2020: BD, GSK, Surgical Care Affiliates, and Walgreens Boots Alliance

With global attention on gender and racial inequities this year, the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association (HBA) is proud to recognize BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) GSK, Surgical Care Affiliates and Walgreens Boots Alliance with 2020 ACE Awards for exemplary workplace initiatives that are working to close the gender and racial inequities in the healthcare and life sciences industry. 

HBA’s Advancement, Commitment and Engagement (ACE) Awards recognize companies committed to ensuring that gender diversity and leadership opportunities for women are part of their organizational DNA. An independent review panel of healthcare industry leaders selects ACE Award recipients for their excellence in advancing their female talent and removing the systemic barriers preventing timely progress to parity. Award criteria include measurable results, business performance, stewardship, execution and sustainability.

“These champions of equity, inclusion and belonging are fostering contemporary workplace cultures that are prescient templates for dissolving long-standing inequities in corporate America and global organizations,” said Laurie Cooke, president and CEO, HBA. “These leadership and mentoring initiatives are accelerating the advancement of all women, having a profound impact not only on the workforce but for patients worldwide.”

This year, the BD Women’s Initiative Network (WIN) earned recognition for re-thinking how mentoring programs can better drive career advancement and opportunities for all associates. BD WIN established a by-associates-for-associates strategy for mentoring programs that increases visibility of talent across the organization, creates new opportunities for associates via sponsorship and stretch assignments, and links the strength of diverse perspectives to solution-based innovation. The mentoring strategy and implementation has received exceptional advocacy from senior leaders and has enabled the expansion of mentoring to 12 sites globally with the number and diversity of participants exceeding their goals. To ensure sustainability and further scalability, the team is establishing a Global Mentoring Advisory Council; created numerous resources including a Mentoring Hub on the company intranet with mentoring guides, case studies and learning materials; and is continuing to embed mentoring into the systems and culture of the company in order to drive measurable outcomes.  

GSK (GlaxoSmithKline) garnered honors for their Women’s Leadership Initiative (WLI), which embraces a culture of inclusion with women and men working side by side, and empowers women to realize their full potential without limitations. Aligned with GSK’s broader Inclusion and Diversity objective, and overall mission to help people do more, feel better and live longer, the WLI’s vision is to develop, promote and retain women at every level. Significant growth in program participation including a 30-percent rise in membership for the last two years speaks to the global adoption of the WLI along with notable increases from the female workforce in the Middle East, the Asia Pacific region and the EU. GSK’s WLI executive sponsors and its Global Gender Council provide strategic guidance to advance progress toward gender parity.

Surgical Care Affiliates (SCA) was selected as an ACE Award recipient for championing a Women’s Network that has resulted in significant growth in female leaders across the entire enterprise. As one of six Teammate Resource Groups that support SCA’s Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging Initiative, the program provides mentorship, networking and personal and professional development opportunities that have empowered more than 500 female leaders since the network was established in late 2016. Listening to employee feedback and integrating target metrics and outcomes creates an iterative learning environment and holds the team accountable. Exceptional support from the company’s leadership, including SCA’s C-suite comprised of a female CFO, COO and first-ever female Chief Executive Officer Caitlin Zulla, has shed light on the opportunities available within the company’s workforce.

Walgreens Boots Alliance has merited an ACE honor for its highly engaged Women of WBA business resource group (BRG). Initially established as a U.S. group, the BRG has evolved into a global network focused on increasing representation of women and People of Color across the company. Responding to 2020 global events, the Women of WBA has been committed to ensuring that leadership teams, speakers and topics address gender and racial diversity. Executive engagement and sponsorship is “hands-on” including a mentoring program that pairs emerging female talent with senior level leaders.

The 2020 ACE Awards honorees will join an elite group of organizations committed to realizing the full potential of their female talent by fostering programs that deliver impactful and measurable results. Throughout the year, the honorees’ programs are showcased across the HBA’s extensive community of healthcare and life science companies and are sought out by their peers for insights. A list of previous ACE awards recipients can be found here.