Month: February 2024

For more than 30 years, November has been celebrated as Native American Heritage Month (formerly National American Indian Heritage Month) in the United States. It’s a time to recognize the long, rich history of the country’s many Indigenous peoples – and to acknowledge the unique challenges they have faced and continue to face.

Educating and raising awareness of Native American heritage is just one of the many driving motivations behind the newest Boston Scientific employee resource group (ERG): FIRE, which stands for Fostering Indigenous Resources and Empowerment.

In honor of Native American Heritage Month and the one-year anniversary of the launch of FIRE, we’re looking back at the group’s creation and what it hopes to achieve both as part of Boston Scientific and for Indigenous communities beyond the company’s walls.

How FIRE got started 

The initial spark for the FIRE ERG came several years ago when a new employee with Cherokee heritage started at the Boston Scientific site in Arden Hills, Minnesota. Conversations with her onboarding mentor led to the realization that Boston Scientific didn’t have an ERG for Indigenous employees.

“We often hear from other multicultural employees that when they started at Boston Scientific, they instantly felt comfortable in an ERG they closely identified with,” says Emily Gutierrez, a project manager at Boston Scientific and current global co-lead of FIRE. “Our colleagues realized, ‘Without an ERG for Indigenous employees, there’s a gap here.’”

Ultimately, the Minnesota employee and her mentor, together with Gutierrez and a like-minded colleague in Massachusetts, started working on putting an application to form an ERG at Boston Scientific. To do so, groups must meet certain requirements, including identifying leadership and having a minimum of three chapters.

After a year and a half of gathering employee support, FIRE was officially launched as an ERG in October 2022, with three chapters: one in Massachusetts, where Boston Scientific has its world headquarters; one in Minnesota; and a global virtual chapter that’s open to all employees who aren’t based at one of the other two sites.

Sharing hidden Native American histories and important truths 

Today, FIRE has more than 350 members and has already sponsored a wealth of activities for employees. “One of our first was working with a non-profit organization in Minnesota that provides healthy Indigenous foods to urban Native Americans,” says Markie Vicenti, an IT analyst at Boston Scientific and FIRE global co-lead. Members also volunteered at a traditional wacipi, or pow-wow, and hosted a virtual beadwork session led by Indigenous artists in Massachusetts.

Through book clubs, a podcast series and on-site events, the ERG has shed light on difficult truths about the treatment of Indigenous peoples throughout the history of North America, including the legacy of Native American boarding schools and Canadian residential schools, perspectives on federal holidays such as Columbus Day, and the current crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous peoples.

FIRE is also actively working to increase representation of Indigenous people and students in STEM careers. The ERG has partnered with AISES, the American Indian Science and Engineering Society, and plans to participate in an AISES mentoring program for young people. They’ve also obtained a grant for a local non-profit working to empower Native youth in the Twin Cities.

And in recognition of the fact that Boston Scientific facilities are located on ancestral homelands of Indigenous peoples, FIRE has developed land acknowledgement statements and is installing plaques at Minnesota and Massachusetts sites during ceremonies attended by local and executive leaders this month, with other sites across the U.S. and Canada to follow. “These will be a great way for our allies to show their support of FIRE and acknowledge the deep history of the land that we work and live on today,” says Gutierrez.

Ensuring Indigenous people have a voice at Boston Scientific 

Looking forward, the members of FIRE aim to do much more than educate employees and engage with local Indigenous groups, though both remain top priorities.

“We really want to ensure Indigenous people have a seat at the table when it comes to being represented and heard by our executive leaders,” says Gutierrez. “And we want to make Boston Scientific an employer of choice for Indigenous peoples, not just in the U.S. and Canada, but globally.”

Most of all, FIRE hopes to provide a sense of home and belonging for Indigenous employees.

“For me, being Indigenous, having that support system and people who understand my experiences was important,” says Vicenti.

Just as important, she says, is having the support of allies at the company who don’t have an Indigenous background.

“We’ve gotten so many comments from employees of all backgrounds saying that they’re so excited about the land acknowledgement statements and the ERG, that it’s about time this is happening,” says Vicenti. “Having that kind of community in the workplace makes a world of difference and makes Boston Scientific an even more beautiful place to be.”

Boston Scientific is committed to fostering a diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace where all of our employees can bring their authentic selves to work and thrive personally and professionally. See our objectives and progress to date in our 2022 Performance Report.

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Whether your organization is at the start of its sustainability and impact journey or years into it, many brands share a common concern: the uncertainty of whether they are sending stakeholders mixed messages. To help ease this worry, 3BL is delivering a Valentine’s staple from our heart to yours: a twist on the traditional Conversation Heart. 

Each Conversation Heart is adorned with expert insights on how to sweeten your content, and communication strategies to strike the hearts of your target audience. Find out how to avoid industry cliches, optimize your communication with data, find the ‘love language’ of your key stakeholders and more. 

Save yourself the heartache of doubting your messaging. Instead, savor these insights to expertly translate your impact into powerful content.

Treat yourself to these communication tips. 

Georgia-Pacific continuously evaluates and transforms how we use resources in developing our products. We work to operate responsibly to best serve our partners, consumers, and communities. Guided by our Stewardship Framework, Georgia-Pacific seeks to improve lives, deliver better products, and develop technology and initiatives to consume fewer resources.

As director of environmental sustainability at Georgia-Pacific, Nagapooja Seeba helps Georgia-Pacific understand and improve the environmental impacts of its initiatives. This includes using raw materials such as unbleached pulp, developing products such as Quilted Northern Ultra Soft & Strong® and EarthKraft™ recyclable padded mailers, and innovations such as Juno, a waste recovery technology.

Below, Nagapooja explains the tool and methodology integral to this work that many are not familiar with: life cycle assessments (LCAs). LCAs can be applied to various industries and sectors, providing valuable information for decision-making, product development, and environmental management strategies. It is an essential tool for businesses and policymakers aiming to reduce the environmental impact of products and processes.

What is an LCA?

LCA is a method for evaluating the environmental impacts of a product, process, or service throughout its entire life cycle. This life cycle typically includes all stages of the product or service, including raw material extraction, manufacturing, transportation, use, and disposal.

How are LCAs used? 

An LCA provides a more holistic view of the environmental burdens and benefits associated with a particular product or process. This assessment considers various environmental factors, such as resource consumption, emissions to air, water and soil, as well as potential impacts on human health and ecosystems. The assessment creates data that can help evaluate and support sustainability claims, increase credibility, and facilitate sound business decisions.

What criteria are used in LCAs? 

During an LCA, a practitioner will set metrics to quantify different inputs, like use of energy, water, and other resources, as well as outputs such as waste, which occur throughout the life cycle of an industrial process, technology, or product. Practitioners use this information to track energy, resources, and materials.

How can LCAs help decision makers with sustainability initiatives?

LCAs give a full picture of a product or initiative’s impacts and guides product design and innovation. The data provides credible evidence and helps make informed business and environmental decisions. It allows Georgia-Pacific to consider a product’s entire supply chain and the implications of raw material extraction and use, production, transportation and distribution, and includes selecting suppliers and partners that align with our sustainability goals and those of our partners.

The information is also important for external audiences to be able to review initiatives and technology and determine if it is achieving its goals.

Georgia-Pacific incorporates LCAs into its decision-making processes and through the data provided by the assessments, makes more informed and strategic choices that contribute to the overall advancement of sustainability initiatives, aligning with its stewardship objectives. Visit Georgia-Pacific’s Environmental Stewardship page to learn more.

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