Baxter Senior Leadership Team Commitment to Addressing Racial Injustice

DEERFIELD, Ill. - 2020-06-04

Our focus on Inclusion & Diversity (I&D) at Baxter has never been more compelling or urgent. Racism has been a longstanding and disturbing societal issue, and recent displays of racial injustice toward the Black community have rocked U.S. society to its core – with the impact resonating far beyond. The events are all the worse for playing out against a pandemic that’s compounding health and economic disparities globally.

Too many of us know firsthand the fear, exhaustion and anxiety of racism. And all of us are looking for the right words and actions to demonstrate support among our colleagues, customers, patients and other stakeholders and how to affect meaningful change in our communities.

Our Commitment to Rise to the Moment

As a senior leadership team at Baxter, we are making a commitment to rise to this pivotal moment.  We will continue to stand up against racial prejudice and intolerance. We commit to:

1. Listen. The simple act of listening is essential and we will commit to having meaningful connections and holding check-ins with our employees and all stakeholders during these challenging times.
2. Respect differences. Every individual’s experience is different, and we don’t assume all individuals in a certain racial group share the same views and perspectives.   
3. Learn. Sometimes we may be hesitant to act because we’re afraid to say or do the wrong thing.  We will continue to educate ourselves to ease these fears.
4. Check biases. We will continuously check our biases, which can seep into our decision-making, affecting whom we hire, how we interact, who gets promoted, and more.
5. Speak up. If any of us experience, witness, or become aware of racism, bias, or discrimination, we will demonstrate the courage to speak up, address these situations and if appropriate, report situations through our ethics and compliance channels.  We will encourage our stakeholders to do the same.

As a corporation, it is incumbent on us to do what we can to fight racial injustice.  As a leadership team, we are each accountable for role modeling inclusive leadership. We will harness the power of diversity worldwide in support of our Mission to Save and Sustain Lives.