Marriott International Ranks #2 on 2019 DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity List

Highest-Ranking Hospitality Company on the List for More Than Ten Years

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May 09, 2019, 15:57 ET

BETHESDA, Md., May 9, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Marriott International, Inc. was recognized on the 2019 DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity list in the #2 spot, once again making it the highest-ranking hospitality company on the list for more than ten years. The company was also ranked on ten specialty "Top Companies" lists including Diverse Leadership (#2), Diversity Councils (#5), Executive Women (#5), Philanthropy (#6), Supplier Diversity (#10), Talent Acquisition (#11), and LGBT efforts (unranked list).

Marriott International Associates Pictured L-R: Seema Jain, Director of Multicultural Affairs; Betsy Kiss, Senior Director of Workforce Engagement & Global Diversity & Inclusion; Casey Oakes, Director of Supplier Diversity; Jennifer Yuan, Human Resources Manager at New York Marriott East Side; and, Maruiel Perkins-Chavis, Vice President of Workforce Engagement & Global Diversity & Inclusion.

"Our founders created a business with simple, yet powerful principles: Put people first in every decision and open doors to opportunity for everyone," said David Rodriguez, Executive Vice President & Global Chief Human Resources Officer at Marriott International. "Our commitment to diversity and inclusion is at the heart of our pledge to extend this important legacy and to drive our business forward. It is how we will ensure that Marriott remains the place where everyone belongs."

Marriott is committed to providing associates, customers, suppliers, owners and many other key stakeholders with meaningful and impactful diversity and inclusion programs in place, including:

Women's Leadership Development Initiative – Designed and implemented 20 years ago, this initiative's goal is to develop a strong pipeline of women leaders. Today, women comprise 54% of the company's total workforce and hold some of the most significant positions in the company. By 2025, Marriott's goal is to achieve gender representation parity for global company leadership.

The Emerging Leader Program – A key pillar of Marriott's Americas Diversity and Inclusion strategy is to increase the numbers of women and minorities in leading roles. More than 1,300 leaders have completed or are currently enrolled in this program. Overall, women have represented 56% of participants and minorities have represented 36%. Since the program's inception in 2014, 60% of participants have been promoted at least once.

Exchanges: A Diverse Supplier Program – Marriott International conducts business with more than 3,000 minority-, women-, LGBT-, disabled-, and veteran-owned businesses annually and has spent over $5 billion with diverse suppliers over the past decade.

The Diversity Ownership Initiative – This program introduces successful women and diverse business owners to the opportunity of hotel ownership as a possible investment vehicle. Today, more than 1,300 open hotels are owned by diverse and women entrepreneurs.

Culture Days – This immersive training is designed to build cultural competence and confidence with our property teams. Newly expanded, the popular program spans 13 countries and cultures, giving attendees a unique opportunity to experience and understand appropriate cultural terms, business and social protocols, traditions, trends, cuisine, and clothing.

Serve 360 – In 2017, Marriott International launched Serve 360: Doing Good in Every Direction, a sustainability and social impact platform designed to foster business growth while balancing the needs of associates, customers, owners, the environment and communities. One area involves partnering with leading nonprofits to ensure workplace readiness and access to opportunity to our business, including supply chain, for youth, diverse populations, women, people with disabilities, veterans, and refugees.

Marriott has consistently championed diversity and inclusion. The company has been recognized for its talent development programs in the past and has landed on several best places lists. Previous awards include Working Mother 100 Best Companies Quarter Century Hall of Fame, Black Enterprise Best Companies for Diversity, LATINA Style Company of the Year, National Association for Female Executives Top Companies for Executive Women Hall of Fame, 100 percent score on Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index, Asia Society Best Companies for Asian Pacific Americans Awards and Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For®. For more information on Marriott's diversity and inclusion initiatives, please visit www.marriott.com/diversity.

The DiversityInc rankings are determined by an objective methodology that calculates factors such as Talent Pipeline, Equitable Talent Development (including commitments to mentorship and philanthropy), CEO/Leadership Commitment, and Supplier Diversity. The empirical data for the rankings is provided by a 300-question survey filled out by personnel at the participating companies.

About Marriott International
Marriott International, Inc. (NASDAQ: MAR) is based in Bethesda, Maryland, USA, and encompasses a portfolio of more than 7,000 properties in 30 leading hotel brands spanning 130 countries and territories. Marriott operates and franchises hotels and licenses vacation ownership resorts all around the world. The company now offers one travel program, Marriott Bonvoy^TM, replacing Marriott Rewards®, The Ritz-Carlton Rewards®, and Starwood Preferred Guest®(SPG). For more information, please visit our website at www.marriott.com, and for the latest company news, visit www.marriottnewscenter.com. In addition, connect with us on Facebook and @MarriottIntl on Twitter and Instagram.

SOURCE Marriott International, Inc.