Community partnerships to advance equity

Inclusion, diversity & equity

The time to simply “address” racial and ethnic inequities has passed. Today, we partner to actively break down systemic inequities.

Deep-seated inequities affect millions of people every day. The problem is bigger than any one person, company, or movement can tackle alone. Nevertheless, our Mission motivates us to do our part and to amplify our impact beyond the walls of our business to create meaningful change.

Our unwavering commitment to inclusion, diversity, and equity means that we strive for zero barriers to equity. Through community partnerships, we build stronger solutions than we could build alone — solutions that promote long-term education, health, and economic opportunities for women, people of color, LGBTQ+ individuals, and other underrepresented groups. 

We’re leaning into unique new opportunities in community partnerships with other leading employers to change the way we all think of talent and to address systemic inequities that continue to persist. We believe that these efforts will help reduce barriers and advance equity.”

–Dr. Sally Saba, Chief Inclusion & Diversity Officer, Medtronic

Partnerships advance health equity in our communities

The Medtronic Foundation, funded by Medtronic, focuses on improving lives for underserved communities and actively works with community partners to understand and address their needs. During COVID-19, the Medtronic Foundation asked what it could do to support our local communities and, specifically, to ease disparities in care around the world.

Medtronic and the Medtronic Foundation donated $56 million through June 2021 for pandemic assistance, but our tailored, community-centered approaches extended our health equity impact beyond that obtainable through financial giving alone.

Grantmaking is a fraction of what we do — it’s our subject matter experts, network of partners, and on-the-ground support that drive meaningful change.”

–Heidi Jedlicka Halvarson, Senior Philanthropy Specialist, Medtronic Foundation

Working with established partners on the ground, such as AmeriCares and Direct Relief, the Medtronic Foundation supported temporary COVID-19 treatment sites and quarantine facilities, trained frontline health workers, and addressed vaccine hesitancy around the world.

In India and Brazil, the Medtronic Foundation combined financial support, donations of personal protective equipment (PPE), and employee volunteerism to help the underserved. Employees led a virtual volunteer “power hour,” during which they sent messages of support to colleagues in India and raised funds for the India Association of Minnesota (IAM) and Goonj — two nonprofits working on relief efforts.

Partnerships around the world

Our partner, Pavee Point, used the Medtronic Foundation grant to support the Travellers, an indigenous, nomadic minority group in Ireland. Pavee Point gives the community access to health and financial services in hopes of driving more equitable change across the country.

Medtronic Australia is committed to reconciliation with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island peoples, thus has implemented an action plan to strengthen relations, respect, and health outcomes. In addition, our grants have supported native peoples’ organizations by providing self-contained, mobile dialysis units and increasing congenital rheumatic heart disease screenings for children.

Partnerships diversify the future of STEM

We strive to increase the number of women and Black and Indigenous people of color (BIPOC) in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) educational programs to ensure diverse perspectives in the healthcare technology industry’s future workforce.

The Medtronic Foundation recently collaborated with the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) to create the Medtronic STEM Scholars Program. This scholarship program supports the next generation of doctors, engineers, and healthcare workers by offering scholarships to students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) at the undergraduate and graduate levels. But the partnership is more than just money.

Medtronic employees go beyond to ensure that students have everything they need to earn and make the most of a STEM degree. Many of our employees have signed up to mentor TMCF scholars, create developmental curricula, and host career event showcases. In addition to supporting access to education through the Medtronic Foundation scholarships, Medtronic also has a partnership with TMCF for interns, focused on creating an early career pipeline of diverse talent.

Medtronic interns tour the Medtronic Physiological Research Laboratories in Minneapolis.

2020 saw the most diverse group of Medtronic interns yet

Partnerships to break down the opportunity gap

In places around the world, arbitrary circumstances based on race, ethnicity, zip code, and socioeconomic status can determine your opportunities in life. This is called “the opportunity gap.¹” Rather than all people having the chance to achieve to the best of their potential, the opportunity gap creates barriers when it comes to jobs, education, housing, and healthcare.

We know that to employ a diverse workforce, we must invest in access to education and think differently about the impact we can make through our hiring and our buying. Read more about our supplier diversity here.

As a founding member of OneTen, we’re working with other companies to move one million Black Americans into skilled jobs with livable wages over ten years. With this Multiple Pathways Initiative, we’re focused on emphasizing skills and experiences, as opposed to just academic credentials, in our recruiting.

And with the Catalyst CEO Champions for Change partnership, we’re committed to advancing more women — particularly women of color — beyond entry-level and middle-management positions, into senior leadership positions, and onto boards.

Systemic challenges, long-term solutions

Community partnerships help us turn intention into action. Rather than a one-time drop in the bucket, we are committed to partnering with others to create meaningful changes around the world. We know that for us to achieve our equity goals, we must address systemic barriers. Our partnerships help reduce health disparities, increase diverse representation within STEM, and drive economic opportunities for underserved populations. We come together to create change — not just for today but for generations to come.

https://www.teachforamerica.org/one-day/top-issues/why-we-say-opportunity-gap-instead-of-achievement-gap

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inclusion, diversity & equity