Celebrating Black History Month and our Employees

By Kim Todd, Expert Portfolio Oversight Manager, Pharmaceuticals

As the Business Resource Group (BRG) leader of the African American group at Bayer, every day is an opportunity to learn more about our communities, each other and ourselves. Black History Month is one of those opportunities to not only celebrate the important people of African descent and those unsung events in Black History but also our employees at Bayer.

Business Resource Groups (BRGs) are voluntary, company sponsored groups of employees who work together to promote cultural diversity, awareness, and education and are key partners in Bayer’s efforts to cultivate an inclusive environment and to engage employees around critical Inclusion & Diversity objectives.

During Black History month, Bayer highlights topics that impact our professional and personal lives. Throughout the month, our African American BRGs across the country focus on engaging our employees in open dialogue about relevant topics such as:

Understanding Sickle Cell Trait session with information on genetics, diagnosis/newborn screening, side effects/complications and the future of Sickle Cell disease and research

Diversity in Clinical Trials session, which looks at the role of minorities in clinical trials both historically and currently

How to Define a Path Forward event, which gives employees the chance to hear from special guest, Michelle Ebanks, CEO of ESSENCE Communications about her personal career journey

In these sessions, we give voice to our employees, which is aligned with the core reason President Gerald Ford issued the very first proclamation that, in 1976, called upon Americans to celebrate Black History Month every February: to give voice and visibility to people of African descent. I’m proud to be a part of living that commitment.

Learn more about Inclusion and Diversity at Bayer in the U.S.