Lawsuits, of course, can prove galvanizing. Coca-Cola recently spent six years implementing and measuring various diversity efforts after African-American employees charged the beverage giant with discrimination. As a result, the percentage of women executives increased by 60 percent between 2000 and 2006, and the percentage of minority executives increased 250 percent in that same period. The morale of minority employees improved as well.

Companies that have made strides in fostering diversity often find they can leverage minority employees to learn more about customers and gain a recruiting advantage. Wal-Mart, for example, has encouraged Fung to get involved in a nascent scholarship fund that the company is co-sponsoring for Asian and Pacific Islander students, speak to chapters of the National Asian American Society of Accountants, and mentor eight employees (some of whom are white males). In fact, he says that 15 percent of his bonus rides on his efforts to help bring diversity into finance. Ironically, that has meant getting reconnected to a part of his identity that he had put away for many years. "It may seem odd," he says, "but I'm much more attuned to my heritage now because of Wal-Mart's desire to understand more about different groups."

That strategy can pay off, says Dobbin. "We're finding that having just one woman or minority among the top 10 managers is very effective in bringing others into management," he says. Good for the company, but it can pose a burden to the employee. "I want to be considered based on my skill set as a financial professional, not as an Asian," says Fung. "If I ever felt that I was in a role because I am Asian, I — and I daresay almost any other Asian — would quit."

All the executives interviewed for this article were quick to downplay the impact that being a minority or a woman has had on their careers. All point to substantial track records of hard work and opportunities seized. But even as they frame their own achievements in strictly personal terms, many female and minority CFOs feel an obligation to help others rise to the top. Toben tries to help women who report to her change jobs every two to three years to give them the same opportunities for promotion that she had. Verizon's head of internal audit and treasurer are both women, as are several key executives who report to them. Bell, who admits that "we don't have enough Black representation throughout finance or other areas of the organization," makes a concerted effort to create a diverse slate of candidates for all executive-level assignments. That "helps the finance leadership team [about a dozen of the company's most senior finance executives] know about more people, and it helps me know we have a level playing field."

The Road Ahead
Conscientious efforts to level the playing field will no doubt help companies wean themselves from the "comfort factor" and cast a wider net for talent. And companies are increasingly realizing that it's to their advantage to move further downstream and help academic institutions improve the educational pipeline (see "Going to the Source" at the end of this article). The most important lesson for companies, however, may be that success depends on doing two things well: making a business case for diversity and sticking with it. Coca-Cola, for example, didn't see big changes in morale among African-American employees until the fifth year of its program, long after most companies tend to declare victory or defeat and move on. The long-standing presence of women in the finance pipeline does appear to be bearing fruit, but it has taken decades for them to ascend from the rank-and-file into positions of leadership.

As useful as those corporate efforts can be, successful women and minorities stress the importance of self-determination. Munoz recalls what happened at that Mexican resort the day after he was mistaken for a pool boy: while relaxing on the beach with his family, he bumped into the couple who had handed him the towels. He greeted them warmly, and the couple, certain they had never met Munoz before, happily chatted with him about work and played with his children. In the end, differences were erased rather than exacerbated. "Minorities are victims of perception on a regular basis," Munoz says, but, "it's how you react that will either motivate you to achieve or consume you and hold you back."

Alix Nyberg Stuart is senior writer at CFO.

Going to the Source
Educational Partnering

One promising tactic for promoting diversity in finance is to partner with colleges and professional associations. "This is our future source of talent," says Derica W. Rice, CFO of Eli Lilly, and "the earlier we can build relationships with them, the better."

Coca-Cola, for example, plans to recruit from historically Black colleges like Morehouse and Spelman for a new multiyear summer internship it is launching. At Cardinal Health, CFO Jeff Henderson recently hosted the local National Black MBA Association chapter, with a staffing team and other executives and members of the finance team on hand to discuss career opportunities.

Not surprisingly, financial aid helps immensely. Lilly offers financial support to the Consortium for Graduate Studies in Management, a St. Louis–based scholarship fund that helped Rice pay for his MBA 20 years ago. And Oscar Munoz, CFO of CSX Corp., started a scholarship fund with his wife that is helping nearly 70 Hispanics and African-Americans through middle school, high school, and college.

• « previous
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• next »