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Only Skin Deep:
Changing Visions of the American Self

Sempra Energy sponsors a wide range of projects and efforts that support diversity, including the upcoming traveling photo exhibition: Only Skin Deep: Changing Visions of the American Self.


The Museum of Photographic Arts in San Diego, Calif.'s, Balboa Park is working as partners with the San Diego Museum of Art to present this national exhibition of photographs that explore the issues of race, gender, ethnic identity and nationality.


The show opens on Oct. 1, 2005, and runs through Jan. 1, 2006.
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Sempra Energy succeeds at diversity—by design

At Sempra Energy, diversity is more than a catchword, it's a point of view that reflects a corporate commitment about respect, and that includes people of all races, colors, creeds and interests. Sempra Energy doesn't just support diversity, however, it pursues it—not just because it improves the quality of life for our customers, neighbors and employees, but because it adds to the success of the business.


"An appreciation for diversity is deeply integrated into our corporate principles and practices," says Joyce Rowland, Sempra Energy's senior vice president of Human Resources. "We think of it as a 'three-legged stool' that—by design—encompasses our approach to the hiring and promotion of our employees, our supplier-diversity efforts, and our charitable donations and volunteer involvement in communities where we live and work."


Leg one: Corporate Diversity Affairs
"Of course, we want to attract women and minorities into the workforce, but we want to attract the best candidates from all backgrounds," explains Shawn Farrar, the new director of Corporate Diversity Affairs. "We want Sempra Energy to be a place where everyone feels welcome and that is an attractive place to work for people of all different groups."


Today, the company has largely achieved the goal of having its employees reflect the makeup of the communities it serves. Blacks, Hispanics, Asians and other non-Caucasians make up just more than 50 percent of the workforce. Women and minorities make up a major portion of the company's leadership as well.


Leg two: Diverse Business Enterprises
Sempra Energy's office of Diverse Business Enterprises (DBE) focuses on another aspect of diversity. It's geared to opening the door to businesses owned by minorities, women and service-disabled veterans, and helping them compete to supply a wide range of materials and contract services to San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) and Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas), Sempra Energy's California utilities.


Frank Urtasun, the DBE's new director, points out that Sempra Energy's Supplier Diversity programs, like its workforce-diversity programs, have received national honors for their success.


"Our focus is on helping diverse, usually smaller businesses, gain an understanding of how to work with us and become suppliers," Urtasun says. "We understand that for a small business, it can be daunting to deal with the procurement process at a big company like SDG&E or SoCalGas."


That effort translates into finding potential suppliers, reaching out to them with information and training, and helping them through the process of qualifying as a supplier.


"Our employees do an outstanding job in finding potential DBE suppliers—many of which are highly competitive with other firms seeking to do business with us," he adds.


Last year, SDG&E and SoCalGas purchased just under $200 million in goods and services from DBE firms, about 24 percent of the total amount they spent on such contracts. Urtasun credits the success to a commitment to supplier diversity that's "ingrained in the culture of the corporation."


Leg three: diversity of giving
The final leg in that 'three-legged-stool' approach to diversity is the company's charitable-giving programs, and employee volunteer efforts and donations. Last year, Sempra Energy and its employees invested more than $10 million and more than 50,000 volunteer hours in a diverse array of community groups.


Molly Cartmill, Sempra Energy's director of Community Relations & Corporate Events, says one of the things that makes Sempra Energy and its companies unique is the way they track diversity of giving.


"We ask organizations to tell us the diversity and characteristics of the audience that will be reached through the programs and projects we fund," she says. "We don't assume that organizations only serve one ethnic group, or a group of people that represent just one aspect of diversity. We ask them to define who they serve, and that's how we track diversity of giving. This creates balance in our corporate giving."


And that means that money and support went to household names like the Red Cross, but also to less well-known groups ranging from the Black Youth Leadership Project to the Native American Council, and from Museo Sol Del Nino to the Asian-Pacific American Legal Center—and many more.