As a Hispanic American and the son of working-class immigrant parents, my journey to the United States Senate wasn’t easy, but it was worth it, and like my ascension to represent New Jersey as Senator, I realize that for women and minorities, breaking into the private sector can be a slow and challenging process as well.

Every day, I come across countless qualified Hispanics – including many strong, smart and professionally qualified Hispanic women – who are ready to fill top leadership positions at our major companies. These professional women are ready to accept the challenges of leadership so they can contribute to the prosperity of their communities and the nation as a whole. Yet, their voices and experiences, like those of other U.S. minorities, are often underrepresented, at best, at the highest ranks of our corporate leadership.

For this reason, I decided to start an annual Diversity Survey of Fortune 500 companies. As Chairman of the Senate Democratic Hispanic Task Force, I thought it was important to gather data on exactly how many women, African-Americans, Hispanics, and Asians our largest corporations have on their Boards, on their executive management teams, and among their supplier chains.

In 2010, I found that Hispanics account for 3.28 percent of Board members, 2.90 percent of executive leadership, and that Hispanic-owned firms represent just 2.69 percent of total procurement. I am now compiling the results of my 2011 survey. Sadly, the numbers have not improved very much.

Given the changing demographics – the last census shows the Hispanic population to be the fastest growing segment of our population, currently exceeding 50 million – why wouldn’t a company want more Hispanics in their leadership? Why wouldn’t a company want to tap into the Hispanic market, a more than $1trillion dollar marketplace that will rise to 1.3 trillion by next year?  

These numbers show that diversity is no longer simply an opportunity, but a required strategy for long-term growth. The more diverse a company is, the better able it will be to maintain its market share in the new reality of America’s demographic shift.

Study after study confirms that diverse corporations are more likely to succeed than those that are not. In the case of gender diversity, for instance, a Catalyst 2007 study showed that Fortune 500 companies with higher percentages of women board directors, financially outperformed companies with the lowest percentages of women board directors on average.

Not only do companies stand to benefit, so do our communities. When we have diverse voices on the corporate boards and senior executive management of our largest corporations, their input in the decision making process can directly translate into new jobs and procurement opportunities for minority owned businesses.

While this is a message that makes sense to me, I’m not sure that it is reaching most companies’ leadership.

Through my survey, I hope to shed light on the need for doing all we can to increase diversity in our private sector. And my survey has proven useful not only to shed light from the outside, but also on the inside. I’ve had CEOs tell me that they actually use my survey as a measurement for how they are doing and as a way to challenge themselves to do better.

At the same time, there needs to be a fundamental change of culture and willingness among all of us to look at the real numbers and ask ourselves if they add up. Some of the surveyed companies, for instance, were not even willing to disclose demographic data on their employees, and that is troubling. While I have record participation in my survey, more than half of companies chose not to respond. We still have a long way to go.

This is about more than fairness. Diversity is important for companies’ bottom line and our communities’ economic growth. We, collectively, have the power to make deep and lasting changes. It won’t be easy, and it won’t be overnight. But as someone who has defied the odds and surpassed many challenges in my home state, I am up for it. Are you?

Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) has earned the reputation of a fighter for New Jersey families who puts their economic security and hometown security ahead of powerful special interests. Sworn in to the Senate on January 18, 2006, he has served as a school board member, a mayor and a state legislator.

Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) has earned the reputation of a fighter for New Jersey families who puts their economic security and hometown security ahead of powerful special interests. Sworn in to the Senate on January 18, 2006, he has served as a school board member, a mayor and a state legislator.