Sanofi has announced the launch of its diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) board, adding three outside leaders as board members.
The company said that it is establishing an 11-member board, composed of seven members from Sanofi’s leadership team and one rotating member from the company’s employee resource group leads. The board will also include organizational psychologist and former NBA player John Amaechi, businesswoman and Valuable 500 founder Caroline Casey and DE&I consultant Dr. Rohini Anand.
The DE&I board will meet three times per year. According to the company, it adjusted its strategy last year to build representative leadership, engage with diverse communities and foster an environment where workers can “bring their whole selves.”
“We’re committed to driving diversity, equity and inclusion in Sanofi and beyond,” said company CEO Paul Hudson in a statement. “These new initiatives will help us bring the outside in, so we can hear, listen and learn faster, and grow stronger as we continue our DE&I journey.”
Sanofi’s announcement is the latest example of a pharmaceutical company taking deliberate (and highly public) organizational steps to address lingering issues related to representation and diversity in the industry.
A December 2020 report prepared for PhRMA by consultancy Teconomy Partners noted that by “designating leadership positions, councils, and teams to advance D&I” and tracking the effectiveness of these efforts, industry leaders can “further ensure that activities occur intentionally and transparently.”
The same month that report was released, Merck joined OneTen, an initiative to upskill, hire and promote 1 million Black Americans during the next decade.
“This is a moment in time for Americans to move past our divisions to come together and reach our full potential as a nation. Our country’s workforce of the future will be an increasingly diverse one,” said Merck’s then CEO Ken Frazier.
In 2021, Pfizer named Ramcess Jean-Louis as its new global chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer, a role in which he’s been charged with further developing the company’s colleague resource groups. Additionally, Johnson & Johnson has been inducted as a Hall of Fame company for diversity and inclusion by Diversity Inc., citing the organization’s commitment to diversity and inclusion as part of the company credo.
Last July, Novartis pledged a decade-long commitment to Morehouse School of Medicine, as well as 26 Historically Black Colleges, Universities and Medical Schools, to establish programs that target the root causes of disparities in health outcomes.
