Celebrating Black History Month

Celebrating Black History Month

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) provides a framework for organizations to better recognize, understand and celebrate cultural events and initiatives that are important to all of their employees, while also promoting diversity and supporting the career development for employees of all races, backgrounds, and ethnicities. Dedicating time during specific nationally and internationally recognized events is an important step forward in achieving DEI goals among other efforts.

February is dedicated as Black History Month and was established to honor the achievements of African Americans throughout U.S. history and recognize them for their artistic, cultural and political contributions.

We recently sat down with Dodzi Ladzekpo, Manager, Membership & Customer Master, Commercial Operations & Regional DEI Council Member in the United States and Canada at Teleflex, to discuss the correlation of DEI efforts and Black History Month and to better understand what Teleflex is doing to educate and honor our employees. ??

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Teleflex: Tell us about yourself and your role in Teleflex

I have been with Teleflex for a little over 13 years. I started my career within the international customer service department handling shipments to APAC. Since then, I have had various roles and responsibilities, including contracts coordinator working with the sales team, to my current roles within the membership team. I started with the membership team in 2014 and worked my way from membership coordinator to membership supervisor, managing one of our largest GPOs, Vizient. I was just recently promoted to Manager of Membership and Master Data. It has been a rewarding journey, and a great place to grow and flourish. I look forward to continuing to experience the opportunities that Teleflex has to offer.

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Teleflex: How did you become a member of the Regional DEI Council?

Shanté Demary, who is the Teleflex co-chair of the Global DEI Council and the United States & Canada Regional Chair, had approached me just over a year ago and asked me if I wanted to be a part of the council. I see how she is passionate in her role to continue to push the company towards continuously enhancing its focuses on Diversity, Equity & Inclusion. So, I thought it was something I wanted to be a part of. I told her ‘sign me up’ so I can bring input, ideas and get involved with something that benefits the culture, the company, and the people.

I also have a lot of involvement with our African American Professional Network (AAPN) employee resource group. These ERGs which fall under the DEI umbrella allow employees the opportunity to give back and help the community. We recently had a few initiatives where we donated Christmas gifts for families and children that are less fortunate. It has been really rewarding to be a blessing to somebody else.

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Teleflex: February is Black History Month. How will the Teleflex helped to celebrate with its employees??

We do a great job here at Teleflex through the AAPN highlighting the different contributions that African Americans have contributed to the world of medicine, to the world of business, to the country at large and the world at large. We will be highlighting African Americans throughout the month of February and their contributions not only to us as African Americans to be able to aspire towards, but also a world view to give better insight to what people of color have contributed to the betterment of society. It is a really rewarding thing to be able to see how they have helped change and revolutionize the world. Much of the success and opportunities that we have today is directly attributed to those that opened doors, initiated change, and ensured that we have a seat at the table.

I do believe we will continue to have great turnouts for related events because of the level of understanding that is gained and the opportunity to share history. There is a level of insight and a level of information that is passed on and people have a hunger for that and so I definitely see it growing even further as we move forward.

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Teleflex: What do you see as the future for DEI at Teleflex?

Teleflex has been really intentional about challenging its perspective on Diversity, Equity & Inclusion efforts. We are doing an incredible job of bringing information, insight, and awareness to one another and to the value we all bring. DEI highlights the diversity of thought, race, who you are, your background and it shows that we all can come together for the betterment of the organization and for changing lives, because that is really what Teleflex does.

I know as a company, we will continuously push these initiatives forward and that people and employees will galvanize and find ways to go about supporting the ERGs and being involved. Bringing your voice, bringing your ideas, your suggestions and creative thought; bringing something no one thought of and maybe something that is different. And we can all align with the purpose of what DEI does and see the benefits of it and push and advance it even further.