NAFE Names Office Depot to Top 50 Companies for Executive Women

Office Depot (NYSE:ODP), celebrating 25 years as a leading global provider of office supplies and services, today announced it has been named to the NAFE Top 50 Companies and 10 Nonprofits for Executive Women by the National Association for Female Executives (NAFE) for the seventh consecutive year. The list recognizes organizations whose policies and practices encourage women’s advancement and whose numbers at the highest levels of leadership demonstrate that commitment.

"Office Depot is one of the rare companies with four women on the board of directors, ensuring strong governance,” said Dr. Betty Spence, NAFE president. "In the executive ranks, women have moved into over a third of the positions responsible for revenue generation. That’s a smart company, and NAFE is proud to have Office Depot as one of our Top Companies for Executive Women.”

"Office Depot is very proud to once again be included on NAFE’s prestigious list of the Top 50 Companies for Executive Women,” said Monica Luechtefeld, Executive Vice President of Global E-Commerce for Office Depot. "Office Depot has a long history of supporting women-owned businesses as well as providing world-class training, leadership and recognition programs for our associates around the globe. We are honored to be recognized for our ongoing efforts.”

This year marks an important milestone: at the 2011 NAFE Top Companies, women executives run 23 percent of operations that generate more than $1 billion in revenue. "Women have long struggled to reach the highest ranks in the business environment, but with the growing profitability of companies with women in the top ranks, that is changing,” Spence added. "Today, employers reward the skills that women bring and demand them of men, as well.”

Office Depot was recognized by NAFE for the Company’s commitment to diversity in its own ranks, as well as offering unique opportunities for its female customers to help them succeed in business. Some of Office Depot’s key initiatives and achievements in the development of female professionals include the following:

• Office Depot was recognized by Women Executive Leadership (WEL) for the Company’s diversity on its Board of Directors. Four of the thirteen members of Office Depot’s Board are women. 2011 marked Office Depot’s fourth consecutive year being part of the elite Corporate Salute.
• Office Depot has been named by the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) as one of America’s Top Corporations for Women’s Business Enterprises for nine consecutive years. This premier national award honors corporations for world class supplier diversity programs.
• Three of Office Depot’s Executive Officers are female, including: Elisa D. Garcia C., Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary; Daisy Vanderlinde, Executive Vice President, Human Resources; and Monica Luechtefeld, Executive Vice President, Global E-Commerce.
• Office Depot established a Women’s Advisory Board, consisting of influential business leaders from around the country, which provides insight into services for women business owners and helping the Company meet the needs of its small business customers.
• Office Depot partners with leading women’s business organizations, including Enterprising Women, Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP), Institute for the Economic Empowerment of Women (IEEW), and Count-Me-In, and offers its customers valuable resources, including the Worklife Rewards loyalty program and an Online Business Resource Center.
• In 2010, Office Depot joined with Florida-based Inspiration University to educate more than 650 female professionals on how to run a successful business, market their business, get hired, etc.
• Office Depot hosted a Success Strategies for Businesswomen Conference for seven consecutive years, which provided female professionals and business owners with the tools, information and contacts to grow their business.
• Office Depot hosts a weekly webinar series, the "Web Café,” which is tailored to small businesses and female professionals. Each week thousands of small business entrepreneurs join Office Depot for free and informative sessions to help them run and grow their businesses. Information on Office Depot’s Web Café is available at www.officedepot.com/webcafe.

NAFE will honor each of the Top Companies at a gala luncheon at Cipriani 42^nd Street in New York City on March 30. Prior to the luncheon, senior women executives who have profit and loss responsibilities at the NAFE Top Companies will meet at the closed door NAFE Roundtable to discuss critical business issues. A report will be published in NAFE magazine.

About NAFE

The National Association for Female Executives (NAFE), founded in 1972, serves 20,000 members nationwide with networking, tools and solutions to strengthen and grow their careers and businesses. NAFE magazine publishes the annual Top Companies issue and the annual Women of Excellence issue. NAFE.com provides up-to-date information, community for women in business and access to member benefits. NAFE is a division of Working Mother Media and Bonnier Corporation. Bonnier Corp. (www.bonniercorp.com) is one of the largest consumer-publishing groups in America and is the leading media company serving passionate, highly engaged audiences, through 50 special-interest magazines and related multimedia projects and events. Bonnier Corp. is the U.S. division of the Bonnier Group (www.bonnier.com), a 200-year-old, family-owned media group based in Sweden with business operations in 25 countries.

About Office Depot

Celebrating 25 years as a leading global provider of office supplies and services, Office Depot is Taking Care of Business for millions of customers around the globe. For the local corner store as well as Fortune 500 companies, Office Depot provides supplies and services to its customers through 1,602 worldwide retail stores, a dedicated sales force, top-rated catalogs and a $4.1 billion e-commerce operation. Office Depot has annual sales of approximately $11.6 billion, and employs about 40,000 associates around the world. The Company provides more office supplies and services to more customers in more countries than any other company, and currently sells to customers directly or through affiliates in 53 countries.

Office Depot’s common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ODP. Additional press information can be found at: http://mediarelations.officedepot.com and http://socialpress.officedepot.com/.