Despite representing roughly 12 percent of the US adult population, in biopharma, Black/African American professionals account for just 7 percent of the total US workforce and 3 percent of US executive teams.
In August 2021, Bristol Myers Squibb entered into a strategic collaboration with Florida A&M University, Howard University, Morgan State University, North Carolina A&T University and University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff to build a sustainable bridge for diverse talent to the biopharma industry.
The Tomorrow’s Innovators program will develop a two-way leadership exchange program for collaboration and research purposes, increase talent recruitment from HBCUs and attract executive-level Black/African American talent. We also seek to enhance the student educational experience at participating HBCUs through custom programming and experiences designed to introduce biopharma to Black/African American students earlier in their educational journey.
This collaboration extends the health equity and diversity and inclusion commitments announced in 2020, which include the goal of increasing the diversity of the company’s workforce. Together, we will build the incubator for the industry’s future leaders to create a more diverse and equitable future in healthcare.