Verizon Again Named to Black Enterprise Magazine's List of 40 Best Companies for...

Verizon Again Named to Black Enterprise Magazine's List of 40 Best Companies
for Diversity

NEW YORK, June 26 /PRNewswire/ -- For the fourth time, Black Enterprise
magazine has named Verizon to the publication's list of 40 Best Companies for
Diversity.

The companies identified in Black Enterprise's special report demonstrated
strength and outperformed their peers in one or more key categories including
board of directors, employee base, senior management and supplier diversity,
according to the publication.

The 40 Best Companies for Diversity list will be featured in the July issue of
Black Enterprise. The issue will also contain an article about career
opportunities, featuring two Verizon employees: Anthony Lewis, vice president
of open development initiatives for Verizon Wireless; and Limesha Laster, a
member of the Verizon Wireless open development team, which was formed to
stimulate the creation of new and nontraditional wireless devices and services
for use on the company's 3G network.

"Our long-standing commitment to diversity has helped build a rich and diverse
base of talent at Verizon, which has been a competitive edge," said Magda
Yrizarry, vice president of workplace culture, diversity and compliance for
Verizon. "It's what has helped us understand and anticipate the needs of
customers in some of the most diverse markets in the country as well as
customers across the globe. We're honored to once again be recognized by
Black Enterprise magazine."

To conduct the survey, Black Enterprise reached out to the CEOs and diversity
executives of the top 1,000 publicly traded companies, and the diversity
executives of the 50 leading global companies with strong U.S. operations.

African-Americans make up 20 percent of Verizon's workforce including many
leadership roles such as vice president of brand marketing, media sponsorships
and consumer collaboration; vice president of programs and marketing for FiOS;
and the company's chief security officer. By comparison, African-Americans
make up 11 percent of the U.S. labor force.

In 2008, the company's philanthropic arm, the Verizon Foundation, awarded more
than $13.5 million in grants supporting programs and nonprofits that benefited
African-American communities. Also in 2008, Verizon spent more than $3.5
billion with diverse suppliers.

Earlier this year, Verizon's commitment to supplier diversity and its support
of the minority-business community earned the company the 2009 Majority
Corporation Award from the Black Business Association. The award is presented
to the company that provides outstanding contributions to support the BBA and
the minority-business community.

Other diversity honors earned by Verizon in 2009 include ranking on Diversity
MBA magazine's list of Best Companies for Diverse Managers, and on Working
Mother magazine's list of Best Companies for Multicultural Women.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ), headquartered in New York, is a global
leader in delivering broadband and other wireless and wireline communications
services to mass market, business, government and wholesale customers.
Verizon Wireless operates America's most reliable wireless network, serving
more than 86 million customers nationwide. Verizon's Wireline operations
provide converged communications, information and entertainment services over
the nation's most advanced fiber-optic network. Wireline also includes
Verizon Business, which delivers innovative and seamless business solutions to
customers around the world. A Dow 30 company, Verizon employs a diverse
workforce of more than 237,000 and last year generated consolidated operating
revenues of more than $97 billion. For more information, visit
www.verizon.com.

VERIZON'S ONLINE NEWS CENTER: Verizon news releases, executive speeches and
biographies, media contacts, high-quality video and images, and other
information are available at Verizon's News Center on the World Wide Web at
www.verizon.com/news. To receive news releases by e-mail, visit the News
Center and register for customized automatic delivery of Verizon news
releases.

SOURCE Verizon

Alberto Canal, of Verizon, +1-908-559-6367, alberto.c.canal@verizon.com