We view diversity as a business imperative with strategic implications and bottom-line consequences. A diverse work force is a valuable tool for problem-solving, innovation, hitting our financial targets and achieving other corporate performance objectives.

Our approach is inclusive and is anchored in an awareness of how individuals with different backgrounds, skills and perspectives bring unique contributions to the company.

Diversity includes age, physical ability, education, ethnic background, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, geographic region, personality, employment history, position in the organization, race, gender and other characteristics.

• Dominion’s diversity strategy emphasizes five principal areas:
• Leadership and ownership;
• Recruitment, retention and promotion;
• Communication, education and training;
• Supplier diversity initiatives; and
• Measurement and accountability.

Dominion's CEO and his senior management team accept full responsibility for modeling behaviors that support a culture of inclusion and a work environment conducive to professional and personal growth.

Article continues below.

Above: Toni Torres records a customer’s natural gas use from one of about 1.8 million such meters located in the company’s franchise natural gas service area.

Right: A diverse work force provides a broad range of backgrounds, skills and perspectives that contribute to effective problem-solving, innovation and performance.

An Executive Diversity Council oversees company policies and programs and monitors corporate performance against internal goals and market benchmarks. Regional Employee Diversity Councils implement and support corporate-wide programs, providing valuable input and feedback along the way.

Some of our diversity initiatives include:

• Partnerships with minority groups, such as the NAACP, the Urban League, the Organization of Chinese-Americans and various Hispanic associations that help Dominion better understand and respond to minority customer needs;

• The annual “Strong Men and Women: Excellence in Leadership” program, which works through the schools to promote positive role models by highlighting the accomplishments of outstanding African-Americans;
  
  
• "Diversity Month" fairs and other special events bring employees together every May to raise awareness and celebrate different cultures;
  
  
• A college scholarship and paid summer internship program; and
  
  
• A Web-based, multicultural calendar highlighting the diverse heritages of our employees and related events around the world.

In addition to diversity initiatives within the company, Dominion has an award-winning Supplier Diversity Program. Businesses that provide goods and services to Dominion are vital to our success. We set rigorous annual goals for spending with minority, female-owned and veteran- and disabled veteran-owned enterprises. We also have ongoing relationships with minority supplier business, development and purchasing councils in the states where we do business. Dominion employees hold important leadership positions on many of these councils. And we are an active participant in a formal partnering and mentoring alliance with various minority businesses.

In recognition of these and related efforts, Dominion received the national “Supplier Diversity Award” in 2006 from the Edison Electric Institute, the trade association for the nation’s electric utilities.

We will continue to look for innovative ways to expand these and other successful initiatives to promote and leverage the many dimensions of diversity.

		More About Diversity

By valuing the positive impact that differences can have on our company and our communities, diversity makes Dominion a better place to work for employees such as Aldo Wiggins, an underground lineman in Virginia Beach, Va.