The list spotlights corporations with practices and employment records that benefit women and encourage their advancement to top management positions; Marriott ranked in the top 10 and was the only lodging company to be named on the list.

The National Association for Female Executives made special note that women at Marriott currently make up more than half of the employees, nearly half of the managers, and 30 percent of the vice presidents.  Also mentioned was the company's use of the innovative electronic program, Sed de Saber ("Thirst of Knowledge"), which helps Spanish-speaking associates learn English.

"Marriott is committed to training, advancing and empowering women and minorities to attain senior leadership and management positions," said David Rodriguez, executive vice president, global human resources, Marriott International. "We believe that championing diversity and inclusion in everything we do provides our company its strength and competitive edge."

NAFE is focused on moving women into profit and loss positions.  Their nomination focuses on programs promoting the advancement of women, workforce profile, work/life programs, compensation and accountability.

"Marriott is extremely proud of this prestigious award.  Recognition of this caliber reinforces our commitment to the advancement of women executives," said Amy McPherson, executive vice president, global sales & marketing, Marriott International.

Marriott provides several programs to help employees advance their careers, including:

• The Women's Leadership Development Initiative, which will celebrate its 10 year anniversary this year,  offers leadership, networking and career development conferences, along with work/life effectiveness programs, policies and resources to help employees manage their work/life responsibilities;
• Marriott sends a number of female executives every year to Women in Leadership and Learning (WILL), an immersion curriculum geared at enabling professional breakthroughs for women executives; and
• The Executive Development Program, a four-week program designed for Marriott's most senior level leaders which exposes them to innovative thought leadership practices.  This program prepares leaders for the next level of executive management.

Other recent awards recognizing Marriott as a great place to work include:

• FORTUNE magazine –  "Best 100 Companies to Work For" and "Most Admired Companies"
• BusinessWeek magazine – "100 Best Global Brands" and "Best Places to Launch a Career"
• Working Mother magazine – "Working Mother 100 Best Companies Hall of Fame" 
• DiversityInc magazine –"Top 50 Companies for Diversity"
• Black Enterprise magazine –"40 Best Companies for Diversity"