Glenn Englemann
General Counsel
AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals is a major international provider of healthcare services and pharmaceuticals, including NEXIUM (esomeprazole magnesium) and CRESTOR (rosuvastatin calcium). In the United States, AstraZeneca is an $8.7 billion business with more than 11,000 employees, and believes that its employees should represent the communities it serves.
Under the leadership of Vice President, General Counsel, and Compliance Officer Glenn Engelmann, the legal department at AstraZeneca reflects the company's commitment to diversity. Its legal department boasts 68 members, and of that number, 17 are at the senior counsel level. Women make up 71 percent of the department, comprising half of the leadership team and senior counsel. Twelve percent of the department are minorities, nearly a quarter of the senior counsel.
The legal department has a culture team that regularly promotes and addresses diversity issues. The company's flexible work environment recognizes individual choices; accordingly, the AstraZeneca legal department supports and enables members to take advantage of flexible work arrangements, policies, and programs. These options include compressed workweeks, job shares, telecommuting, and part-time schedules. Such programs enhance the quality of the personal and professional lives of the entire AstraZeneca workforce.
(L to R): Anastasia Kelly, MCI; Glenn Englemann, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals; and Veta Richardson, MCCA
Outside the company, legal staff members do pro bono work for a number of organizations. Both individually and as a team, members of the department volunteer their time and talent as mentors and advisors with internal network groups and community organizations, such as the Walnut Street Branch of the YMCA in Wilmington. In addition, AstraZeneca's legal department is a sponsor of the Delaware Minority Job Fair for first-, second- and third-year law students.
In its relationships with contractors and vendors, AstraZeneca's legal department employs outside counsel retention, business, and practice guidelines. This practice reinforces its commitment and concern for full and equal participation of minorities and women within the profession.
The company also recruits competitively to attract, retain, and develop a diverse workforce and talent base to serve these communities and cultures. This diversity is reflected in the company's employee network groups, which include the Senior Executive Women's Network, African-American Employee Network, and the Adoptive Parents Network.
In 2003, AstraZeneca was named one of the "100 Best Companies" in the nation for working mothers by Working Mother magazine and was one of Fortune magazine's "100 Best Companies to Work." Recently, DiversityInc.com ranked AstraZeneca number one on its list of top 10 companies for female executives, and named the company to its 20 Noteworthy Companies list for overall diversity efforts.
From the November/December 2004 issue of Diversity & The Bar®