement shows with ensemble casts of diverse actors