Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility

The Hispanic Association On Corporate Responsibility Releases Final Rankings and Results of the HACR Corporate Index

May 13, 2005

WASHINGTON – Today the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility released its final rankings and results of its groundbreaking HACR Corporate Index survey. The Index measured FORTUNE 100 inclusion of the Hispanic community across five distinct areas of their business models, including corporate executive leadership, corporate governance, workforce representation, Hispanic community market share and reciprocity, and minority supplier outreach and development.

“The Hispanic community is now the world’s eighth largest economy, yet many companies among FORTUNE 100 have not seized the opportunity of fully engage this community,” said Alfonso E. Martinez, president and CEO of HACR. “We are disappointed that some FORTUNE 100 companies chose not to participate in a simple yet highly visible opportunity to engage the Hispanic community, and by doing so they are failing to create trust for their brand. Nevertheless, among those who participated, close to 30 percent of F100, we have identified key facts that point to the successes and several conditions relative to Hispanic inclusion needing improvement.”

“Among some of the most important findings we see that Hispanic women are on the outside looking in to the classic power centers of the corporate boardroom, the top 10, and top 100 executive ranks. Less than half of the survey respondents make a specific economic commitment to the Hispanic small business community. And the vast majority of respondents have not adopted a model of purposeful and specific reciprocity with the communities from which they derive the most benefit,” added Martinez.

Other research findings:

57 percent of participants have Hispanic representation in the boardroom (vs 37% of all F100 companies).

Of all boards seats within F100 companies, Hispanics hold 3.85 percent.

No participating company employs a Hispanic woman as the “Top 10” executive.

81 percent of respondents track Hispanic hiring rates.

48 percent of respondents commit to a specific spending volume with Hispanic-owned firms.

76 percent of respondents track Hispanic market share.

81 percent of respondents do not consider the economic contributions derived from the Hispanic community as a benchmark for inclusion or corporate philanthropy.

The top 10 ranked companies according to the HACR Corporate Index survey of FORTUNE 100 companies are: IBM, Verizon, PepsiCo, Home Depot, General Motors, SBC, GE, Wal-Mart, Altria, and Coca-Cola.

About HACR

Founded in 1986 as a coalition of 14 prominent national Hispanic organizations, the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility is a nonprofit, tax-exempt, 501 (c) 3 organization, headquartered in Washington, D.C. HACR’s mission is to ensure the inclusion of Hispanics in corporate America at a level commensurate with our economic contributions. HACR focuses on four areas of corporate responsibility and market reciprocity. They are: Employment, Procurement, Philanthropy, and Governance.

In pursuit of its mission, HACR offers corporate America direct access to the Hispanic community – its talent, entrepreneurs, and leadership – creating a forum to ensure corporate responsibility and market reciprocity for the nation’s Hispanic population.