Panel
fhmt page AI
$f America is changing, compa
nies and organizations have to
embrace diversity if they hope
to be successful. Including
diversity as part of a business
strategy can mean everything
(rom hiring the best people or
forming business-to-business
partnerships to creating niche
marketing strategies."
Forum panelists were: Linda
Higueras. vice president and
director of diversity in corpo
rate human resources for Wells
Fargo; Curtis Mathew s Jr., vice
president of corporate EEO and
people diversity for CIGNA
Corp.; John E. Kobara. senior
vice president of strategic
development in the online high
er education division for Sylvan
Learning Systems Inc.; and
? Rich Bevan. vice president of
human resources for Quest
Diagnostics.
Bill Taggert. chief adminis
trative officer for Wachovia's
insurance division within its
capital management group,
helped frame the discussion
before the panelists gave their
talks. "I would like to talk a lit
tle bit about the diversity topic
but more from a business
imperative standpoint... When
we take a look at just purely
household growth, between
2(X)I and 2015, in the African
American community, they are
projected to grow at 32 percent.
And the Latino community is
projecteifto grow at 60 percent.
The buying power of African
Americans went from, in 1990,
from about $308 billion to
about
$572 bil
lion. This
question
of diver
sity is not
just one
of what is
right and
what is
just, it is
also a
business
impera
tive fo ensure that corporations
align their business models lo
be able to market effectively to
this growing presence in the
marketplace.
"What are the ramifications
of not understanding the issue
and acting appropriately? In my
humble opinion, they are
tjyofold: It will be very, very
difficult from which to recruit
the very talented human capital
?that is necessary to run corpora
tions....It will be very difficult
Jo even retain that talent as well,
and not having those precious
resources within the confines of
>our organization, you will
probably have some type of
?weakness in terms of your
Jhought leadership.
"The ramifications can be
also tairly severe from a finan
cial standpoint. Not having the
resources internally, not having
that thought leadership, not
having the insight to know how
to change and calibrate your
sales and service processes and
other points of infrastructure in
your business can have a finan
cial consequence as well. You
could lose market share; you
could have a new competitor
come on the scene and they
have developed it as a core
competency and take market
share from you and (you) have
customer attrition and some
other not-so-pleasant outcomes.
"So it is a business dilemma
that we face and a business
dilemma that the Wachovia
Corporation is taking very seri
ously. We re taking a very'holis
tic approach toward the topic of
diversity. One. we have been
(on) a journey in terms of devel
oping awareness and having
formal diversity councils inside
of our corporation. Each one of
our organizations has a diversi
ty council and we have a corpo
rate diversity council. And that
council talks about things that
really matter when it is all said
and done. How do we go forth
andbuild the tight -environment
so- ttts'-eonducrve^o that" eviJFy
nri3"uqi w*hance "
to be able todisplay their talent
inside thevorporation. We also
have discussion in terms of our
best practices in terms of
recruiting, retention. We have a
diversity scorecafd that each
one of our senior executives is
accountable for. making a link
between the talk and the action
associated with the internal
readiness.
We have also had teams put
together to take a look at the
true business <&se related to
diversity, literally the business
case, which says what is the
economic benefit to the corpo
ration in terms of making
fhanges from a marketing,
sales, or services standpoint to
he able to ensure that we get our
fair share of the market as it per
tains to
all of the
con
stituent
'cies in
our mar
ketplace,
may they
b e
African
A m e r i -
can. may
they be Caucasian, may they be
Latino or any other group. We
also have ... a strong emphasis
around the women's market.
That is another growth ...
emerging domestic market that
has probably been underserved
and under-met in terms or tak
ing our financial services prod
ucts and presenting them in a
light that will resonate of the
minds and desires of women. It
is a long journey, it is hard
work...
"The color of success as it
pertains to diversity is twofold:
one. to build the right environ
ment so we can bring the best
and brightest, give them the
tools and techniques they can
fully demonstrate the full extent
of their capabilities and then
manifest the outcome of that in
terms of products and services
so that we can get all the cus
tomers we possibly can in a
profitable fashion and give ade
quate return to our shareholders.
Let's not forget about the share
holder."
Higueras, a Latina who has
more than 20 years of experi
ence in human resources man
agement. said that, for some,
diversity has become a dirty
word, bringing up thoughts of
affirmative action and racial
quotas. She said that's not what
diversity is. She said diversity
involves appreciation for and
use of people's different talents
and attributes in a multicultural
society. She said that corporate
officials need to be re-educated
of the meaning of "diversity-"
She said that companies that
are not multiculturally diverse
in their operations, advertising,
marketing and community
involvements stand to lose mar
ket, share. As an example, she
said a Latino customer told her
he buys Pepsi, not Coke,
because he perceives that Pepsi
is more involved in the Hispan
ic community, for instance,
sponsoring community events.
Likewise. Higueras said she
recently saw an advertisement
for a competitor of Wachovia
and there were no people of
color among the smiling faces
featured in the ad. Not good,
she said.
She said some people of
color have told her they are
reluctant to do business with
cruise companies that send out
brochures featuring only white
people having fun.
And her own employer.
Wells Fargo, had room for
improvement too. Some people
in focus groups said they found
Wells Fargo's advertisement
featuring two white men with
w hips riding on a stagecoach to
be intimidating. So the adver
tisement was changed to show
the silhouette of a stagecoach,
which was much more "neu
tral," Higueras said.
