Maryrose: Our Network Groups are a natural outcome of GE's "boundaryless" culture, where both initiative and teamwork are encouraged and rewarded. The Groups offer employees mentoring, cultural acclimation and professional development, including the development of leadership skills. Jim helped found the African-American Forum in 1991, and its success paved the way for the GE Women's Network, the Asian Pacific-American Forum and the Hispanic Forum.

Jim: We wanted African-Americans at GE to have a unifying network to help them reach their fullest potential. Our Forum works because it's part of the leadership success cycle at GE – our programs and activities are closely integrated with the Company's own human resource development and review processes. Employees and the Company see the Networks as mutually beneficial – developing opportunities and leaders for those opportunities.

Maryrose: The possibilities are tremendous. All of the Groups are seeing an increase in the number of employees who want to receive additional training and excel at their jobs, and we have more support from business leaders who see more women and minorities prepared to take on bigger roles.

Jim: We see employees accelerating their careers by delivering on commitments – in both their business and their association with a Network Group.