As I reflect on 2024, my board work has continued to bring me immense satisfaction and joy. Serving on each of the respective boards has been both a privilege and a responsibility. These are spaces where like-minded professionals come together, bringing our diverse perspectives and skills, to make decisions that will impact not just the organization, but also the communities these organization’s serve:
I have been honored to be on the WomenLift Health Advisory Board for the past four years and am so proud of the work the WomenLift health team have done to advance women in global health leadership under the leadership of Amie Batson. Not only does WomenLift Health provide opportunities for women global health professionals to hone their skills and build their value proposition, but also works with healthcare systems to make them more inclusive and more broadly to impact societal equity through interdisciplinary convenings of leaders. I have been privileged to mentor some of these exceptional global health participants in the WomenLift Health leadership journey and have been enriched through the exchange. In April, I travelled to Tanzania to speak on a panel facilitated by Iris Mwanza at the Womenlift Health Conference. I was delighted to participate alongside luminaries in global health to discuss how we can address the challenges women face in global health Dr. Samu Dube, Rajiv Bahl, Marina Bacac, Agnes Binagwaho.
I am a proud to be a member of the Board of Directors of the Inclusion Allies Coalition (IAC), a not-for-profit coalition of organizations and practitioners committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion within our organizations and society. One of the best written and compelling responses to the attacks on DEI, has been the blog published by IAC – click on the link to read the full response: https://inclusioncoalition.info/2024/04/iacs-responseto-the-attacks-on-dei/
I am delighted to continue my work on the DEI Advisory Board for Sanofi. Sanofi is an organization that understands its responsibility to the communities it serves. One of their many initiatives that has made a real difference is #AMillionConversations. This €50m initiative aims to create greater trust between underrepresented communities and healthcare stakeholders by providing scholarships to underrepresented communities, including girls and women in STEM. A Million Conversations is also impacting health equity by facilitating hundreds of dialogue events in communities in the first five countries of the initiative - Brazil, France, Japan, the UK and the U.S. The aim is to understand healthcare experiences in order to inform reforms. And Sanofi convenes a cross sector of leaders to exchange health equity practices. Bravo Sanofi!
Being on the advisory board of Tent Partnership for Refugees, an organization that works with companies to hire refugees and to provide them with economic opportunities- is a board role that is especially close to my heart. Tent continues to strengthen its impact – just this year 70 companies came together to launch TENT UK, a new coalition of businesses committed to connecting refugees to work. I applaud all of these organizations who are empowering refugees to build a better life for themselves. Amazon Accenture Arcadis Ben & Jerry's Bank of America Bloomberg bp Cisco Citi Compass Group Coop Deloitte Estée Lauder Finastra Hilton GSK IHG Hotels & Resorts IKEA Indeed LSEG (London Stock Exchange Group) Linklaters L'Oréal Microsoft Randstad Reckitt Salesforce Sanofi Sodexo Starbucks Unilever Visa UNIQLO
My work on Galt Foundation’s board continues to give me joy and to inspire me as we work with state governments and the private sector to place people with disabilities. Under the leadership of @lisa doyle, Galt impacts the lives of people with disabilities. It is a special honor to work with a very committed board including John D. Kemp, Robert Stern, Denise Evans, John Williams and Kathy Hardy.
At the NACD (National Association of Corporate Directors) Center for inclusive Governance, working alongside board directors who help inform inclusive governance has been extremely fulfilling. The Chair of the advisory board Cari M Dominguez has helped shape inclusive board practices. And my colleagues bring to this advisory board their experience as board Directors combined with a sense of purpose.
I want to take a moment to express my deepest gratitude to each of the organizations that have invited me to participate on their boards. It has been an honor to work alongside such dedicated individuals at each of the organizations. I’m proud of the work we’ve accomplished together, but I’m even more excited for what we will achieve in the years ahead.
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