Justice and Inclusion
We’ve started our justice and inclusion journey.
The Justice & Inclusion (J&I) task force was created in April 2021 to support a diverse and inclusive organizational culture where all are visible, heard, valued, trusted and empowered to succeed in our mission to save lives.
(Left) Dr Renu Garg, RTSL’s Senior Vice President of Cardiovascular Health speaks with ASHA workers at the Kunjinwadi primary health center in Pune district, India. ASHA workers play a critical role in linking communities with health systems and ensuring that people living in remote rural villages can access primary health care.
(Right) We work with DABO (Detroit Association of Black Organizations), whose clinics have seen high volumes of patients with high blood pressure
The task force is co-chaired by Dr. Tom Frieden and Dr. Stephanie Mayfield and includes senior leadership and country leads as permanent standing members, and team members from each of our teams as rotating members for 6-month terms. The J&I task force is charged with the following responsibilities:
- Defining priority J&I objectives and strategies
- Implementing activities to support J&I objectives with appropriate teams and sub-committees
- Establishing, collecting, and measure metrics to monitor progress
- Communicating J&I updates with Resolve to Save Lives staff and external partners
Dr. Tom Frieden
Dr. Stephanie Mayfield
Taskforce Members
Amanda McClelland
Dr. Renu Garg, MD MPH
Anthony Brown
Jeannie Mantopoulos
Erin Sykes
Anicia Santos
Dr. Emmanuel Agogo
Gregory Lewis
Lauren Brown
Kalin Stovall, MS
Marissa Levey
Samantha Wolthuis
Marci Nielsen, PhD, MPH
Mohammad Nia
Rahul Mullick
Our essential statements communicate how Resolve to Save Lives as an organization will act in service of justice and inclusion.
Our goal is a just and inclusive environment for our employees, contractors, partners, and the communities we serve. Just means acting with ethics and fairness; inclusive means all individuals are accepted, welcomed, and supported. Equity is the outcome of a focus on justice and inclusion. Increasing equity is a requirement for our success and will be measured internally and in our work.
We will listen to our people through quantitative and qualitative surveys, interviews, and feedback. We will model internally what we want to see in the communities we serve. We will examine justice and inclusion in communities where we work to ensure our interventions are relevant and designed to succeed in specific contexts. We will continuously assess the impact of our work on justice and inclusion and, throughout the process, be honest, empathetic, and accountable.
We strive to create and sustain a culture of justice and inclusion. We commit to:
- Cultivate trust through inclusive leadership internally and in the communities we serve
- Build teams and partnerships representing varying backgrounds, lived experiences, ideas, and points of view
- Seek and promote talented people through a transparent and equitable process
- Support learning that drives a just environment and sense of belonging for all
- Hold ourselves accountable through a rigorous, consistent, and transparent accountability process
- Address equity through organizational processes, policies, programs, and partnerships
- Advocate for equity in access to health services and protections
- Promote a work culture that does not tolerate injustice, discrimination, or exclusion
- Continuously examine if we live up to our values.
Three Pillars
Three strategic pillars guide our justice and inclusion approach
Our People & Culture
Center J&I for our people through our talent lifecycle and by creating a culture of belonging
Our Work
Conduct our work through the lens of J&I
Our Communities
Commit to our communities beyond our programmatic focus
Some highlights of our current internal DEI efforts include:
- Reviewed current state of DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) at Resolve to Save Lives through interviews with leadership, working sessions with the J&I task force, and a culture survey of our staff to gather information about representation and equity policy/process, and understand existing feelings of belonging
- Designed and deployed educational curriculum on topics tailored to Resolve to Save Lives including global cultural competency, psychological safety, colorism, and tribalism during a two-part facilitated conscious inclusion training offered to all Resolve to Save Lives staff
- Curated list of recommended readings and designed short videos to recap, sustain, and introduce new DEI learnings beyond those introduced during live sessions
- Developed phase 1 of a strategic roadmap with tactical activities Resolve to Save Lives needs to take to accomplish DEI goals aligned to the Our People & Culture pillar over the next year
