The Importance of Diversity &Equal Opportunities in a Healthy R&D Environment: Workplace & Organizational Culture
Date
24 March 2022
Time
13:00 to 14:00
Hosts
IFPMA, HYPER
Location
Online
Attend
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The pharmaceutical industry recognizes diverse and inclusive workplaces deliver valuable solutions to patients and reach underserved communities.
Organizations engaged in scientific research have a duty to actively strive for equity and fairness in the workplace and play its role in advancing societal change so that future generations may benefit from a new era of inclusive R&D.
In this webinar, co-organized by HYPER and IFPMA, different organizations will present their initiatives linked to this commitment and discuss how leaders of all ages can create and sustain communities of belonging that positively impact global health progress.
Overview
As a key player in medical innovation and shaper of the global research and development ecosystem, the pharmaceutical industry recognizes diverse and inclusive workplaces deliver valuable solutions to patients and reach underserved communities. From the scientists working in laboratories to teams in headquarters, innovation is underpinned by a collaborative spirit that generates curiosity and inspiration.
The scientific community must be committed to cultivating such values by tackling topics like gender balance in management, disability equity, and through conscious talent acquisition programs. Organizations engaged in scientific research have a duty to actively strive for equity and fairness in the workplace and play its role in advancing societal change so that future generations may benefit from a new era of inclusive R&D.
Young people are particularly concerned with diversity and equity in the workplace. Such a culture:
- Incentivizes young people and diverse workers to decide to join a company and remain within that organization
- Ensures youth feels empowered within it, thanks to dynamics that enable everyone to tap their full potential
- Should be catalyzed by young people early on in their career as they can contribute to fostering an equitable and diverse environment.
Session objectives
- Describe challenges and barriers in ensuring work environments are equitable and incite innovation, while reflecting on the importance of striving for change.
- Highlight what the industry and other research organizations are doing to foster a culture of diversity and equity and what still needs to be done.
- Reflect on the role of the industry and science organizations in spearheading societal change and empowering youth through its organizational culture.
Event recording
Speakers
Courtney Sunna manages the Global Community Investment and Philanthropy portfolio at AstraZeneca, one of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies, with an emphasis on the prevention of non-communicable diseases in youth and adolescents via the Young Health Programme.
She oversees global non-profit giving including disaster relief efforts, grant-making, and community investment reporting. Courtney serves on the Board of the World Humanitarian Forum and LEAP, a women’s leadership development non-profit. She is an IMF Fellow, a One Young World Ambassador, and has served as a UN Youth Delegate for Innovation and Sustainability. Courtney received her MBA from the University of Pisa and completed her Certificate in Disruptive Strategy at Harvard Business School (HBX) and resides in the Netherlands with her husband, young daughter and dog.
Sharon Olmstead is the Global Head of Development & Regulatory Policy at Novartis. She first joined Novartis in 1997, in their FDA Liaison Office.
From 2002 until returning to Novartis in 2011, she held leadership positions at Merck, Schering-Plough, and Pharmacia. She built a foundation for her future roles working at the FDA for six years in science policy, consumer affairs, and consumer safety.
Sharon holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from Old Dominion University in Virginia.
Rocio Martinez Perez is a pharmacist, who started at UCB in August 2020.
She works as a Project Coordinator in Early Solutions supporting Project Management Leadership in R&D and related Transversal programs.
In addition, she leads the Expansion and Social Activities team in EMERGE, the UCB ERG created to support Early Talent.
Marie Chantal Umunyana is a final year medical student and the founder of Umubyeyi, a digital health platform that provides information directly from specialists to women on maternal and child health and parenting through the web, mobile, and mobile social media channels. “Umubyeyi”, which is Kinyarwanda for “mother”, equips young mothers, pregnant women and prospective parents with essential information that enables them to improve their health and that of their children.
As a woman, future doctor, mother, wife, sister, daughter and friend, Marie Chantal believes that no woman should go through motherhood and the reproductive health journey without the necessary knowledge and social support. Marie Chantal’s passion for maternal health is borne from her motherhood experience. She faced many challenges and unanswered questions around facets of parenting, child health and how to be a mother. She challenged herself to help others tackle the journey of motherhood right from preparation pregnancy to parenting and child upbringing. Before joining the Women Innovators Incubator, Marie Chantal was one of 19 Rwandan startup entrepreneurs by MASHAV, Israel’s agency for international development cooperation, to participate in a startup accelerator program on innovation business ecosystem.