Marcus Brown
Associate General Counsel
This New Orleans-based company was recognized as a 2008 Employer of Choice for the South/Southwest Region because of its exceptional diversity practices. This is not the first diversity award the company has won; in 2005, Entergy was honored with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Exemplary Voluntary Efforts Award. Indeed, Entergy has served as a diversity pioneer in its industry. In 1987, it was the first electric holding company in the nation to commit to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s Fair Share Principles. Since that time, Entergy has spent more than $500 million with minority and women suppliers who provide a wide range of goods and services.
Entergy also works to attract diverse job applicants through its college recruiting efforts and relationships with professional minority organizations. It supports historically black colleges and universities, and has contributed more than $1.1 million over the past five years to schools to educate the next generation of Entergy employees.
(L to R): Bill Lowrey of Shell Oil Company, Robert Sloan, Executive VP, Secretary & General Counsel of Entergy, and Veta Richardson of MCCA
The law department, in particular, understands that its future workforce can be found today in this pipeline. “Over the years, we have expanded the law schools from which we recruit to include historically black universities,” states Marcus Brown, associate general counsel of Entergy. “More importantly, when filling a vacant position, it is mandatory that a diverse slate of candidates is considered.”
Entergy, which currently has more than 20 employee-directed diversity and inclusion councils throughout seven states, conducts mandatory diversity and inclusion training for all employees and managers. In addition, the company engages in staffing and succession-planning programs to ensure that all employees are given the tools and resources they need to succeed.
“When we first started our diversity program, we studied the successes and failures of programs at other companies and tried to merge them into a workable model. One model that had demonstrated success was the DuPont model. We borrowed some of their best practices and went to work,” Brown recalls.
Brown is careful not to take the credit for the company’s progress. “We have a dedicated diversity director at Entergy. Although the legal department has its independent diversity initiatives and efforts, those efforts are a component part of the overall corporate diversity model,” he notes.
MCCA’s recognition, as embodied in the Employer of Choice Award, is extremely important to the legal department and the company. Brown shares that “it is great honor to have Entergy’s success in the diversity arena recognized by MCCA. At the same time, with recognition comes additional responsibility. We must now work even harder to maintain a leadership position on this key initiative.” DB
From the November/December 2008 issue of Diversity & The Bar®