U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) commissioned a survey to explore corporate diversity among Fortune 500 and 100 companies.  The survey reached 219 Fortune 500 companies and 71 Fortune 100 companies.  The results, according to the survey, concluded that minorities represent 14.5% of corporate boards and women -18%.  Not quite the results we were hoping for.

For Hispanics, the findings were most disappointing.  According to survey reports, Hispanics have one of the poorest representations on Boards and fare even worse on executive teams with percentages of 3.28% and 2.90% respectively.  Of the data collected on supplier diversity, Hispanic/Latino-owned firms represented 2.9% of total procurement (out of a pool of 98 companies that actually responded to this specific question on the survey). 

Senator Menendez provided a series of recommendations for improving the outlook for minorities and women in corporate America.  Some recommendations included hiring Chief Diversity Officers from diverse communities and holding more than the Human Resources and Chief Diversity Office accountable for diversity in the workplace, among other recommendations.

Access a complete PDF of the findings and recommendations report at: http://menendez.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/CorporateDiversityReport2.pdf