PricewaterhouseCoopers' Chief Diversity Officer Addressess Diversity in Business, and Work-Life Balance, Aug. 8 at Simmons College
Toni Riccardi is Keynote Commencement Speaker at Simmons School of Management Ceremonies

BOSTON (August 5, 2003) - The award-winning head of one of the nation’s leading corporate diversity programs will address the critical importance of diversity for businesses, and a work-life balance for employees, Friday, Aug. 8 at the Simmons College School of Management commencement.

Toni Riccardi, partner and chief diversity officer for PricewaterhouseCoopers--the world’s largest professional services organization--will address the school’s 104 MBA graduates in 10:00 a.m. ceremonies about the rapidly growing importance of a diverse work force for businesses, as well as the growing imbalance of work as a portion of employees’ lives.

Riccardi is a 1987 graduate of the Simmons MBA program, the only business school in the world designed specifically for women. She has served as chief diversity officer for PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) since 2000, and is the only woman on the company’s 12-member U.S. Management Committee.

She is responsible for the firm’s diversity and work-life strategies, covering 125,000 employees in more than 142 countries. She is in charge of Equal Employment Opportunity requirements, affirmative action, and program development and measurement.

Under her direction, PwC has gained national recognition for its diversity efforts. Riccardi’s awards include being named one of DiversityInc’s Top 50 Best Companies for Diversity, Top 10 Companies for Working Mothers (Working Mother magazine), and Universum Research’s Top Places to Work for Minorities.

In a recent article in DiversityInc. magazine, Riccardi said that “to be successful, corporate America must reflect the populace that it services; businesses are recognizing that the talent shortage is coming and the people to fill slots are not homogeneous anymore….

“The challenge is to make sure people view diversity and work-life as positive pieces of this new world, rather than add-ons that you don’t have time for… Companies that continue to look at diversity as a distraction or a necessary evil are doomed to fail….It’s so clear now that you can lose an engagement if you don’t have a diverse team, because it’s happened over and over.”

Since assuming the Chief Diversity role, Riccardi has developed firm-wide consensus and support for diversity and work-life initiatives. Mentoring and networking for women and minorities has gained substantial momentum, and a Diversity Index has been established and is now a base metric to be included as part of the “balanced scorecard” for each of the PwC lines of service (audit, assurance and business advice; business process outsourcing; financial advisory services; human resource services; and global tax services).

Riccardi joined PricewaterhouseCoopers in 1989, after directing external affairs for the Simmons School of Management. She directed the PwC’s campus recruiting and college relations activities, then led the firm’s human resource development through several innovative initiatives before being named Chief Diversity Officer. The Simmons School of Management has nearly 3,600 alumnae who manage and lead across a wide spectrum of business enterprises, from Fortune 500 companies to entrepreneurial ventures, to leadership position of government and non-profit organizations.

CONTACT

Diane Millikan
617.521.2364

 

 

 

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