CITE Story

The Consortium of Information and Telecommunications Executives (CITE) is a 501(c)(3) national nonprofit organization representing over 35,000 African-American employees and retirees of Verizon.

CITE is committed to industry excellence, community service, and personal and professional development. As a resource group, CITE provides employee advocacy and makes a positive impact by hosting annual conferences, providing thousands of dollars in scholarships annually to needy students across the country, and implementing training and professional development programs. CITE's commitment to literacy is demonstrated through its partnerships with Verizon Reads and First Book. First Book is the national nonprofit agency that provides a first new book to children from low-income families. These partnerships enabled CITE to distribute over 500,000 children's books to various schools and community organizations last year alone.

The CITE organization originated with the breakup of the Bell system and the desire to ensure that issues and concerns of African-American and other minority employees were addressed. The issues raised focused on equitable treatment, fair working conditions and career advancement.

In 1983, a group of mid-Atlantic African-American managers, representing employees of the former Bell system, met to develop immediate and future strategies. That meeting led to the formation of CITE. This regional organization was dedicated to addressing the needs of black telecommunications professionals.

CITE's founding members included representatives from Baltimore, MD; Washington, DC; Richmond, VA; Northern VA; Eastern VA; Pennsylvania; Delaware; and managers from New Jersey Bell.