Our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Purpose
At Ionis, we encourage diversity in our workforce. Prejudicial barriers to human potential and productivity are foreign to our values. We recognize that in order for the full potential of our workforce to be realized, we must cultivate an inclusive culture where all employees feel empowered to contribute fully within an environment that values different perspectives, leading to better ideas and increased innovation. From our Executive Leadership Team (ELT) to our newest hire, we strive for an environment where all Ions (Ionis employees) feel a strong sense of belonging in our organization.
Our DEI Strategy
Our four elements of DEI: Engage, Empower, Evaluate, and Evolve help to guide our efforts and measure change over time as we execute on our DEI strategy. From fostering inclusion through Employee Resource Groups (ERGs), to facilitating learning through DEI training, to evaluating our demographics and the outcomes or our DEI initiatives; our DEI strategy is evolving to meet the needs of our community.
Click on each of the elements to see more details.
Engage
We endeavor to attract and involve our community through various programs, initiatives, and outreach. Our DEI community includes job candidates, patients, employees, suppliers, and shareholders.
Goal
Increase overall employee engagement, ERG participation, and community outreach; including students, suppliers, and patients.
Initiatives
- New Employee Opportunity Network (NEON) ERG
- Heritage Months and Cultural Celebrations
- Patient advocacy and clinical trial recruitment outreach
- Ionis NEXT ERG student outreach programs
Empower
We provide leadership development opportunities, financial resources, training, and best practice guidance to support our DEI events, initiatives, and programs.
Goal
Provide adequate resources for our employees to thrive, our ERGs to develop, and equity-seeking groups to be represented.
Initiatives
- Access to Diversity Best Practices resources
- ERG Management Software
- Ion Mentoring program
Evaluate
We collect, review and report on our DEI metrics. We analyze, interpret and share our outcomes as part of our overall Corporate Responsibility efforts.
Goal
Use data to inform our programs and measure our progress. Be accountable for our results through comparing against industry benchmarks and publishing our outcomes.
Initiatives
- Collect voluntary DEI data
- Review employee engagement data by demographic groups
- Annual DEI review with internal leadership
- Annual DEI review with Board of Directors
- Publish Corporate Responsibility Report annually
- External DEI web site and dashboard
Evolve
Informed by data and best practices, we experiment with different programs and initiatives to help us reach our DEI goals. We make iterative changes to optimize our efforts to provide innovative and integrated solutions.
Goal
Add, change and expand DEI programs and initiatives to meet identified needs of the organization.
Initiatives
- DEI Advisory Council
- Annual progress and initiatives review based on outcomes and feedback from our DEI community
