Diversity is a top priority for many in-house leaders—it's a company business imperative and increasingly a factor in outside counsel selection.

On Thursday, the Minority Corporate Counsel Association, which works to increase diversity in the legal field, announced the four regional winners of its 2018 Employer of Choice Award, which recognizes companies that excel at diversity and inclusion.

The MCCA also revealed the recipient of the inaugural Charlotte E. Ray Award, which will honor women of color who have broken down barriers in the legal field.

Virginia-based Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp., aka Freddie Mac, was the Employer Of Choice for the Mid-Atlantic region. In a statement announcing the winners Thursday, the MCCA praised Freddie Mac's vendor academy and supplier diversity policy, which aims to increase the number of diverse vendors in its supply chain.

Software company Honeywell International Inc., based in Morris Plains, New Jersey, won in the Northeast for its use of metrics to evaluate the success of D&I initiatives. The MCCA also noted its secondment program, which the organization said “is amongst the best and most innovative in the field providing valuable mentorship and development opportunities for diverse, high-potential legal talent.”

In the Midwest, Nationwide Investment Services Corp. brought home top honors. The Columbus, Ohio-based company's leadership development programs allow employees to engage with different business leaders and facets of the business, the MCCA said.

Retail company Gap Inc. was the Western region champion. The San Francisco-based company was recognized for its ASCEND program, which aims to increase the pipeline of minority leaders with mentorship and professional development opportunities.

This year, the MCCA also introduced the Charlotte E. Ray Award. Ray was the first black woman lawyer in the U.S. and the first woman admitted to the District of Columbia Bar.

Michele Coleman Mayes, the general counsel and secretary of the New York Public Library, was announced Thursday as the award's first-ever winner.

MCCA president Jean Lee told Corporate Counsel that selecting Mayes was an “easy decision.”

“She's done so many amazing things for women, and especially women of color,” Lee said.

Mayes has had a long in-house career, during which she has spoken out about the biases and challenges women of color face in the legal field. She served as general counsel for the Allstate Corp. and Pitney Bowes Inc. and held in-house leadership roles at Colgate-Palmolive Co. and the Unisys Corp. Mayes won The American Lawyer Lifetime Achievement award in 2012, and has been involved with the MCCA since its founding.

She said that she was surprised to hear she had won the MCCA award, and pleased the group had started an award in the name of Charlotte E. Ray.

“It's nice to see this organization that has done so much for the in-house practice of law is going to make sure this woman has an even longer and more visible legacy because she clearly deserves it,” Mayes said.

All the winners of this year's awards will be recognized at the MCCA's Diversity Gala in New York in October.