Erickajoy Daniels
Senior vice president of diversity and inclusion, Aurora Health Care
750 W. Virginia St., Milwaukee
Industry: Health care
Employees: 32,000
www.aurorahealthcare.org
According to Erickajoy Daniels, senior vice president of diversity and inclusion for Aurora Health Care, diversity is not just about getting the right people in the door, but about creating a welcoming environment for them when they arrive.
“When people hear the words ‘diversity and inclusion,’ far too often they assume that we are solely referring to recruiting diverse talent. While I am the first to recognize the value in recruiting diverse individuals, I am proud to say that we have a more comprehensive approach to D&I at Aurora.
“As part of our multifaceted strategy to create a welcoming environment for our caregivers, we’ve found that to establish a truly inclusive workplace, organizations must engage their leadership teams to actively normalize conversations about diversity.
“People can be uncomfortable with discussions about race, gender, sexual orientation and all other forms of difference. To address this, we have provided leaders with resources and training that explore self-awareness, unconscious bias and emotional intelligence. This approach diminishes the notion that talking about diversity is taboo which, in turn, reshapes the conversation among our caregivers as a celebration of our differences.
“Although this dialogue is just the beginning, it delivers a huge impact. At Aurora, we believe that our purpose to ‘help people live well’ is only as strong as our commitment to the people who carry out this task. By accomplishing our mission from the inside out, we are improving our workplace for our caregivers while enhancing the healing environment for the patients we serve.”
