The Bioscience & Investor Inclusion Group was not a 'think-tank' aiming to address the question of Why DEI&B is important? – upon which so many are stuck. It assumed that enough people with leadership responsibility were committed to DEI&B and stood ready to mobilize their workforces to create better processes, systems and organizational behaviors that propel their firms and companies towards more inclusive cultures.

BIIG is all about action. A key goal is to put tools in the hands of progressive companies that are big on intention but lack the underlying know-how, expertise, or resource to effectively address anything beyond the most basic DEI&B initiative. In the formative stages of translating BIIG's actionable framework into dedicated working group efforts, the focus centered on investor interactions, hiring and onboarding, and people growth and retention.

BIIG had around 80 impassioned and dedicated experts pulling in the same general direction and actively devising solutions. These seasoned experts worked together collaboratively and practically towards developing a series of actionable DEI&B solutions that would begin to address aspects of the systemic issues restricting greater inclusion in the life sciences venture capital industry and its respective investee innovator companies.

So many ingredients can go into a DEI&B effort that settling on the right recipe can be problematic. Without a clear destination or a resulting strategy, it is easy to allow convenience and intuition to influence DEI&B program selections. Moreover, the volume of ideas and approaches, constantly challenged by counterarguments and entrenched positions, makes it difficult for companies to get started, meaning many are defeated before they even get out of the blocks. The BIIG working groups were tested in this way too.

Numerous compelling ideas came to the surface. With an emphasis on action, they ranged from proposals tackling DEI&B issues in the short term to complex programs that would require multi-year support. But, to coin a popular phrase – there were no bad ideas.

Yet, finding those winning approaches takes a lot of energy. There is a constant need to prioritize based on a range of important factors, but different individual backgrounds and perspectives enrich the process and improve the outcome.

The group found a way forward through open dialogue, active listening, pragmatism, creativity, and determination. We have pulled from years and decades of experience, we've piloted our programs and continued until we felt like our products were sure to make a BIIG impact.