Editor’s Note: On April 10, PFLAG honored Johnson & Johnson Family of Consumer Companies with its 2014 Straight for Equality in the Workplace Award. Johnson & Johnson Chairman and CEO Alex Gorsky attended the Straight for Equality Gala in New York and accepted the award. You can read his remarks below.
On behalf of the 128,000 men and women of Johnson & Johnson I am proud to accept the 2014 Straight for Equality in the Workplace award given by PFLAG, Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays.
For over 40 years, PFLAG has been at the forefront of fighting for equality and inclusion, values we believe in deeply at Johnson & Johnson.
Personally, I’m very proud of this as recognition that we are living up to our Credo, a document and the set of beliefs that have acted as a moral GPS system for this organization for over 70 years.
Our Credo defines our responsibility to doctors, nurses, patients, mothers, fathers, consumers, suppliers, shareholders, communities and our employees. Our Credo says of employees, “everyone must be considered as an individual. We must respect their dignity and recognize their merit.” I know that these beliefs attracted most of us to this Company and unite all of us in our work every day.
All of us at J&J are proud of our pioneering working partnership with PFLAG in developing the Care with PRIDE™ Program for America’s schools.
Our commitment together is to create a multi-faceted campaign to raise awareness about the negative impact that bullying has on the overall health and well being of young people. We use this program to encourage others to take a stand against bullying.
Care with PRIDE™ is one example of how we can do that. The Care with PRIDE™ Program has truly engaged and energized our J&J employees. Through the tremendous success of Care with PRIDE™ in 2012 and 2013, Johnson & Johnson has donated nearly half a million dollars to PFLAG’s “Cultivating Respect: Safe Schools for All Program” and we reached more than 100,000 students and faculty members with a message of inclusion and acceptance.
This Company has always been an advocate for individualism and fairness. And what’s truly important to me is not what Johnson & Johnson has done for diversity in the workplace, but what diversity in the workplace has done for Johnson & Johnson.
All of us at Johnson & Johnson take particular pride that an organization founded on one Mother’s courageous act of caring for her child has recognized a Company deeply engaged with our purpose of caring for the world, one person at a time. Valuing diversity and fostering inclusion helps us reach closer toward that goal every day.
Again, my sincerest thank you to PFLAG.
Alex Gorsky is the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Johnson & Johnson. He began his career with the company as a sales representative with Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc. in 1988. He has held positions in sales, marketing, and management, as well as leadership roles across our pharmaceutical and medical devices & diagnostics sectors. A longtime advocate of diversity and inclusion, Mr. Gorsky was named the 2009 Mentor of the Year by the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association, an organization he has been involved with for many years. Mr. Gorsky also serves on the board of the Travis Manion Foundation. Mr. Gorsky holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, NY, and spent six years in the U.S. Army, finishing his military career with the rank of Captain. Mr. Gorsky earned a Master of Business Administration degree from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1996.