Healthcare specialist firm Calcium+Company renames DEI program as ‘social impact’ initiative

NEW YORK: Medical marketing agencies, like many other companies, are still finding their collective footing when it comes to diversity, equity and inclusion. 

Though plenty of organizations made commitments to promote the tenets of DEI following the murder of George Floyd by a police officer in 2020, an incident that kicked off a summers-worth of social unrest and a racial reckoning in America, there has been considerable backlash to the movement.

Over the past few years, there have been numerous examples of activists publicly criticizing companies for their support of DEI, namely in other sectors like retail, alcohol and automotive. These instances have eroded some corporate commitments to uphold DEI, and pharma marketers have signaled as much of a sentiment.

Last year, nearly one-third of respondents told MM+M in a survey that the amount of attention their company devotes to increasing DEI at work is “too much.” In that same survey, some respondents said DEI was “going overboard,” though others called for it to remain a “strategic imperative.” (MM+M is PRWeek’s sister business media outlet at Haymarket Media). 

In an era where diversity fatigue is becoming more commonplace, some firms may wonder if it’s worth retreating from this front and cutting their presumed losses.

However, Calcium+Company is holding the line and, if anything, expanding it.

The agency, which made a DEI commitment in 2020, has expanded its program in recent years, renaming it the social impact initiative.

According to the agency’s group president and managing partner, Greg Lewis, the social impact initiative marks a transition from the existing, traditional DEI program to a more comprehensive effort to better engage and empower employees.

He said the program, which incorporates allyship, social responsibility and cultural purpose, was designed to be more inclusive and accessible, allowing employees to participate at their own comfort levels, rather than feeling forced to be part of a structured DEI vision.

The initiative is led by director Nicole Camacho and features specific activations like the organization-wide Herd You monthly discussion programming and employee resource groups called Pharmer’s Market community groups.

Additionally, Calcium+Company has hosted Nourish Him and Nourish Her panels, where male and female executives share their perspectives on topics like mental health, partnered with both the American Heart Association and the Jed Foundation and supported local charities in New York and Philadelphia.

This week, the agency will also participate in an event hosted by the Medical Advertising Hall of Fame on the topic of actionable DEI strategies.

Though Calcium+Company previously established its DEI council, Lewis said some employees indicated it wasn’t achieving the goals it set out to accomplish and left some feeling uninspired by its mandatory nature.

Before putting the revamped program into action, Lewis said the agency’s leadership team gathered feedback from employees through its annual surveys and town hall meetings to ensure it resonated with the staff.

Lewis suggested that even leading with the word “impact” rather than “diversity” has gotten more employees to participate in what he views as a similar cause. 

While Lewis said he sees this shift as an important responsibility for Calcium+Company, he encouraged his industry peers to adapt the approach to fit the unique needs and culture of their respective firms.

To him, having a dedicated approach to diversity isn’t checking a box or keeping up with competitors, it’s critical to the agency’s overall mission.

“It’s not a trend; it’s a cornerstone of how any organization should act,” he said. “It’s a responsibility for us to take it with all seriousness, but you can interpret it the way that you want that works for your organization.”

Outside of its internal programs, Calcium+Company has made strident efforts to address longstanding racial and ethnic blindspots in healthcare, having launched the I Don’t Have a Box initiative in late 2022. That campaign sought to drive awareness of the “race box” used in the collection of healthcare data.

Lewis said he’s mindful of the stigma surrounding DEI but said the agency’s leadership team never considered folding its diversity efforts. If anything, he said, it bolstered their resolve to make the social impact Initiative more flexible and relevant to rank-and-file workers so that it would reflect their collective values.

After all, Lewis said the focus remains on finding clever ways to impact marginalized patient populations in a meaningful way and that is derived from diverse input from the staff.

He urged his colleagues to look beyond the prevailing narrative that DEI has to be a rigid, forced exercise and instead explore mechanisms that work for them. 

“We’re not doing it because we’re supposed to do it,” he said. “We’re doing it because we want to do it right.”

This story first appeared on MM+M.