Dominion

Dominion’s strategic workforce diversity plan includes five key elements:

• Visible leadership
• Communications and education
• Sourcing and recruitment
• Professional development
• Employee engagement and retention

The company's diversity councils are organized along business unit lines to further integrate diversity goals and practices into our core businesses. Our goal is to embed diversity into our corporate culture, much the same way that safety has become an ingrained value and the touchstone of our daily work.

Each business unit council has an executive sponsor who works closely with the Executive Diversity Council. Company leaders have undergone extensive diversity training, which is being offered to all employees as well.

In 2011, the company’s diversity councils launched interactive diversity and engagement websites as part of an ongoing effort to increase employee awareness and help implement various diversity and training initiatives. A new “Lunch & Learn” series with company executives was created to engage employees in the company’s diversity efforts.

Partnerships with diverse suppliers make good business sense. They translate into economic growth and increased employment opportunities in the communities we serve. Diverse suppliers are companies certified as owned by minorities, women and service-disabled veterans and by those operating in a Historically Under-Utilized Business, or HUB, zone.

In 2011, Dominion purchased about $314 million in goods and services from diverse suppliers, a slight increase over the previous year, despite continued weakness in the economy.

Dominion has a longstanding track record of supporting diversity initiatives in the communities where we operate. We do so through charitable giving programs, diverse partnerships and volunteer outreach.

In 2011, the Dominion Foundation provided grants to a variety of minority organizations. Examples include the Black History Museum & Cultural Center of Virginia; the Italian Festival in West Virginia; the Pittsburgh Dragon Boat Festival in Pennsylvania; and the United Negro College Fund in Ohio. Focus areas for our diversity grants include workforce development and education, as well as basic human needs for food, shelter and essential medical treatment.

We also empower employee volunteers to work hand-in-hand with numerous community-based organizations. That could mean building homes for deserving families, working with Special Olympians, participating in diversity walks, or donating care packages to American troops overseas, among others.