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Listen to this articleCamille Chang Gilmore joined Boston Scientific in 2004 as a Human Resources (HR) manager supporting Cardiac Rhythm Management’s (CRM) Southeast U.S. sales operation. Since then, she has climbed the ranks to Vice President of Human Resources, Interventional Cardiology, and Global Chief Diversity Officer. Camille continues to leverage more than 20 years of Human Resources and Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) experience to forward the organization’s mission by strengthening an inclusive business culture around the world.
Her and the company’s efforts have garnered recognition from SAVOY Magazine, Glassdoor, Working Mother, Corporate Equality Index for the Human Rights Campaign for LGBTQ+ Inclusiveness and the Disability Equality Index. Camille was also selected as Color Magazine’s All-Inclusive Awards Leadership Award recipient.
She is inspired by her daily work in D&I and by her family – specifically her mother, Pamela Chang; her husband, Deryk Gilmore; and her sons Dantae and Deion.
CM: Can you tell me more about your dual role as Vice President of Human Resources, Interventional Cardiology, & Global Chief Diversity Officer at Boston Scientific?
CCG: My job is to represent the voice and perspective of our employees — keeping us honest as we live our diversity value and honor our commitment of an inclusive work environment for our ~29,000 employees around the globe. As you mentioned, I wear two hats at Boston Scientific. Both positions are truly focused on developing talent, culture and organizational capabilities and strategies to drive more innovations that save and improve lives around the world.
CM: What are some of the challenges and rewards in your role?
CCG: First I must say that no role is ever easy. I am lucky however to get to see the challenges and to embrace the rewards. One example is the lack of appreciation some have of the importance of Diversity and Inclusion in the workplace. What happens culturally, socially and politically has a direct impact on how our employees interact with their colleagues, our customers, and our patients. It’s the very reason why our CEO, Mike Mahoney, was among the first CEOs to sign the CEO pledge for Diversity & Inclusion and commit to openly address these very issues in the workplace.
The most rewarding part of the job is witnessing the impact of the journey – watching others merge on to the road to create more inclusion for our employees and more diversity within our organization. I am proud of how far Boston Scientific has come in the last four years.
M: What goals are you striving towards at Boston Scientific in the next few years?
CCG: At Boston Scientific, the retention, development, and advancement of women, people of color, people with disabilities, and LGBTQ+ individuals is a top priority. Facing the challenge head-on, we have launched our 10/20/40 by 2020 program to increase our talent pipeline at the core of our organization where we can have the greatest impact on advancing progress across all levels of our organization.
CM: Tell me more about 10/20/40 program.
CCG: Our 10/20/40 goals by 2020 challenge us to make meaningful progress. These are intended to serve as mile markers on our journey toward a more inclusive culture. They are:
- Be a “Top 10” recognized leader for workplace inclusion in key focus areas (women, people of color, disability and LGBTQ)
- Increase representation of people of color (U.S. and Puerto Rico) to 20% at supervisor and manager levels
- Increase global representation of women to 40% at supervisor and manager levels
To meet our goals, we are executing a portfolio of D&I initiatives that range from targeted recruiting and leadership acceleration programs to training on unconscious bias and ensuring equal pay for equal work to expanding life/work benefits.
CM: How are you innovating the strategy and implementation of D&I initiatives at Boston Scientific?
CCG: Our strategy centers on the belief that change doesn’t happen overnight. We believe in sustainable progress and to approaching D&I strategically and from multiple angles.
For example, each of our global business leaders has established a D&I plan to address diverse representation, which is regularly reviewed by leadership. And, for all manager level and above positions, leaders are required to consider a diverse slate of qualified candidates.
Inclusion is what allows our diverse employees to bring their whole selves to work and to unleash our full potential to innovate. That is why 100% of our people managers have completed unconscious bias training and we are working to bring this training to all employees of Boston Scientific. We are also expanding acceleration programs, career-pathing opportunities and enterprise-wide succession strategies for all employees with an increased focus on developing women and minorities. A good example is our Global Women’s Initiative and ECXELerate programs, which are designed and delivered to participants/sponsors identified and nominated through our Talent Review process. We are seeing progress: our two newest Executive Committee members are women: Senior VP and General Counsel Desiree Ralls-Morrison, who is a woman of color, and Jodi Eddy, Senior VP and Chief Information Officer
We’re also proud to note that employee engagement in our employee resource groups (ERGs) and community outreach initiatives continue to gain momentum. We have more than 80 ERG chapters across nine constituency groups, approximately 23 of those are outside of the U.S. and 10 are virtual.
CM: What advice would you offer newly-minted CDOs and HR executives?
CCG: You must understand and walk in your own value. Then, transfer that value to influence and develop opportunity for others.
Be prepared to demonstrate courageous leadership in the moment and be willing to call out the bias in real-time. That is how you build a platform for feedback and education. Try implementing the 3Es framework: Build an ENVIRONMENT that fosters learning; develop ENGAGEMENT that allows everyone to be involved and be part of the process: the successes and failures; and create an EXPERIENCE that is memorable and a driver for change.
CM: If you could give advice to your younger self, what would it be?
CCG: I would tell her to trust herself more; embrace everything that makes you who you are and never give up. I would want her to remember two things: titles are not everything; they are not a transfer of power. Don’t be afraid to put others first and develop others as you’re developing yourself.
CM: In your opinion, what does it mean to be a person of Color in 2018?
When I think of myself, I was born in Kingston, Jamaica. I came to the U.S. when I was four-years-old. When I was younger, race was not as much of a factor as class. Having that perspective shaped my mentality so that regardless of race, gender, class, etc. each of us deserves a certain amount of respect and access to opportunity. No matter who you are you must be authentic, own your voice, and talk in truths; it means speaking up and taking a stand at times, for the sake of bringing others along or past certain barriers to opportunity.
