The ACE Award
The HBA recognizes an organization that goes the extra mile to support women with strong programs and initiatives. Applications are submitted to the HBA for the ACE (Advancement, Commitment, Engagement) Award, honoring corporate initiatives that advance and enhance the careers of women in the healthcare industry.
The ACE award was launched at the HBA 2006 Leadership Conference in Boston. The award, which is open to all corporations in the healthcare arena, requires that the following criteria be met:
- Effective business case
- Measurable results
- Program stewardship
- Execution
- Sustainability
HBA encourages companies of different sizes and structures to participate. The submissions were screened by the ACE Committee, composed of Past Presidents of the HBA. The final review and decision was made by an independent panel of judges comprising retired industry executives and prominent academics.
With the introduction of the ACE Award in 2006, the association now formally recognizes corporate initiatives that advance and enhance the careers of women in healthcare-related industries, with the goal to:
- Highlight the efforts of industry pioneers
- Suggest standards to which the industry may aspire
- Share best practices across the industry
Please encourage your company or others that you know that are leaders in the healthcare field to consider applying for the ACE award in 2009! Applications will be accepted in January.
2008 Winner Novartis Pharmaceuticals Women’s Initiatives – EWIN/WIL
An esteemed panel of industry leaders and academics served as the judges for this second ACE award and chose Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation (NPC) from among several healthcare companies for the depth, breadth and global reach of its women's leadership programs — headquarters-based Empowering Women to Impact Novartis (EWIN) and its field force counterpart, Women in Leadership (WIL), EWIN, marking its fifth anniversary, and WIL, looking ahead to its 10th, began as grass roots initiatives, gaining the support of executive management and becoming part of the corporate culture as they grew. The judges saw the involvement of top-level executives and the accompanying commitment of funding, time and executive resources as critical to success. A key factor in the award was the incorporation of diversity benchmarks into the NPC performance management system.
“At Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, we embrace diversity and inclusion as part of the business practice and as part of promoting a culture that benefits all employees,” said Marilyn Priestley, Vice President, Diversity & Inclusion (D&I), at NPC. “Through our D&I initiatives we enhance the advancement of all women by empowering, supporting and leading them in every aspect of their careers. We are honored to be acknowledged by HBA with the prestigious ACE Award.”
2007 Winner Johnson & Johnson Women’s Leadership Initiative
Johnson & Johnson's Women's Leadership Initiative was named as the first winner of the HBA's ACE Award. Johnson & Johnson was chosen for its Women's Initiative (WLI), a grassroots employee organization with 47 chapters worldwide and membership in all business segments of the company. Since the launch of the WLI in 1995, Johnson & Johnson has tracked significant increases in the numbers and percentages of women on the Executive Committee, among company presidents and managing directors outside the U.S., corporate officers, company group chairs, executive and director level women and those with both line and staff management positions.
“Completing the ACE Award was an important milestone for our organization," said Melanie Barstad, President, Women’s Health Initiatives, Medical Devices & Diagnostics, Johnson & Johnson and Co-Chair of the Women’s Leadership Initiative (WLI), at the 2008 HBA ACE Award Luncheon. "Through the process of looking back and assessment, the WLI recognized the value of the HBA to enhance the power of networks and the need to advance global efforts."