INDIANAPOLIS — For the last two years, Eli Lilly has been working to increase diversity and inclusion in the workplace and in the community.
On Thursday, the company revealed its progress report entitled "Pledge to Progress."
In 2020, the company made a pledge on racial justice focusing on five key areas that include people development, social impact, health equity, diversity partners and jobs.
They also focused on areas like education, health, and professional outcomes for Black Americans.
"We now have a broader aperture that goes after inclusion, equity, ultimately seeking to be a place where everyone feels they can belong. That's the target state of our DEI journey. We've done a lot of work and there's a lot more to be done," said Terry Morris, associate vice president for racial justice commitment at Lilly.
Morris said some of the focus has been on supplier diversity.
"We made a commitment to double our spend with Black business enterprises by 2022. It would have been going from $143 million to $286 million. We're happy to say we've exceeded that by far. We landed at $358 million. So that just said we can do more," said Morris.
More with jobs. Eli Lilly started what's called "Skills First At Lilly."
"That's our ability to enable more family sustaining jobs for people who do not have a four-year degree program. It's a part of our OneTen commitment, but we've actually pursued this in a broader aperture, where we are opening up our doors to other Black and minorities who do not have four-year degrees and we've done that to the tune of 70-plus individuals," said Morris.
Morris said the goal is to progress further and faster. That involves creating 200 job opportunities for job seekers that have historically lacked access to higher education or professional jobs in the next two years.
That involves creating 200 job opportunities for job seekers that have historically lacked access to higher education or professional jobs in the next two years.