Elevating diverse voices and experiences is an important step in building a company culture where our employees can feel seen, heard and valued. As part of NuVasive’s commitment to Diversity and Inclusion, we hosted our first-ever, virtual NUVA Pride event last week. The virtual conference event took place from July 21st– 23rd and over 200 NuVasive Shareowners around the world attended the event. This event gave Shareowners an opportunity to learn and bring awareness to diverse identities, thoughts, and experiences across the LGBTQ+ community.
“I am energized by the commitment that we, as an organization, are making to understand our differences and do better. Let us use the collective strength and diversity of our organization to be a force of meaningful change in our communities, for our surgeon partners, and for our patients.”
– Matt Link, NuVasive President
The purpose of the event was to promote, celebrate and advocate for diversity, and bring visibility to the LGBTQ+ community at NuVasive and beyond. The event kicked off with the keynote session where Matt Link discussed the importance of diversity and inclusion, NuVasive’s D+I strategy and the importance of being an ally to the LGBQ+ community and other marginalized groups. This was followed by a panel discussion moderated by Suzanne Hatcher, Leader, Internal and External Communications, featuring Shareowners, Ashley Black, Corinne Hernandez, and Will Eichenberg. They answered questions related to visibility and issues the LGBTQ+ community face as well as the best way to build an inclusive team and be an ally.
“Sexual orientation is a dimension of diversity that’s much less visible than other dimensions like race or age, so a big piece of Corinne and I wanting to put on this event was for LGBTQ+ visibility—so that other LGBTQ+ people or parents/relatives/friends of LGBTQ+ people here at NuVasive know they’re not alone, and that in fact, this company is proud to have you and proud of the diverse perspective you bring. We hoped that through this event, we’d be able to create awareness, promote diversity, and foster a culture of inclusion here at NuVasive.”
-Ashley Black, Instructional Designer, Sales Training; Panel featured Shareowner
Over the course of the week, three additional breakout sessions were held. The first breakout session, “LGBTQ+ 101” was presented by Advocate for the LGBTQ+ community, Gaib Ramirez. Gaib provided our employees with an overview of LGBTQ+ identity terms and gender pronouns, concerns LGBTQ+ individuals face both in and out of the workplace, and ways that allies can create inclusive environments
The second breakout session took place the next day and focused on allyship. The presenter—Simma Lieberman—defined the term “ally” and what it means to be an ally not only to the LGBTQ+ community but all marginalized communities. She also outlined ways to advocate for the LGBTQ+ community through action and the impact allyship has on the community.
The final breakout session to conclude the event featured our own Kim Camacho, Leader of Diversity and Inclusion, to speak to the audience about unconscious bias. She provided an overview of the differences between conscious and unconscious bias, mental models and gave helpful tips on how to think inclusively.
“With this being NuVasive’s first ever Pride event, I didn’t know what to expect or where to begin. I feel so fortunate to work for a company that is committed to supporting diversity and inclusion and is open to having honest conversations with its Shareowners.”
–Corinne Hernandez, Lead Business Analyst, Panel featured Shareowner
We remain committed to fostering a more inclusive workplace and delivering on our Diversity and Inclusion initiatives. We will continue to listen and learn—now and into the future. Click the links below to see our Pride event social media posts:
- A note from our NuVasive President
- Evolution of the Pride movement
- On being a better ally
- Language matters
- Evolution of inclusivity in the workplace