Inclusion
Index
2019
scholarships were her only options for college. She
joined the professional-services fi rm, and was won
over by the inclusive culture, coaching and spon-
sorship. She and husband, Mark, have three sons—
Ben, 16, Ryan, 15, and Nick, 12, who was born blind.
Company Support: “After my second son, I went on
a fl exible work arrangement for 10 years and was
the fi rst in our region on fl extime to be promoted
to partner. After Nick was born, I was off ered so
much internal support. I was sent information
about a blind accountant on staff , and someone
Brailled my business cards to show me the hope for
my youngest to have the same opportunities as my
sighted boys.”General Motors
Michelle Kehrig
Design Release Engineer
Her True Self: Michelle earned an
engineering degree after exposure to
automotive design through her
neighbor, a GM designer. She and her
husband have two sons, Eric, 22, and Evan, 21. She
intended to work a couple of years after her second
child’s birth, but health issues delayed her return
to an engineering role for 18 years. GM’s Take 2
Program—a 12-week internship for employees who
have been out of the workforce for at least two
years—was life-changing.
Company Support: “The Take 2 Program
recognized my previous engineering experience
from a diff erent industry. Transferable skills from
a non-engineering job and volunteering were also
valued. I was paired with a Take 2 alum, as well as
GM women who are part of the
Society of Women Engineers.
Those conversations kept me
focused and energized during
uncertain times.”IBM
Lakisha Hall
Director of Data and
AI Expert Labs
and Learning
Her True Self:
Lakisha grew up in
a small town in Virginia. Her
parents hadn’t attended college,
but aunts and mentors
encouraged her to visit Howard,
a historically black university,
where she felt a connection. She
pursued math and technology,
which led to a job with a
consulting firm, purchased by
IBM in 2003. Her career
flourished at the tech giant,
with opportunities to obtain an
MBA and be a leader withEcolab
Valerie C. Heard
Director of Marketing, Food Safety Solutions
Her True Self: Born in Chicago to
parents who divorced when Valerie
was young, she grew up in Michigan.
Her early goals centered on fi nancial
stability for herself and her family, which led to a
career in marketing and a series of promotions. She
joined the global water, hygiene and energy services
company in 2015. Her sons, Miles, 21, and Max, 19,
are both students at the University of Chicago.
Company Support: Employee-resource groups have
helped her understand the corporate culture. She
became aware of them during the interview process.
“Since I’m in a remote location, I appreciate that
Ecolab supports my travel to attend ERG events.
I have had occasion to reach out to more-senior
ERG members for support, recently on a problem
impacting my productivity. They helped me obtain
coaching to brainstorm approaches to solve it.”Ernst & Young LLP
Sandra Oliver
Partner, Americas Assurance Talent Leader
Her True Self: Raised in a “very
traditional Hispanic family” in San
Antonio, neither of Sandra’s parents
fi nished high school, and loans and40
Now in its third year, the Diversity Best
Practices Inclusion Index provides
information to help organizations
understand gaps in demographic
representation, and is a strategic road map
to drive internal change to fi nd and
implement D&I solutions. This year, the
number of participants increased by 17
percent, with 148 sharing their data. They
were scored in three areas: best practices
in recruitment, retention and advancement
of people from underrepresented groups—
women, racial/ethnic minorities, people
with disabilities, and lesbian, gay, bisexual,
transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people;
creating an inclusive culture through lead-
ership, accountability, communications
and employee engagement; and transpar-
ency in willingness to share workforce
demographic data. This year, we added
another component to transparency, andevaluated the results of the demographic
data for gender and race/ethnicity for
management and more-senior positions.
That’s because diversity in representation
is one of the best ways to assess
outcomes of D&I initiatives.
The Working Mother Research Institute
determined that 80 organizations scoring
60 percent and above should be recog-
nized for their high-quality diversity and
inclusion work, and named them Diversity
Best Practices Inclusion Index members. A
second threshold at 75 percent recognized
15 of them as Leading Organizations that
had superior achievement. This year, we
decided to recognize 14 companies that
were our top 10 percent highest scores for
their exemplary work. Profi les of individu-
als at those 14 companies who exemplify
the success of an inclusive corporate
culture are showcased here.ABOUT THE INDEX