PBN Diversity Equity & Inclusion 2023 Awards
Health Care – Large Company: Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island
DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION values aren’t second nature in most organizations, but Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island executives and rank-and-file staff have put a lot of effort into making it seem so.
Blue Cross’ leadership has gone to great lengths keeping their teams working together respectfully, actively anticipating hurdles to create a smoothly interacting environment of colleagues.
“We’re such a small plan, but we’re doing some great work,” said Carolyn Belisle, the Providence-based health insurer’s managing director, corporate social responsibility. While small in terms of industry peers, Blue Cross is one of Rhode Island’s biggest employers with 1,100 people working for it.
Every Blue Cross employee participates in yearly Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Identity: Building Awareness and Understanding training. The program includes discussion, video examples and role-playing, helping co-workers learn more about each other and their teams. The training was updated this year to include gender identity, allyship, privilege and equity.
Day to day, the company uses a “4 P” framework – people, policy, purchasing and philanthropy – to establish goals and objectives for its DEI initiatives.
Blue Cross has steered such initiatives according to that framework since 2008, said Belisle, who has been with Blue Cross for 22 years. In 2020, Belisle was tasked by Blue Cross leadership to better ensure the company’s adherence to its diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. That December, the company expanded its investment in the area by hiring Jenny Bautista-Ravreby as its diversity, equity and inclusion manager.
Blue Cross’ Diversity Council consists of 23 employees, endorsed by senior leadership, who serve as diversity and inclusion ambassadors. “They’re really valuable folks to have in the mix,” Bautista-Ravreby said.
Blue Cross also established seven employee business resource groups, assembling people from across the company to serve as resources to project teams solving business challenges while also supporting community partners. Those groups include Black Council @ Blue, focused on Black/African American individuals; Blue pRIde Focus for LGBTQ individuals; Disability Inclusion Network Focus for individuals living with a disability; Rising Talent at Blue for professionals looking to grow in their career; Latin@Link for Hispanic/Latino/Latinx associates; Military Services Focus for active, retired, reserve and separated military service members and their families; and a caregivers group called Caregiver Connection @ Blue Cross.
The Blue pRIde group recently supported a new LGBTQ+ benefits guide. Black Council @ Blue and Latin@Link coordinated educational and development opportunities in recognition of Black History Month and Hispanic Heritage Month. Members of the Disability Inclusion Network group helped create a new policy around accommodations for Blue Cross’ companywide events.
“We’re continuing to shift where we need to,” Bautista-Ravreby said. The caregivers group is a really good example of the positive influence the resource groups have on company culture, she says.
Caregiving at Blue Cross ranges from employees aiding sick family to co-workers caring for a new baby, Bautista-Ravreby says. For new parents, for instance, members of the group provide advice and make sure their colleagues are directed to resources for families with new babies, including employee benefits.
That support also extends outside the company’s resources. “We look for ways to connect them to the community,” Bautista-Ravreby said.
In 2023, Blue Cross expanded services covered under the company’s gender-affirming benefit for members and employees, developed new LGBTQ+ cultural competency training for employees, and created an LGBTQ+ benefits guide to assist in navigating critical health care and employee benefits.
The efforts among both leadership and the ranks at the health insurer have been noticed. Blue Cross was designated a Best Place to Work for Disability Inclusion with a score of 100 on the 2023 Disability Equality Index for the second consecutive year. The accolade, granted by the American Association of People with Disabilities, is based on a national benchmarking survey and report on corporate policies and practices on disability workplace equality.
“I think it’s a testament to our hard work to support our members,” Belisle said.
