Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Sustainability
Vaniam Group’s business objectives are interconnected with the broader responsibility we have to our society. Consistent with our ESG policies, we recognize the impact our activities have on our industry and the communities in which we live, and we take intentional steps toward a better and more sustainable future.
Vaniam Group currently holds an EcoVadis sustainability rating of Silver, ranking us among the top 25% of assessed organizations regarding our approach to the environment, ethics, labor & human rights, and sustainable procurement.
Environmental
Since our inception in 2007, Vaniam Group has fostered a work-from-anywhere environment.
In addition to enabling us to hire the best talent regardless of geography, this decision has eliminated any greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions our employees would otherwise produce through daily commutes. Yet, we realize our other business practices, including air travel to critical industry events and client meetings, meaningfully impact our environment. To address that overall impact, we are committed to reducing our overall GHG emissions by 66% by 2030 and achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. To do so, we are deploying several company-wide practices to reduce our carbon footprint, including eliminating unnecessary travel, reducing overall energy use, increasing reliance on renewable forms of energy, raising awareness across our teams about the climate crisis, and procuring more of our supplies from eco-friendly companies. We are also calling on our partners and vendors to participate in the goal of net-zero emissions.
In July 2023, we disclosed our comprehensive environmental data to the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), and we will continue to work with the CDP and the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) to validate our emissions targets and measure our ongoing progress with transparency and purpose.
Social
A woman-owned entity certified through the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), Vaniam Group 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, socioeconomic status, veteran status, and other characteristics that make our employees unique. In an industry that is still striving to achieve gender parity, women make up more than 70% of Vaniam Group’s leadership team (ie, Vice Presidents and above). Our website contains a comprehensive overview of our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I) policy and commitments.
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.
Moreover, 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 10 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 3 annual awards worth nearly $200,000.
Governance
Vaniam Group is committed to responsible, forward-thinking governance that positions the organization for future growth while safeguarding our people and culture. Our Executive Committee establishes annual key performance indicators across several areas of the business (eg, employee retention, revenue diversity, systems scalability, and product innovation), that we measure during the year and share our progress with our employees.
After a rigorous assessment of our leadership team, finances, values, practices, and people, the Tugboat Institute recently renewed Vaniam Group’s status as a Certified Evergreen® organization based on our enduring excellence and commitment to continuous improvement. The Evergreen 7Ps® principles are the defining characteristics of Evergreen. The first 3 Ps—Purpose, Perseverance, and People First—define the character of the leaders and team. The last 4 Ps—Private, Profit, Paced Growth, and Pragmatic Innovation—reflect the long-term strategy tenets of an Evergreen business.
We are people first, purpose driven, connected, and collaborative. Our teams work in a dynamic, all-virtual environment that enables us to hire the best scientific communicators without geographic constraints. Our labor governance and employment practices helped earn us recognition on Inc. Magazine’s list of “Best Workplaces” in both 2021 and 2022, where we scored within the top 20 US health companies. We were also listed among the Inc. 5000 rankings for the past 4 years, recognizing our status as one of the fastest-growing private companies in America.
