Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Vaniam Group’s Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I)
Vaniam Group aligns our mission around the well-being and empowerment of each individual employee. We are at our best when all team members feel safe, valued, heard, and respected – that they truly belong here. The collective sum of our individual backgrounds, identities, beliefs, and abilities is a competitive advantage for Vaniam Group. It makes us more aware, more inventive, and more expressive. It enables us to recruit the best talent, recognize the biases each of us carries, and build teams that complement one another’s contributions.
In addition, understanding the entire range of human experience helps us better serve biopharma companies in their efforts to bring to market more effective treatments that improve patients’ lives. Not just some patients, but all patients. We partner with our clients to develop more inclusive clinical trials, accelerate enrollment from underserved populations, address social determinants of health, communicate scientific data clearly across all stakeholder groups, and ultimately achieve more equitable care that minimizes disparities in patient outcomes.
For these reasons, we don’t simply tolerate our differences. We celebrate them.
Our Values in the Workplace
Vaniam Group was named to Inc. Magazine’s list of “Best Workplaces” in both 2021 and 2022, scoring among the top 20 US health companies. We attribute this recognition to our diverse workforce and our fundamental values: people first, purpose driven, connected, and collaborative.
Vaniam Group, a woman-owned entity certified through the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), invests in a culture that empowers unique perspectives. We embrace our employees’ differences in age, color, disability, ethnicity, family or marital status, gender identity or expression, language, national origin, physical and mental ability, political affiliation, race, religion, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, veteran status, and other characteristics that make our employees unique. Our commitment to diversity informs our practices and policies on recruitment and selection; compensation and benefits; professional development and training; promotions; social and recreational programs; a work from home environment that accommodates employees’ varying life needs; and the ongoing development of a more equitable and inclusive work environment.
In an industry that is still striving to achieve gender parity, women make up more than 70% of Vaniam Group’s leadership team (i.e., Vice Presidents and above).
Our team members have a responsibility to always treat their colleagues with dignity and respect, exhibit inclusive conduct, and complete Vaniam Group’s diversity awareness trainings. Employees who believe they have been subjected to any kind of discrimination that conflicts with the company’s diversity policy and initiatives should seek assistance from a supervisor or a People Operations (POPs) representative.
Pursuing Greater Equity Across Our Industry
In addition to building toward an organization where all team members feel welcome, Vaniam Group strives to make our communities and industry more equitable. We provide all employees two days per year of paid Volunteer Time Off, and we coordinate relevant activities where our team members can improve the neighborhoods in which they work and live.
Recognizing the gender imbalance that exists across leadership teams working in oncology, Vaniam Group launched Women Leaders in Oncology (WLO) in 2014. WLO is focused on creating research, business, and philanthropic connections for women in oncology drug development, clinical research, and clinical practice. WLO has hosted numerous national mentorship and networking meetings, honoring an annual “Woman Oncologist of the Year” and a “Rising Star” since 2019. In addition, WLO raises funds for the WLO Women Who Conquer Cancer Young Investigator Award, which is awarded by Conquer Cancer®, the ASCO Foundation, to young women oncologists in recognition of their promising research. In addition to the ten awards already provided, worth nearly $600,000, WLO is actively fundraising toward a target endowment of $1.35 million to fund future awards.
To encourage more people of color to apply for Conquer Cancer grants, in 2021 Vaniam Group established the Conquer Cancer-Vaniam Group LLC Young Investigator Award, which is exclusively dedicated to Black, African, or African American cancer researchers. To date, we have funded three annual awards, worth nearly $200,000.
We celebrate the resilient pride of the LGBTQ community, and we push for more empathy, fairness, and kindness across our industry. Vaniam Group will always be a place where everyone is welcome, and we hold this same expectation for both our vendors and our clients.
Our differences make us stronger.
