Toyota Names Diversity Advisory Board.

Toyota announced the members of its newly formed North American Diversity Advisory Board. The Advisory Board is a key element in the far-reaching $7.8 billion diversity and job training initiative announced by Toyota last summer. The Board’s chair will be former Secretary of Labor Alexis Herman, one of the nation’s most recognized thought leaders in strategic corporate diversity today. The seven-member advisory board includes Irene Hirano, the executive director and president of the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles, Nathaniel Jones, a senior judge in the Sixth Circuit of Appeals in Cincinnati, former Congressman and Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Jack Kemp, former Congresswoman Susan Molinari, former Transportation and Energy Secretary Federico Peña, and Sara Martinez Tucker, president and CEO of the Hispanic Scholarship Fund.

“We are fortunate to have assembled some of the nation’s most respected leaders to assist Toyota on the issue of diversity today,” said Toshiaki “Tag” Taguchi, president and CEO of Toyota Motor North America, Inc. “We are pleased that this blue ribbon panel has chosen to serve as Toyota’s advisors, and we are confident they will help take our longstanding commitment to diversity to an even greater level. The board will bring real-world insights on diversity and provide the kind of independent thinking important to the success of Toyota’s 21st Century Diversity Strategy.”

“I applaud Toyota on their 21st Century Diversity strategy and for their foresight to form the North American Diversity Advisory Board,” said Federico Pena. “Leading corporations, like Toyota, play a critical role in our communities. Toyota’s commitment to diversity can make a significant impact in the areas of employment, business development and community partnerships. I am pleased and honored to be part of the effort to help Toyota achieve these important
commitments.”

“Diversity provides one of the most important means for today’s corporations to achieve their business goals,” said Chair Herman. “In the case of Toyota, its 21st Century Diversity Strategy touches every part of the company’s business. The creation of the Diversity Advisory Board is consistent with Toyota’s business practice of establishing clear goals as well as the metrics and accountability to achieve those goals. I am honored to be a member of this distinguished group and
pleased to be a part of Toyota’s mission to become the most respected car company in America.”

The creation of the Board is an important milestone among a number of the ongoing initiatives within the diversity strategy announced last August by Toyota. Another milestone includes the hiring of Chicago-based Burrell Communications Group, an African-American owned advertising agency, to assist in its outreach to African-American consumers. Also, in November of 2001, Toyota Motor Manufacturing North America (TMMNA) surpassed its 5% diversity purchasing goals for 2001, another important element in the diversity program. In accord with the overall diversity strategy, over the next 10 years Toyota will make a significant impact in the areas of minority procurement, dealership development, management development, employment, job training and community support.