A Look Back on Our Work in 2017

ohnson & Johnson made headlines in a lot of unique and impactful ways in 2017, including the announcement of our acquisition of Actelion and the launch of the GenH Challenge, a global social venture competition dedicated to finding solutions for some of the world's toughest health problems.

The company also made industry-leading news when it announced that it was expanding its parental leave benefits—by the end of 2017, Johnson & Johnson employees across the globe were eligible to take a minimum of eight weeks of paid parental leave for birth and adoption—and its military leave benefits. Employees who serve are now eligible to receive their full salary, in addition to what the military pays, while deployed.

These are just some of the ways that the purpose driven company is committed to honoring Our Credo and helping reshape health for humanity—and it is work that is being recognized widely. In 2017, Johnson & Johnson was named to the Fortune Change the World list and Fortune's Most Admired Companies list. And those are just two highly respected recognitions bestowed upon the company last year.

ohnson & Johnson's public commitment to improving the world we live in dates as far back as the 1970s, when the company's mission statement, Our Credo, was updated to include this tenet: "We are responsible to the communities in which we live and work and to the world community as well."

Starting in 2010, the company has been setting public Citizenship and Sustainability goals every five years—and tracking the progress made toward them.

In 2016, Johnson & Johnson launched a new set of five-year objectives, known as the Health for Humanity 2020 Goals, which include providing better access to healthcare worldwide, making the places we live and work in healthier, and teaming up with partners to achieve these commitments. To help showcase the strides made toward achieving these new goals in 2017, the company debuted a new 2016 Health for Humanity Report.

From a new coalition aimed at helping to advance vaccine development for pathogens to a unique tool that enables the company to make products that are kinder to the planet, we explore the many ways Johnson & Johnson is focused on changing the trajectory of human health for the better.

nnovation is at the heart of what we do at Johnson & Johnson, whether it's tapping the powers of the immune system to fight diseases in novel ways or reshaping medical care through groundbreaking 3-D printing technology.

In 2017, we explored the vast ways Johnson & Johnson's portfolio of operating companies and innovation centers are working to help improve health for humanity across a broad spectrum of health conditions, including schizophrenia, autism, oncology and autoimmune diseases, just to name a few.

There's also a lot of innovative medical device and health tech work taking place across the company. In 2017, we debuted our Health Partner suite of digital health tools at the Consumer Electronics Show—and unveiled the unified Johnson & Johnson Institute, which trains 125,000 healthcare providers annually at its 26 campuses around the globe.

In addition to helping advance healthcare solutions, Johnson & Johnson also has an equally important commitment to safety—evidenced by the impressive work our scientists are doing within our Consumer business and the forward-thinking ways our cybersecurity team helps keep patients safe.

ohnson & Johnson contributes a lot of innovative work when it comes to personal healthcare and wellness, from the cutting-edge studies company scientists are doing with infant massage and sleep to the energy-management research that's taking place at the Johnson & Johnson Human Performance Institute (HPI).

In 2017, the company debuted its Le Petit Marseillais European line of scent-rich bath and body products in the U.S., as well as a new line of BAND-AID® Brand Skin-Flex™ bandages, with lightweight cross-fiber technology that allows for almost instant drying.

And the innovation doesn't just help people outside of the company—Johnson & Johnson is also invested in improving the lives of its 130,000+ employees through everything from forward-thinking office design to novel benefits like extended volunteer leave and breast milk shipping.

ohnson & Johnson's outreach to communities in need in 2017 included mobilizing quickly to distribute hygiene kits to those impacted by hurricanes, supporting longtime partner Save the Children with its resiliency work with Syrian refugee children and teaming up with Girl Up to bring the gift of education to girls in Guatemala.

And there's plenty more good works that took place in 2017 to help babies, children, women and underserved populations advance and thrive around the world, including our support of the One Young World Summit, an annual gathering where young leaders between the ages of 18 and 30 come to share their bright ideas for creating positive change.

We also took time to celebrate some pivotal programs we've supported that marked big milestones in 2017, including Bridge to Employment (BTE), which turned 25! What started as a U.S.-based program to provide high schoolers with meaningful educational experiences and career prep has expanded well beyond its domestic roots to encompass over 80 sites in more than 20 countries, including India, Israel, Mexico, South Africa and Spain.

ver 130,000 people come to work every day across Johnson & Johnson's operating companies and innovation centers with one mission in mind: help change the trajectory of health for humanity.

We couldn't do what we do without their passion for their work—passion that's the embodiment of what it means to bring Our Credo to life.

In 2017, we profiled many of these amazing employees, who are doing good for the world both at work and outside of it—along with some of the equally amazing patients who have benefited from their life-changing innovations.

At the end of the day, it's these people who make us all proud to work for Johnson & Johnson.