OREANDA-NEWS. October 03, 2012. AT&T was awarded the 2012 Corporation of the Year at the 33rd Annual National Convention by The United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (USHCC) held in Los Angeles, reported the press-centre of AT&T.

"AT&T has made a visible commitment to incorporating a growing number of Hispanic-owned enterprises into their supplier networks," said Javier Palomarez, USHCC President & CEO. "This kind of dedication is vital to the health of the Hispanic business community and will do a great deal to influence major corporations across the nation - and globally - to recognize the power of Hispanic business."

“We’re honored by this recognition and accept it as a sign that we’re doing the right thing by weaving diversity and inclusion into everything we do at AT&T, and that includes bringing diverse suppliers, such as Hispanic business, into our supply chain,” said Tim Harden, AT&T president of Supply Chain and Fleet Operations, during his acceptance remarks at the USHCC Convention’s Chairman’s Gala.

AT&T has been a diversity leader for more than 40 years.  The company has received broad recognition for its four-legged approach to diversity and inclusion to encompass workforce, supply chain, multicultural marketing, and community involvement.

People of color represent 39 percent of the AT&T workforce.  Latinos represent 12 percent of the total workforce and comprise 16 percent of all new hires.

AT&T sponsors 11 employee resource groups reflecting the company’s diverse workforce. The Hispanic/Latino Employee Association of AT&T (HACEMOS), with Carmen Nava, senior vice president of Customer Information Services, as one of its executive champions, is one of the most active internally and in the community.  The group is heavily focused on helping Hispanic youth stay in school and pursue careers in technology.  For 14 consecutive years, HACEMOS has held High Technology Day, giving thousands of high school students nationwide a view of career possibilities in technology fields.  HACEMOS was named winner of the 2010 U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Top Latino ERG Corporate Challenge.

AT&T set one of corporate America’s most aggressive supplier diversity goals—to reach 21.5 percent of total spend with certified diverse businesses by 2012. In 2011, AT&T spent \\$12 billion with diverse suppliers, surpassing its corporate goal a year ahead of schedule by hitting 23 percent. The company also had an increase in spending with Hispanic suppliers that provide solutions throughout its supply chain and in growth areas such as wireless cell site deployment, technical resources, and application development. Additionally, the company’s Hispanic suppliers self-reported that over 2,000 jobs have been created supporting AT&T.

On the community side, earlier this year AT&T announced an additional investment in education through its AT&T Aspire initiative.  Aspire is AT&T’s USD350 million commitment to education, with a focus on helping more students graduate from high school ready for careers and college, and to ensure the country is better prepared to meet global competition.  Hispanic high school students represent a significant focus for AT&T Aspire funding.

AT&T serves Hispanic consumers with close to 800 bilingual (Spanish-English) retail stores nationwide, an extensive offering of news and entertainment content in Spanish, as well as substantial Hispanic advertising budget.

AT&T diversity and inclusion practices have been recognized by numerous organizations and publications including the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility (HACR), which gave AT&T its highest score on the 2011 Corporate Inclusion Index; DiversityInc, which ranked AT&T No. 5 on the Top 10 Companies for Latinos list in 2012; the National Minority Supplier Development Council, which named AT&T 2010 Corporation of the year; Hispanic Business Inc., which ranked AT&T among its top three companies for diversity for five years in a row; LATINA Style magazine, which recognized the company for 15 years; and the National Association for Female Executives, which recognized AT&T as a Top 50 company for female executives in 2012.

*AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc.