Diversity: a competitive advantage.

The 2009 Global Citizenship Report, featured in Citi Foundation President Pam Flaherty's post last week, includes a discussion on how we work internally to build a diverse workforce and to provide all of our employees with the opportunity to reach their full potential.

This is critical work that not only benefits our colleagues and their families, but also helps to maintain and build one of Citi's key competitive advantages. Our workforce, which reflects our international client base, not only understands each customer's specific needs, but brings to the table deep knowledge and experience, a creative and innovative perspective and a wide range of ideas and solutions.

What's more, we believe that our success depends on every one of our employees being given a chance to succeed. We have made it a priority to foster a culture where the best people want to work, where they are promoted based on their merits and where opportunities to develop are widely available to all.

To create this dynamic, our diversity strategy focuses on four areas: management accountability, attracting talent, workforce development and work environment. We develop diversity plans across our businesses, and our Board of Directors reviews progress against these plans annually. The Human Resources Diversity Operating Committee, composed of senior diversity and Human Resources leaders from core businesses and regions, implements the strategy and aligns policy and practices.

Our diversity strategy includes more than 50 employee networks, each focused on a distinct community with distinct needs, including, women, multicultural heritage, working parents and people with disabilities. Each network is started and led by employees and open to all, offering opportunities for networking, mentoring, recruiting, professional development and community involvement.

While we have more to do, our work has been recognized by numerous publications and organizations. In 2009, we were named one of the 40 best companies for diversity by Black Enterprise magazine and one of the 50 best companies for Latinas in the U.S. by Latina Style. And, for the 19th time, Working Mother magazine named Citi to its list of "100 Best Companies for Working Mothers".

To learn more, please read Citi's 2009 Global Diversity Annual Report.