Johnson & Johnson was proud to be honored with the DEI Trailblazer Award for corporate citizenship in November of 2023 from the African American Chamber of Commerce of NJ and the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce Honor.
At Johnson & Johnson, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) is at the core of our business and is embedded into everything we do. Our commitment to DEI goes back to our founding in New Jersey in 1886, where eight of our first 14 employees were women. Shortly after, in 1906, we hired our first female scientist, Edith von Kuster, who relocated halfway across the country to work at the company’s headquarters in New Brunswick – a highly unusual move for a woman in that era. Throughout the decades that followed, Johnson & Johnson made strides in building a diverse workforce in New Jersey, improving access to equitable healthcare and establishing programs, partnerships, and initiatives that support underrepresented communities across the state.
Over the years, Johnson & Johnson has continued to support and partner closely with community organizations, health institutions, local universities, and the NJ public school system to drive inclusive change throughout the state. Here are a few highlights:
- Through non-profit grants and employee donation matching, Johnson & Johnson has given more than $12M in each of the last three years to local organizations in New Jersey, with $4.1 million in 2022 going to nonprofits that address DEI needs specifically.
- Our long-standing partnerships with RWJ Barnabas Health, Saint Peter’s University Hospital, and the Eric B. Chandler Health Center at Rutgers’ Robert Wood Johnson Medical School directly impact the care for 15,000 patients annually. Through these partnerships, we help to integrate social determinants of health into clinical settings, support a community interpreter program to bridge language gaps, and empower future pharmacists with community-based training.
- We provide leadership development, academic tutoring, college and young professional coaching, as well as networking support, to over 300 underserved youth in New Brunswick each year.
