As 2021 comes to a close, we reflect on the highlights and accomplishments of our continued Diversity and Inclusion (D+I) journey. We are proud of the events, initiatives and dialogue that took place this year—and are excited for the momentum as we head into 2022.
See below to learn more about the events we hosted and initiatives we accomplished this year!
Black History Month
During February, NuVasive recognized Black History Month through a four-part event series centered on Black stories and voices. More than 200 employees around the world attended the events. The goal of the events was for our employees to engage in opportunities to learn, dialogue, and foster allyship to support and build an inclusive culture for all. We are committed to continuing to educate and lift Black and African American voices and do the work needed to be a more inclusive organization.
Celebrate Women
This year, employee resource group, Women In Spine (WIS), partnered with D+I to host Celebrate Women, a series of virtual events to empower women, highlight achievements and challenge inequity in honor of Women’s History Month. WIS has played an instrumental role in creating career development opportunities and encouraging all employees to actualize their potential. Our hope is to keep the momentum going from this month and continue to support an inclusive culture, advocate for each other and be allies to our fellow women employees.
Hiring Heroes
In recognition of Armed Forces Day, the D+I team in partnership with our internal Veteran community, held a two-day training event, Hiring Heroes, to build capabilities and empower hiring teams to more effectively engage with the Veteran talent community as we focus growing our Veteran talent pipeline at NuVasive.
Day one highlights
- Dale Wolf, Senior Vice President, Global Operations and executive sponsor kicked off the event. He spoke about the importance of D+I at NuVasive and it involves our Veteran community.
- Keshia Javis-Jones, Workshop for Warriors’ Director of Operations and Marine Corps Veteran provided participants an overview of the military and transferrable skillsets
- A panel discussion with fellow NuVasive Veteran employees from various military branches.
Day two highlights
- Chuck Boggs, West Carrollton Facilities and Maintenance Manager shared his experience transitioning after a 20-year career in the Army and offered hiring managers a perspective on the valuable assets Veterans can bring to a role.
- Karen Overklift, Program Manager, Workforce Development, Biocom, shared best practices for attracting and retaining Veteran talent.
NUVA Pride
Throughout August, we hosted our second annual NUVA Pride Month, aligning with our teams in The Netherlands to celebrate globally with a series of events. As part of these events we also hosted our second illuminate discussion led by Matt Harbaugh, Chief Financial Officer and Lucas Vitale, former HR Leader. These events were focused on nurturing a culture of respect, acceptance and belonging through vibrant celebrations and meaningful connection with the LGBTQIA+ community.
ANZ Pride event
After attending the global NUVA Pride events taking place earlier in the year, Yeonsu Ryu and Tessa Serfontein saw value in bringing a similar, more local event to the company’s locations in Australia, New Zealand and Japan.
In November a one-hour celebration for local employees was attended by more than 55 employees from the region—beginning with personal stories shared by Ibrahim Abujami, executive assistant, Netherlands, and Corinne Hernandez, lead I.T. business analyst, San Diego. They shared their connection with the LGBTQIA+ community and why celebrating Pride was important to them.
The event then featured a brief history of the Pride movement, including important milestones from the Australia and Japan LGBTQIA+ communities. Concluding the event with a rousing game of vibrant Pride trivia—three top finalists took home a highly coveted Spotlight award!
Not only did the event cross several time zones, but it also broke language barriers, brought perspective and cultural awareness through an educational and fun format.
Biocom sponsorship
As part of our focus on Veteran initiatives this year, NuVasive is a proud partner and sponsor of the Biocom California Institute. This year the Talent Acquisition team hosted a virtual table at the annual Biocom career fair to connect with local Veteran talent. Later in the year, we also attended the Veterans Life Science Symposium in late October for the second year, to hear from Veterans and HR professionals in the life sciences industry. Our own Veteran employee and Sr. Project Manager for R&D, Travis Dickerson, PMP, discussed the importance of networking, seeking out mentors, and translating military experience to a career in medical device.
illuminate program
This year, D+I team launched the illuminate program, a recommendation from the Racial Equality Task Force. The program is designed to encourage employees and leaders to discuss diversity, equity and inclusion and how we can create a more inclusive environment at NuVasive. Three illuminate discussions were held this year. The first one centered on racial equality and disparities in healthcare with more than 100 employees engaging in the dialogue. Since then two additional illuminate discussions have taken place, discussing the topics of: LGBTQIA+ allyship and belonging in the workplace.
As we make progress towards a more diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace, our leader for D+I, Tiffany Marsalis, gave insight into what she’s most focused on as we head into 2022.
“My vision is to think globally while acting locally—embedding DEI strategies and linking them to organizational goals to enhance the employee experience with diverse career paths and programs that support human connectivity and purpose within our communities. Diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging should be woven into the fabric of our work in every way. It’s not what we do, it’s who we are.”
Thank you to all our employees who led, partnered and engaged in the various events and initiatives this year. The passion and commitment from our employees is what keeps us moving forward to embed D+I into everything we do.