Allstate Among the Best in Nation for Working Minority Women; Working Mother magazine releases select list of leading companies for women of color.

NORTHBROOK, Ill. -- For the third consecutive year, Working Mother magazine has named Allstate Insurance Company a "Best Company for Women of Color." Allstate is the only Illinois based company to be named to this exclusive list of twelve companies that have cutting-edge policies and practices that support African-American, Asian-American, Latina and Native American women in the workplace.

This year, Working Mother placed added emphasis on company culture by giving more weight to programs that help women of color and policies that hold managers accountable for advancing them. Working Mother also looked for companies with an active task force or committee specifically for women of color, mentoring opportunities, management and leadership training, support/networking groups and formalized executive succession planning.

"We want to recognize the companies with programs that promote the interests of women of color because we know the numbers will follow," said Susan Lapinski, Working Mother's Editor-in-Chief. "We salute our winning companies for their passion and persistence: They know it's a marathon, not a sprint."

The numbers have followed in Allstate's case-- African American, Asian American, Latina and Native American women make up 20 percent of Allstate's 37,000 employee workforce. "For the last forty years, Allstate has been at the forefront of diversity, "said Anise Wiley-Little, Director, Diversity & Work/Life. "As a company with a diverse population of employees, agents and customers we embrace diversity in everything we do; not only with the people we hire and the customers we service, but also with the communities in which we invest and the businesses we use as suppliers."

Diversity in the workplace has been a business strategy for Allstate since the early 1960s which began with a focus on affirmative action and leadership development. Now diversity at Allstate has expanded beyond race, gender, age and disability to include invisible diversity dimensions such as religion, educational background, thinking and communication styles.

A core component of the diversity strategy at Allstate continues to be effective education for all employees. In addition to required diversity training for new employees, Allstate created a leader's diversity training curriculum called "Creating an Environment for Success." The facilitated workshop is required for new managers with direct reports.

Other Allstate programs that are in place to support workplace diversity include talent identification and development processes and partnerships with MenTTium, an executive development mentoring program for mid-level, high potential professional women.

Working Mother's 2006 Best Companies for Women of Color will appear in the magazine's June issue, on newsstands May 16, and is available online at www.workingmother.com.

Visit the Allstate media newsroom at www.allstate.com/media for related diversity press releases and downloadable images. To learn more about careers at Allstate visit www.allstate.com/careers.

Methodology

To apply for the list, companies from across the country provided Working Mother with detailed information--including the number of women of color employed and hired in 2005 and the number who hold top positions.

About Working Mother

Founded in 1979, Working Mother magazine reaches nearly 3 million readers and is the only national magazine for career-committed mothers. Working Mother is published by Working Mother Media (WMM).

About Allstate

Now celebrating the 75th anniversary of the founding of Allstate Insurance Company, The Allstate Corporation (NYSE:ALL) is the nation's largest publicly held personal lines insurer. Widely known through the "You're In Good Hands With Allstate(R)" slogan, Allstate helps individuals in approximately 17 million households protect what they have today and better prepare for tomorrow through approximately 14,100 exclusive agencies and financial professionals in the U.S. and Canada. Customers can access Allstate products and services such as auto insurance and homeowners insurance through Allstate agencies, or in select states at allstate.com and 1-800 Allstate(R). Encompass(SM) and Deerbrook(R) Insurance brand property and casualty products are sold exclusively through independent agents. The Allstate Financial Group provides life insurance, supplemental accident and health insurance, annuity, banking and retirement products designed for individual, institutional and worksite customers that are distributed through Allstate agencies, independent agencies, financial institutions and broker-dealers.