The Coca-Cola Company

Company Sponsors Resource For African-American Data


April 07, 2006 edition

The Coca-Cola Company is the lead corporate sponsor of WOW! 2005 Quick Facts: African Americans, a newly published resource on African-American market power, economic and leadership statistics.

The 140-page publication -- the latest installment in the WOW! Quick Facts series -- is designed to serve as a reference tool for businesses and corporations, academic institutions and government organizations. Additional sponsors included AARP, Colgate-Palmolive Co., Deloitte, FraserNet, Hudson Inclusion Services, MCI, Raytheon and Sodexho.

Diversity Best Practices (DBP) announced the release of WOW! 2005 Quick Facts: African Americans on March 16 at a National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) luncheon. The event, held during Black Press Week, was hosted by the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) at the Longworth House Office Building in Washington, D.C.

Ms. Ingrid Saunders Jones, senior vice president and director of Corporate External Affairs for The Coca-Cola Company, addressed the audience.

"The Coca-Cola Company has a long-standing relationship with the National Newspaper Publishers Association and the Congressional Black Caucus, both of whom have served the African-American community for many years," said Ms. Jones, a CBC Foundation board member. "There could be no better venue to launch the publication of the WOW 2005 Quick Facts: African Americans than this gathering today."

Specific data points referenced in the report include:
  • Population: The single-race black population in the U.S. is projected to hit 61.4 million by mid-2050 -- a 41 percent total population increase and 15 percent of the nation’s total estimated population at that time.
  • Buying Power: If African-American buying power was a country, it would rank 10th in the world, ahead of India, South Korea, Mexico, Australia and Brazil.
  • African Americans in the 109th Congress: A record number (43) of black members currently serve in the U.S. Congress. Fourteen black women serve in the House, including two delegates, and Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) is the first Democratic black male Senator.
Added Ms. Jones: "WOW 2005 Quick Facts: African Americans is the result of a lot of hard work on the part of the Diversity Best Practices organization, which has worked tirelessly to advance diversity as both an issue and an opportunity. The information compiled will allow a broad range of leaders to better communicate the increasing importance and influence of the African-American community, and The Coca-Cola Company is proud to have served as the lead sponsor in its publication."

DBP assists leaders and professionals in the development of integrated diversity programs. DBP and its sister organization, Business Women’s Network (BWN) and BPCC, are Washington, D.C.-based subsidiaries of iVillage Inc., a leading women’s media company and the leading online community for women.