Wells Fargo offers a wide
range of
diversity
services
for its
cus
tomers,
including
transla
tors;
instruc
tions,
services
and forms 0
in more than one language; tar
geted products and services to
different ethnic or racial groups;
and the company is increasing
its small business loans for
women- and minority-owned
businesses, Higueras said.
"It's all these little things
that make a big difference." she
said.
Mathews, who has overall
responsibility for developing
and implementing CIGNA's
people diversity strategy, said
diversity is similarities plus dif
ferences, minus biases. He
defines contribution as skills,
talents and experiences plus
inclusion. He said diversity plus
contribution equals value.
He stressed the importance
of companies having a vigorous
performance management sys
tem to ensure diversity. He said
that at C1GMA managers can
not receive their bonuses unless
they meet their diversity goals.
Mathews also said that com
panies that do not embrace
diversity stand to lose market
share. He said companies
should not overlook the impor
tance of women, as well as peo
ple of different ethnic and racial
groups.
Before the forum, a
Wachovia representative pre
sented a $2 million check to
Babcock School Dean R.
Charles Moyer to fund the
Wachovia Scholars Program,
which will furnish scholarships
and career assistance to MBA
(master's in business adminis
tration) students to create a
more diverse student body. The
program provides three scholar
ships annually for under-repre
sented full-time MBA students
to cover up to 100 percent of
tuition, fees and costs associat
ed with an international summer
study trip. The program was
announced in November, and
the first recipients will begin
MBA studies this fall.
Art imitated life for Price
Local singer/actress
poured a lot of
herself into playing
the legendary
Josephine Baker
BY SHERIDAN HILL
THE CHRONICLE
Once upon a time there was a
girl. This skinny, little girl, the
daughter of a St. Louis washer
woman. became the highest paid
entertainer in Europe in 1927.
Josephine Baker was one of the
most photographed women in the
world who became a French spy
at one point in her life. She was a
sensual performer who struggled
heroically against racism (a New
York Times article once called
her "the Negro wench").
For two weekends in Febru
ary, Baker's courageous and
3 heart-tom life came alive through
Janice Price's soulful perform
ances at the Artistic Studio on
Third Street. The production was
the result of Price's 22-year inter
est in Baker's life that began
while Price was a student at
Howard University.
Price first played Josephine
Baker in 1985 at The Kennedy
Center in the play "Mamarra the
Gypsy," written by a French
playwright and friend of Baker's.
Price felt an instant familial bond
with Baker.
"1 know what it is like to not
be loved by either side." Price
said. "Since 1 was a small child. 1
have had problems with racism.
It runs everywhere, including
within races. There is a line in the
play: 'Josephine's too light to be
black and too dark to be white.'
Josephine Baker and I both suf
fered from that prejudice. She
felt, as I do, that the same color
blood runs through everyone's
skin."
Price's play. "Josephine," is a
dramatic, historical musical that
includes scenes from Baker's life
that mirror Price's life. One such
scene involves the Ku Klux Klan.
"I was the first black to inte
grate Walkertown Elementary
School when I was 6 years old."
Price said. "I woke up one night
to find a cross burning in the
neighbor's yard. The Klan had
made a mistake and put it in the
wrong place. When Josephine
cries, 'Mama, hold me close,'
that is a scene from my own life."
"Josephine" is a complete
rewrite of a play Price wrote in
1984. It was first produced in
1992 at the Broach Theater in
Greensboro. In the more recent
production. Price worked with
Nathan Ross Freeman, the Win
ston-Salem playwright who
founded the Montage Showcase
Ensemble. Freeman urged Price
to tear into the script to get to the
heart of Baker's life.
"An audience comes to see a
play not to hear about past events,
but to be inspired by a life," Free
man said. "I encouraged Janice to
find the moments of Josephine's
life instead of the events. That's
how we were able to focus on the
internal Josephine, and her bout
with self-love."
"Josephine" was a co-pro
duction of Price's Artistic Studio
and the Montage Showcase
Ensemble. Original music was
written by John Stamey Jr. and
performed (via recording) by
Ernie Bonner (piano). Matt
Kendrick (bass), Eddie Rouse
(percussion), and Shelton Beane
(drums).
Baker adopted 12 orphans:
children from Korea. Canada.
Colombia, Finland and other
countries. She wanted to prove
that children of different ethnici
ties and religions could love each
other. In a line from Price'ftplay
Josephine says, "Noel was our
11th child. He was found in a
mountain of trash outside a
restaurant in Paris. Jo (her hus
band) was furious, but^it was
Christmas and. to me. Noel was a
gift from God. All my children
were beautiful growing together
as brothers and sisters."
As for Price, her children are
her students at the Artistic Studio,
where she nurtures self-develop
ment. creativity, and artistic talent
through lessons in singing, acting
and dancing.
"I did not write this play as a
showcase for my talent." Price
said. "I wrote it to open some
eyes and hearts. To actually think
you are better than anyone else is
so silly. It happens within all
races and religions, among peo
ple of the same color and same
country, because one believes
something different from the
other."
Photo courtesy ol' Artistic Studio
Janice Price, seated, is surrounded by supporting players in
her recent play; "Josephine."
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Road to Salem 2002
8 oT7:30
J* rvx"
T^z&iCat ^fall
CU&
Hear the stories of our students as they travel their
roads to Salem in song, dance and story.
Admission is free.
Refreshments will follow.