Toyota Names Distinguished Panel of Leaders To Its North American Diversity Advisory Board

NEW YORK, Jan. 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/-- Toyota announced today 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 Pena, 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 haschosen 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.''

Toyota's North American affiliate companies are wholly owned subsidiaries of Toyota Motor Corporation of Japan and do not have a traditional American board of directors structure. Toyota hopes to approximate the benefits of having outside directors by the appointment of this board. The board will meet with senior management several times a year and will provide objective advice to the highest levels of Toyota's North American management with respect to the content, implementation and further development of Toyota's 21st Century Diversity strategy. The board will independently review the strategy and be given full access to information concerning Toyota's North America operations and the company's progress against its objectives in diversity.

``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.

Members of the Board represent a cross section of America with expertise in business, law, labor and government. The members include:

Alexis Herman, Chair

Alexis Herman became the first African American to lead the Labor Department when President Clinton named her Secretary of Labor in 1997. Currently, Herman serves as chair and CEO of New Ventures, Inc., and lends her expertise as a board member for several corporate and nonprofit organizations. She is the chairwoman of The Coca-Cola Company's Diversity Task Force and an on-line columnist for Monster.com.

Irene Hirano

Irene Hirano is executive director and president of the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles. She has served as a consultant to the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare and was appointed by President Clinton to the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities.

Nathaniel Jones

Nathaniel Jones serves as a senior judge in the Sixth Circuit of Appeals in Cincinnati and will join the board upon his retirement next month. He has served on the federal appellate court in Cincinnati since 1979. Prior to being appointed to the bench by President Carter, he served 10 years as general counsel to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Jones also served as U.S. attorney for the Department of Justice for five years.

Jack Kemp

Former Congressman and Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Jack Kemp is co-director of Empower America, a public policy and advocacy organization he co-founded in 1993. Kemp served as the representative for Western New York for 18 years in the House of Representatives, where he was chairman of the House Republican Leadership Conference. In 1996, Kemp was Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole's vice presidential running mate.

Susan Molinari

Former Congresswoman Susan Molinari is president and CEO of the Washington Group, a government relations and lobbying firm, and serves as a frequent television political analyst. She represented New York in the House of Representatives from 1990 to 1997, where she was elected to the Republican majority leadership. In 1996, she delivered the keynote address at the Republican National Convention.

Federico Pena

Federico Pena served as both Secretary of Transportation and Secretary of Energy under President Clinton. He is now an investment banker for Vestar Capital Partners in Denver. Pena worked as a lawyer for Hispanic groups before he was elected to the Colorado General Assembly in 1979. From 1983 to 1991, Pena served as Denver's first Hispanic mayor.

Sara Martinez Tucker

Sara Martinez Tucker is president and CEO of the Hispanic Scholarship Fund. Based in San Francisco, the nation's premier Hispanic scholarship fund has awarded $60 million to 45,000 plus scholars. Prior to assuming her current position, she spent 16 years at AT&T, where she became the first Hispanic woman to reach AT&T's executive ranks after being promoted to director of human resources and quality for the Network Services Division in 1990. Before leaving to lead the scholarship fund, she was national vice president for AT&T's Global Business Communications Systems.

SOURCE: Toyota