NAFE: Announces top 50 companies for executive women

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Julia Monti, The Rosen Group

646.694.7044

julia@rosengrouppr.com

Winners Far Outpacing Fortune 500 in Advancement of Women

American Express, Kraft, IBM, Procter & Gamble and Prudential among the NAFE Top 10

New York, N.Y. (March 15, 2011) – The National Association for Female Executives (NAFE) today reveals the widening gap of women’s advancement between the Fortune 500 and winners of the annual NAFE Top 50 Companies for Executive Women, announced today. Nearly three quarters of the NAFE Top Companies have three or more women on their board of directors versus fewer that one quarter of the Fortune 500. Women are 14 percent of CEOs at the NAFE Top Companies versus just 2.4 percent, and are 32 percent of top earners versus 7.6 percent of the Fortune 500.

The NAFE Top Companies, an annual benchmark for Corporate America, recognizes companies whose policies and practices encourage women’s advancement and whose representation of women at the highest levels of leadership demonstrates that commitment.

This year marks an important milestone: at the 2011 NAFE Top Companies, women executives run 23 percent of operations that generate more than $1 billion in revenue. “Women have long struggled to reach the highest ranks in a male-dominated business environment, but with the growing profitability of companies with women in the top ranks, that is changing,” declares Dr. Betty Spence, NAFE president. “Today, employers reward the skills that women bring and demand them of men, as well.”

What are the Top Companies doing right? They offer these key programs and policies:

*Support women’s affinity and network groups (100%)

*Offer executive coaching and leadership training to female employees (100%)

*Identify high potential women early (98%)

*Offer formal executive succession planning (98%)

*Have program to identify and resolve wage gap grievances (96%)

*Sponsor mentoring programs that specifically target women (94%)

*Have manager training on implementing flexible work arrangements (92%)

In addition to the Top Companies, NAFE today names the 2011 Top 10 Non Profit Companies for Executive women. These include nine hospitals and healthcare systems and the March of Dimes Foundation. The Top Non Profits outpace even the NAFE Top 50 in representation of women and top earners with 80 percent female employees and 65 percent female top earners.

“The NAFE Top 10 Nonprofits exhibit collaborative leadership cultures and have strong programs to train and support women. They have worked hard to move large numbers of women into leadership positions to reflect the composition of their employee base. We are very proud to recognize the Top Nonprofits,” said Carol Evans, CEO of NAFE, a division of international media company Bonnier.

NAFE will honor each of the Top Companies at a gala luncheon at Cipriani 42nd Street in New York City, on March 30. Prior to the luncheon, senior women executives who have profit and loss responsibilities at the NAFE Top Companies will meet at the closed door NAFE Roundtable to discuss critical business issues. A report will be published in NAFE magazine.

The 2011 NAFE Top 50 Companies for Executive Women are (in alphabetical order): **Denotes a NAFE Top Ten winner

**Abbott – Abbott Park, Ill.
Accenture – New York, N.Y.
Aetna – Hartford, Conn.
Allstate Insurance Company – Northbrook, Ill.
American Electric Power – Columbus, Ohio
**American Express Company – New York, N.Y.
AOL Inc. – New York, N.Y.
AstraZeneca – Wilmington, Del.
AT&T – Dallas, Texas
**Bank of America – Charlotte, N.C.
Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceutical USA – Ridgefield, Conn.
Bristol-Myers Squibb – New York, N.Y.
Cisco – San Jose, Calif.
Citi – New York, N.Y.
Colgate-Palmolive Company – New York, N.Y.
DuPont – Wilmington, Del.
Eli Lilly and Company – Indianapolis, Ind.
Fleishman-Hillard Inc. – St. Louis, Mo.
**General Mills – Minneapolis, Minn.
HCA Virginia Health – Richmond, Va.
HSBC North America –. Mettawa, Ill.
**IBM – Armonk, N.Y.
Intel – Santa Clara, Calif.
Johnson & Johnson – New Brunswick, N.J.
**KPMG – New York, NY
**Kraft – Northfield, Ill.
Macy’s – New York, N.Y.
**Marriott International Inc. – Bethesda, Md.
McDonald’s Corporation – Oak Brook, Ill.
McKinsey & Company – New York, N.Y.
Merck – Whitehouse Station, N.J.
MetLife Inc. – New York, N.Y.
New York Life Insurance Co. – New York, N.Y.
New York Times Company – New York, N.Y.
Northern Trust – Chicago, Ill.
Office Depot – Delray Beach, Fla.
Pfizer Inc – New York, N.Y.
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman – New York, NY
PNC Financial Services Group – Pittsburgh, Pa.
Principal Financial Group – Des Moines, Iowa
**Procter & Gamble Company – Cincinnati, Ohio
**Prudential Financial Inc. – Newark, N.J.
Sodexo – Gaithersburg, Md.
State Farm – Bloomington, Ill.
Texas Instruments – Dallas, Texas
Verizon Communications Inc. – New York, N.Y.
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. – Bentonville, Ark.
WellPoint, Inc. – Indianapolis, Ind.
Wyndham Worldwide – Parsippany-Troy Hills, New Jersey
Xerox Corporation – Norwalk, Conn.

The 2011 NAFE Top 10 Nonprofits for Executive Women are (in alphabetical order):
Bon Secours Richmond Health System – Richmond, Va.
March of Dimes Foundation – White Plains, N.Y.
Mercy Health System – Janesville, Wis.
MidMichigan Health – Midland, Mich.
Moffitt Cancer Center – Tampa, Fla.
Northwestern Memorial HealthCare – Chicago, Ill.
TriHealth, A Partnership of Bethesda and Good Samaritan – Cincinnati, Ohio
VCU Health System – Richmond, Va.
WellStar Health System – Marietta, Ga.
Yale-New Haven Hospital – New Haven, Conn.

Methodology: The 2011 NAFE Top Companies application includes 225 questions on such topics as female representation, hiring, attrition and promotion rates; access and usage of key retention and advancement programs such as mentoring, executive coaching, networking and sponsorship; company culture; and manager training and accountability. The application draws particular attention to the number of women at the highest ranks and those with profit-and-loss responsibility. To be considered for the NAFE Top Companies for Executive Women, companies must have a minimum of two women on their board of directors as well as at least 500 employees in the U.S.

About NAFE

The National Association for Female Executives (NAFE), founded in 1972, serves 20,000 members nationwide with networking, tools and solutions to strengthen and grow their careers and businesses. NAFE magazine publishes the annual Top Companies issue and the annual Women of Excellence issue. NAFE.com provides up-to-date information, community for women in business and access to member benefits. NAFE is a division of Working Mother Media and Bonnier Corporation.

About Bonnier Corp.

Bonnier Corp. (http://www.bonniercorp.com) is one of the largest consumer-publishing groups in America and is the leading media company serving passionate, highly engaged audiences, through 50 special-interest magazines and related multimedia projects and events. Bonnier Corp. is the U.S. division of the Bonnier Group (http://www.bonnier.com), a 200-year-old, family-owned media group based in Sweden with business operations in 25 countries.