Stories and Viewpoints

June 1, 2021

By Michael Goettler, Former CEO of Viatris

Today is the start of Pride Month, an annual celebration of self-affirmation, dignity, equality and increased visibility of the LGBTQ+ community and its allies. I’m excited for Viatris to mark this occasion because diversity and inclusion are essential to our mission and, as a new company, we are eager to share that message with others. At Viatris, we strongly believe we can better meet the needs of patients around the world by embracing and understanding what makes each person unique.

That belief drives us to grow talent and build diversity at Viatris, something that has been a priority for us since our launch last year. To promote inclusion, we created Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) based on leader-led diversity discussions and experience from employees worldwide. With employee input, our first four ERGs were identified around the following groups: Blacks, Women, LGBTQ+ and Working Parents.

This month, appropriately, we are launching the LGBTQ+ ERG. We hope to bring people together to foster understanding and positive changes not only among our colleagues but in the communities where we live and work. The group includes colleagues from around the world, and I am excited to hear their ideas about fostering awareness and an appreciation for diversity.

We have virtually raised the Pride flag here a Viatris to show our support for Pride Month. Similarly, we have added a rainbow of colors to our social media avatars for the month of June. Although these changes are symbolic, they also truly represent our commitment to being inclusive and the recognition that diversity helps drive innovation and our ability to make a difference in the world.