International Women's Day: “Without gender equality, a sustainable future remains beyond our reach.”

We celebrate International Women’s Day with this year’s UN Women motto being “Gender Equality Today for a Sustainable Tomorrow” by introducing just a few of the women who work at Boehringer Ingelheim, championing environmental and climate action and driving our corporate sustainability efforts, every day. During this week, we will be sharing insights from six colleagues from various locations of our organization, highlighting their efforts, impact and spirit.

Christiane Wijsen, Head of Corporate Strategy & Consulting at Boehringer Ingelheim and managing executive for the Sustainable Development – For Generations strategy, highlights the purpose and opportunities women from all professional backgrounds can find in sustainability. She says: “As Head of the division which includes both the Diversity & Inclusion and Sustainable Development departments, I am truly inspired by the UN’s motto of this year’s International Women’s day, highlighting the importance of gender equality to drive sustainability. It is increasingly recognized that women tend to bear a disproportionate burden of the impact of sustainability challenges, like global warming or health risks linked to climate change. At the same time, women and girls are powerful leaders and changemakers and are involved in sustainability initiatives around the world. Continued efforts to empower women to be equal players in decision-making related to sustainability is essential. Without gender equality, a sustainable future remains beyond our reach. At Boehringer Ingelheim, we are excited to see a growing network of women, collaborating and sharing their experiences, making a difference together. The stories we share pay tribute, not only to their impact in general, but highlight in particular their trailblazing role as changemakers in the field of sustainability. I would like to express my gratitude to each of them, for their entrepreneurship and leadership.”

So, without further ado, meet six women driving sustainability at Boehringer Ingelheim!

From left to right: Fangya Qiang, Beatrice Aelterman, Annette Eckes, Monica Sanchez, Nina Schmid, Manuela Pastore

Fangya Qiang has been the Head of Environment, Health and Safety (EHS) for Boehringer Ingelheim TCM (The Chinese Market) in Shanghai, China for the last ten years. As such, she has been a champion for sustainability in one of the world’s most important economic and industrial hubs. Only recently, in November 2021, Fangya, project co-lead Joele Li and their team’s efforts were rewarded with the inclusion of their BioPharma site in the Shanghai MEE’s Top 100 “positive list”, for outstanding environmental performance.

Fangya and her team of twenty people, drive environmental sustainability projects, deploy innovative technologies, and implement established best practices in all levels of operations. “As of late, one focus has been working with our colleagues from the sourcing departments, to advance the transition to energy from renewable sources – this is one of our key priorities, as we work towards carbon neutrality in our operations throughout TCM and Boehringer Ingelheim worldwide. It’s a demanding task given the costs and regulatory environment, but recent positive feedback has been a strong indicator that we are on the right track”. 

In fact, women have been leading the sustainability efforts in China for a long time. On the topic of opportunities for women in this field, Fangya says: “China is very inclusive on sustainability topics and offers great opportunities to get hands-on experience in a very innovative and challenging field – but also a field, where you are in regular dialogue with other female professionals. The time to act is now, as there is a growing awareness on environmental topics and its intrinsic connection to our quality of life. For the business, government, and even at a personal level – people’s expectations are rising, and with investments increasing, there are many opportunities for women in this field”.

Beatrice Aelterman is Head of Global Health Management at Boehringer Ingelheim. Her responsibility is to look after the health and safety of the workforce, by developing and deploying a culture of healthy habits, open mindedness and risk awareness. 

Workplace health and safety is an often overlooked and underrated topic in sustainability – and one that has been impacted massively by the COVID-19 pandemic. Mental health, home office ergonomics, mobility, even nutrition – all were cast into the spotlight as daily routines were turned upside down for many people, also for employees at Boehringer Ingelheim. This led to a mindset shift among many people, Beatrice explains: “As a healthcare company, we have to be role models when it comes to the health and well-being of our people. With the pandemic affecting our lives for over two years now, we are seeing an increased commitment to employee well-being among all our stakeholders and in the business overall. People want to know where we stand and what we can still do to take care of our employees”. 

Caring for your peers carries an innate sense of purpose, shared success, and growth – and it’s a job in which empathy and strong people skills are crucial. “As a woman in this field, you need to trust your instincts, skills and values. Women like to think in teams, in family units. Investing time and capability for the benefit of the group comes naturally to many of us, so there is a strong need for more women in employee health and safety, but also in sustainable development overall”. As such, Beatrice didn’t have to think long to name inspiring women in this field. “I admire the many women that are true changemakers, our Making More Health Fellows and the women driving steady change from within the company. Believing in their ideas, overcoming obstacles, making a difference. They exemplify the mindset you need, to set your mark and pave the way for other women everywhere”.

Annette Eckes is a Senior Circular Economy Manager at Corporate Headquarters and one of the initiative leads within MORE GREEN, Boehringer Ingelheim’s environmental sustainability program. In the role she has now held for two years, she works on implementing  Boehringer Ingelheim’s Circular Economy  / Resource Use ambition. A green culture and awareness for environmental topics are a reoccurring topic, whenever you discuss sustainability with Annette: “We need to anchor awareness for the environment in our DNA – that every decision we take and everything we do contributes to the health of our planet, and ultimately our own. We need more people joining the sustainability journey, because we all need to contribute”. Presently, together with a female fellow of the “Afrika kommt!” program, she is applying eco-design principles throughout our product portfolio, fostering green investments and reducing the environmental footprint of meetings and conferences: “It’s a very challenging field to work in, because it is constantly evolving, with new things coming up constantly. We are also collaborating with partners in the industry and our broader network. The network is very diverse, so if you want to work in sustainability, it’s all about going for it and jumping on the opportunities that arise. It doesn’t matter, whether you are in business, research, operations, or communications. Almost every skillset is needed in sustainability, so women should not shy away from the challenge to make the world “greener” for us – and the generations to come”. 

