Improving Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Life Sciences Industry

MassBio is proud to be the resource for Massachusetts life sciences companies of all sizes as they seek increased diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) within their companies.

MassBio is here to:

• Meet with members, with a focus on small and emerging companies, to discuss objectives, strategies, and resources for launching or strengthening DEI initiatives
  • Share best practices throughout our industry and across industries
  • Collect data over time to measure trends and progress
  • Bring together the life sciences community for inclusive, open, and productive dialogues
  • Lead by example

As part of your membership, MassBio’s dedicated DEI team provides a number of e-services, including one-on-one meetings, to help support you in all of our DEI goals and strategies. To learn more about what we can provide, email diversity@massbio.org.

If you are not a member but are interested in becoming one contact Matt Koons.

Are you creating a new DEI initiative at your company or looking for resources and tools to strengthen your existing work? Check out our DEI Resource Center to find templates for employee engagement surveys and diversity dashboards, “Getting Started” one-pagers for small and emerging companies, links to External Affinity Organizations, our Employee Resource Group report, and more.

2021 Report – State of Racial, Ethnic & Gender Diversity

On November 17, 2021, MassBio released a report on the state of diversity and the opportunities to grow inclusion and equity in the Massachusetts biopharma industry. The report aggregates data taken from a survey of the companies that signed MassBio’s Open Letter 2.0. The report explores positive trends in overall industry diversity, as well as presents clear opportunities for how companies can improve their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, especially around employee engagement, and data collection and measurement.

MassBio’s Open Letter 2.0 – The CEO Pledge for a More Equitable and Inclusive Life Sciences Industry

MassBio’s Open Letter 2.0 serves as a call to action for CEOs across the life sciences to create change within their respective organizations and is a critical component of MassBio’s expanded equity, diversity, and inclusion (ED&I) initiative rolled out earlier this year.

By signing this letter, a CEO recognizes that racial inequity exists in the life sciences industry and in his/her company and is taking responsibility to fix that injustice through comprehensive ED&I initiatives that are broad in scope, specific in action, and measurable in results. The pledge is a long-term commitment dedicated to moving the industry forward over the next several years. The more than 220 CEOs that signed the letter represent small and emerging biotechs, midsized companies, and large biopharmaceutical companies. Learn more and sign the pledge.

DEI Resource Center

The MassBio Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Resource Center is a centralized hub where you can access the best practices, tools, and resources needed to achieve diverse, equitable, and inclusive excellence in your workplace. Click here to visit the DEI Resource Center.

DEI Success Stories

MassBio’s DEI Success Stories spotlight the great work companies are doing to improve DEI in the life sciences and drive change in the industry. Companies have leveraged these stories to provide the impetus behind an initiative, its rollout, and the impact it has made on a company. Our members have found great value in learning how others are doing well.

If you are interested in submitting a DEI success story or looking for more information, please review the guidelines below. If you have a specific company or personal example that you’d like to share, but you don’t feel it can be turned into a blog post, email Rita McAteer so we can add it to a running list of successful examples that can be shared in a different way.