Hi. I’m Tom and I’ve just joined MassBio as Director of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion.
I’ve been brought on board full-time to be a partner with MassBio members as you launch, grow, and strengthen your internal Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives and I can’t wait to get started. I specialize in DEI program branding, supplier diversity, and employee well-being, with the opportunity to support individuals and communities to reach a place of true belonging being what motivates me most in this work. I’m excited to explore how the special opportunities we have here in the life sciences can help to achieve that.
The importance of these efforts has personal meaning to me, having migrated from the UK to Boston just two years ago, moving away from family, friends, and a familiar culture. The prospect of building my future in Massachusetts is so appealing because of the purposeful ways I have been welcomed: supported to establish myself professionally and made to feel that I can be myself here as someone “from the outside.”
Employers play a powerful role in the direct influence they have with their own employees and in the way the broader community will perceive opportunity and prosperity here in the Commonwealth. I am eager to partner with you to develop your workforce development initiatives and mature your commitment to reflecting diverse patient pipelines in the way you do business. You hold the power to replicate for others, regardless of who they are or where they come from, the positive, inclusive experiences I have had here. And I want to help you do that.
Prior to MassBio I led the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce’s Economic Inclusion Team, with a focus on exploring how employers and the business community can work together to tackle the region’s long-standing racial and gender-based wealth gaps. I’m proud of the contribution I made within that ecosystem of organizations committing themselves to collaborating and listening to the community, making the necessary changes in response to improve their programs and internal systems. As part of these efforts I’m perhaps best known for rebuilding the Chamber’s flagship Pacesetters Supplier Diversity Initiative, and being part of the steering committee coordinating the upcoming update to the Color of Wealth Report.
Much of the influence in the way I try to lead by example today can be traced back to previous roles in corporate citizenship, community development, and mentoring, especially at the BIG Alliance, a subsidiary of trade association the East London Business Alliance. Managing the staff, operations, finance, and strategic direction of that organization was extremely formative for me and allowed me to pursue a number of passion projects with our members’ employees, like this video I created during the pandemic on the importance of mental health awareness.
These personal and professional experiences that I have had will guide my approach in this new role and my aspirations for MassBio’s member companies, whatever their size or progress made in their unique DEI journey. MassBio’s dedicated DEI team provides a number of e-services, including one-on-one meetings, to help support you in all of your DEI goals and strategies.
Whenever you’re ready please reach out to me at diversity@massbio.org so I can get to know your priorities and how MassBio can assist you in this critical work.