As Head of Labour Safety and Environment, Health, Safety & Sustainability (EHS&S) Manager with almost a decade of experience in her current role, Monica Sanchez is continuously improving sustainability in and around our site in Sant Cugat, located on the outskirts of Barcelona. Her projects cover a broad range of topics, including workplace health and safety, resource, and energy efficiency, as well as major technical investments. The latest putting Sant Cugat on Boehringer Ingelheim’s growing list of sites certified as carbon neutral in their operations. 

“We rely on a broad network and constant collaboration to steadily improve our environmental performance across all areas. Production, engineering, sourcing, communications, our headquarters – we all share the common goal of making Boehringer Ingelheim carbon neutral in its operations and significantly reduce our natural resources footprint by 2030. Having everybody on the same page has had a tangible, positive effect on our ability to make an impact”. Becoming carbon neutral has been a great milestone, but when asked, a number of different projects spark the same enthusiasm in Monica: “It’s important to highlight and acknowledge all the projects our great teams everywhere are driving. Integrating our partners up and down the value chain into our carbon emission reduction measures, the deployment of eco-design & circular economy principles in our product development, sourcing energy from sustainable sources - all of them contribute to the greater goal of improving health, by caring for our planet”.

She takes great inspiration from the many talented women working with her in this field, both in Spain and globally. “Learning from colleagues, networking and sharing perspectives – all this helps to increase your own knowledge and skillset. And with more and more women in high level positions taking a keen interest in the topic, it is an exciting time to be involved. I hope that young people look for companies, who are truly committed to becoming more sustainable and don’t give up on their ideas and ideals. The sum of our individual changes combined will generate a revolution”.

Nina Schmid is a Trainee in Boehringer Ingelheim’s Global Environment, Health & Safety department and supports the global MORE GREEN Environmental Sustainability program. A trained environmental engineer, she supports water stewardship projects worldwide with a particular focus on regions affected by water scarcity.

Working at the forefront of sustainability innovation, Nina is particularly passionate about one project: “Hydropanels – they look like solar panels, but use sunlight to harvest water from air in places where there is little to no fresh water available. This is a very new technology and our team is still gathering more data under various conditions, through our pilot project in Ingelheim. We see the potential for a viable solution, that can bring safe and clean water to regions that have insufficient access to this indispensable resource”. That project exemplifies the “go for it!” attitude that she would give as advice to any female professional in this field: “Sustainability is joy – because you contribute to something greater. It’s a forward-thinking workspace that contributes to preserving life and our planet. That is very motivating. But like climate action, you need to commit to it. It is worth it, because it allows you to not only grow as a person, but also to contribute to society and business.”

Asked about her role model in sustainability, Boehringer Ingelheim’s very own Manuela Pastore was the first name on her mind. “Her leading role in the growth of Making More Health, her commitment to the social entrepreneur community and connection to the workers and patients on the ground – it is very impressive what she has accomplished.”

Manuela Pastore has been one of the leaders of Boehringer Ingelheim’s sustainable development flagship initiative “Making More Health” for almost a decade. In this role, she has been instrumental in building a network that now includes over 120 social entrepreneurs worldwide and which aims to impact the lives of 50 million people all over the world by 2030. 

One of her personal highlights is working with people with albinism in Kenya. Still today, people with this condition are confronted with discrimination in many communities in Africa. Three years ago, she helped launch a project that offers awareness trainings to communities, provides confidence training to people with albinism and features volunteering programs, helping eliminate stereotypes and prejudices and highlighting what it means to live with albinism. “We are moving on from helping people with albinism be accepted, to helping them become community champions, teaching about albinism, and bringing useful skills to their peers. It’s more than helping them to feel included – it’s about enabling contributions to the community, thus building their careers and empowering them to empower themselves. At the same time, taking this holistic approach generates impact across many areas of social transformation and sustainable development”.

One of the perks of working so close with so many social entrepreneurs, innovators and changemakers, Manuela happily admits, is that you are constantly surrounded by great people that inspire you to do great things. For Manuela, one of the most inspiring is Eszter Harsanyj, a social entrepreneur from Hungary and Making More Health Fellow. As a mother of a child with disabilities, she realized early on that recognizing disease symptoms in her child was particularly difficult and that without the right environment, mothers would struggle to build healthy relationships with their children. This led to her founding Nesting Play Eszter Harsányi | MMH (makingmorehealth.org)  two years ago. A non-profit organization that focuses on empowering mothers of children with disabilities in towns across Kenya, to build nurturing and supportive relationships with their children. “Nesting Play is a great example of how building networks, gathering and sharing knowledge and experiences, taking risks for the opportunities you see and just going for it, can lead to tangible impact for so many different communities. It is those traits that are necessary, when driving the systemic change, we need to strive for”.