At Acutis, promoting diversity is a commitment to equity and inclusion – where everyone’s voices, regardless of race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, etc. can and should be heard. As an organization, and as people, we stand on the right side of social justice by promoting diversity through celebrating marginalized groups, raising awareness for social inequalities, educating our workforce on acceptance and non-discrimination, and building a diverse team of professionals that helps make Acutis the industry leader.
The Social Responsibility Response Committee reinforces our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion by seeking out ways to celebrate marginalized groups, raise awareness for social inequalities, and educate our workforce on acceptance and non-discrimination. To close out Pride Month 2021, the SRRC helped our organization celebrate “Acutis Pride day” this year.
At the beginning of June, we asked our team members to participate in the Acutis Pride t-shirt design contest – of all the artistic submissions, the winning t-shirt design was printed on shirts that were given to our entire team. On the last day of June and during our weekly company-wide meeting, we asked everyone to celebrate Acutis Pride Day with us by wearing their pride t-shirt or any other rainbow attire. We also set up a make-your-own rainbow ribbon pin station to fundraise for the LGBT Network, an association of non-profit organizations working to serve the LGBT community of Long Island and Queens, collecting a total donation of over $1,000.
Also during Pride Month, we focused on using our social media platforms to raise awareness for the LGBTQ+ community’s successes and challenges by recognizing those in our industry who have represented this community and pioneered equality for all and sharing the limited research available on drug use, alcohol use, and the overall health of LGBTQ+ individuals.
Follow us on social media to stay up to date on our SRRC activities and more:
Pride month 2021
Sources: NIH and NCBI Rreport
It's clear that the bulk of this research indicates that substance and alcohol use is much higher than that of the general population. The various studies conducted to provide this research help counselors and doctors at treatment centers provide better substance use treatment for LGBTQ+ individuals. We recognize there is a greater need for further studies on these issues and hope the next few years will bring us closer to identifying and resolving some of these hindrances.
LGBTQ+ scientist highlights
Transgender neurobiologist and advocate
for women & minorities in science
A well-known researcher of glia, Ben Barres was the first openly transgender member elected to the US National Academy of Sciences in 2013. Throughout his career he made numerous significant scientific discoveries and was dedicated to working on problems that other neuroscientists had not yet researched, what he called “the untouched mysteries.” Before he passed from cancer in 2017, he became an advocate for equality in the industry – specifically speaking on his challenges as a woman in science before his transition and the bias he witnessed against the advancement of women and minorities.
Public health pioneer and women’s rights advocate
Unable to work in a hospital because of her gender at a time when only 6% of physicians were women, Dr. Sara Josephine Baker was the first woman to earn a doctorate in Public Health from NYU and the first woman in the U.S. to serve as an appointed health official of a major municipality. It’s estimated that throughout her 30-year career in public health, Dr. Baker saved over 90,000 infants and children in NYC, was the main identifier of the spreading source of the Typhoid epidemic, and set precedence for public health standards across the nation. We recognize Dr. Baker as a suffragette, a feminist living with her female life partner, and a pioneer for preventative public health.
Mycologist, activist, author, and award-winning songwriter
Dr. Richard Summerbell has published over 150 peer-reviewed papers in mycology, botany, and bacteriology – his most cited works are on the fungi that cause human skin diseases and nail infections. While studying and researching mycology, Dr. Summerbell was also a gay rights activist and an early reporter on AIDS, promiscuity, and attitudes toward homosexuality in religion. As an activist, he published a satirical book, Abnormally Happy: A Gay Dictionary, on stereotypical views of gays and lesbians and he also authored a safe sex campaign series, Is there a Condom in Your Life? in the Toronto newspaper Xtra! beginning in 1987.
Comments