The medical device and medical technology (medtech) industry — like many health care industries — has a history of excluding marginalized communities in testing, development, and leadership. MedTech Color is working to change that.

Listen as MedTech Color founding members, Nada Hanafi and Vernessa Pollard, share their experiences in the industry, their hopes for the future, and the steps they’re taking to advance equity in the medical technology field.

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TRANSCRIPTION

VERNESSA POLLARD: Hello. My name is Vernessa Pollard, and I lead the food and drug law practice at the global law firm of McDermott Will & Emery. I also co-chair our global life sciences practice. I’m a founding member and board member of MedTech Color, and I am also on the executive planning committee for our collaborative community. My pronouns are she/her.

NADA HANAFI: Hi, I’m Nada Hanafi. I am a senior vice president for Veranex, where I lead the regulatory strategy team to help companies of all sizes develop the least burdensome approach to getting their product on the market and ensuring that they are going to have good outcomes for patients.

I’m also the co-founder of MedTech Color — and also sit on the executive planning committee for the MedTech Color Collaborative Community focused on diversity and inclusion in product development and clinical study design.

My pronouns are she and her. I am of African descent, from Sudan, and grew up in the United Kingdom.

Today, we’re going to be answering questions from the In Full Health Learning & Action Committee about our work, mission, and personal experiences with MedTech Color. Vernessa, can you first start by explaining what MedTech color is and what we’re trying to achieve?

VERNESSA POLLARD: MedTech color is a 501(c)(3) organization and nonprofit. We’ve been around for about 4 ½ years, and we really started with a group of executives who were all working in different areas of the medical device industry.

We came together with a mission that was multifaceted. First, we wanted to create a community, a space, where primarily black and Latinx people in the medical device industry could come together in just fellowship — know each other, support each other, pour into one another, help each other meet their personal and professional goals.

The second part of that mission was this very lofty — but I think achievable — goal of creating 100 Black or Latinx CEOs in the next 10 years. And then the third was really starting to create a space and a platform where we could drive thought leadership, solutions, conversations, around issues of health equity and issues that affect, historically marginalized or underrepresented patients and populations.

So, Nada, MedTech Color was founded by Black leaders and Black professionals in MedTech, including you. How does your own lived experience, and your perspective shape your motivation or the work that you do?

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NADA HANAFI: It’s strange — I don’t think I noticed I was Black until I came to the U.S. I was young and right out of college, but I also worked at the federal government. That was actually a lot more representative than if you go into the MedTech industry, or if you come out into Silicon Valley.

It didn’t hit me as much, but it did hit me when I moved out from the east coast and left the federal government to go into [the medtech] industry that I was like, “Wow, I truly, truly am an N of one.”

I mean, all these different institutions, but what’s the one thing that’s always consistent? You’re the N of one, right? And that’s not right. And I think that’s a huge part of what MedTech Color is driving to do.

There are Black and Brown, there are Latinx, there are other people, who are doing amazing work to drive innovation within their sphere of expertise that aren’t necessarily Caucasian. And you just need to look beyond your own sphere, and that is a part where MedTech color is aiming to be that “destination go-to.”

And I know there are people that look like us out there in leadership positions or have the potential to get into really powerful leadership positions, to direct decision-making. And we have to create something and address this need. How about yourself, Vernessa?

VERNESSA POLLARD: I think it’s much the same. I now have been practicing law… I practiced law at FDA (which I agree with a much more representative experience and environment for me), but I’ve also practiced in large global law firms for the bulk of my career at different stages. And I remember those incidents, that sort of stick out in your memory.

For example, walking into a room and having people sort of visibly taken aback — before we had all of our bios on the internet and all of the different ways that people can look you up, even though some of that existed — that I was indeed, you know, their lawyer and the person that they’d been talking to on the phone.

I’ve had experiences of walking into conference rooms with groups of white male colleagues — and having on my suit mind you — and having people assume that I was there to handle catering or giving me, you know, coffee requests or asking me to open the shades. And I think that what people may not be aware of is that over time, how those experiences — regardless of your success — wear you down.

For me, it’s not just about having people in the room who look like me. It’s about having people who can bring perspective when critical decisions are being made about hiring, about promotion, about visibility that there isn’t just one voice.

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Expressing Gratitude

I want to actually take a moment to shout out Vernessa Pollard. I’ve learned so much from her in terms of delivery in terms of poise and grace. She genuinely just really wants to move the needle for people of color. She is so committed to people who look like her and committed to health equity.

Nada Hanafi
Founding Member, MedTech Color

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NADA HANAFI: So, Vernessa, why did we (MedTech Color) choose to be a founding collaborator for the In Full Health initiative?

VERNESSA POLLARD: There’s so much alignment between MedTech Color’s mission, and the mission and goals of In Full Health. And one of the key drivers was the idea of putting forth actionable, carefully thought out principles and guidelines that organizations can implement to really try to move the needle on diversity and inclusivity.

We all know what the issues and the problems are, and there are lots of different organizations that are trying to solve them. Often, it can be frustrating because we’re all sort of talking to each other about what the issues are and wanting to drive towards solutions. So, what was really attractive about the In Full Health initiative was the idea of it being very solution-oriented and very collaborative.

NADA HANAFI: I think it’s also extremely timely, isn’t it? Health equity has become this mainstream topic — specifically, maybe over the last two years, right? It’s understanding that the political determinants of health, the social determinants of health are all leading to what we’re experiencing. It’s a pandemic, it’s a crisis of health inequity, and it’s proportionately impacting people of color and people of lower SES (socioeconomic status). And that’s just not right. And the people who have the capabilities to do something about it, need to come to the forefront.

So much about work is about connecting with historically marginalized professionals trying to innovate and develop in the MedTech world. What would be a piece of advice or encouragement that you would give them?

VERNESSA POLLARD: I think it’s really important to have what one of my mentors, called “professional sight lines.” Those are people who are doing things in their careers that you are interested in, that you’re inspired by.

The other thing that I think has been really important to me is having what I call and other people call a “personal board of directors.” And those are people who have a personal and interest investment in your development and your well-being. It’s a cross-section of people who are way ahead of you in terms of their accomplishments, it’s people at your peer level, it’s even people who you may be a little senior to. But what they have in common is good advice, good perspective.

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Expressing Gratitude

I would give out my first big shout-out to Nada. She’s now on my personal board of directors, and she’s always pushing us to think bigger, do more, and find a path forward. Also, Ariana Albiar, Cheyne Stennis, and Danielle Arellano — they are the Operations Team at MedTech Color who really steer all of our initiatives. And then finally, Kwame Ulmer. MedTech Color was his idea, and he is the driver behind all of this.

Vernessa Pollard
Founding Member, MedTech Color

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What’s been tremendous for me is that my personal board of directors consists of many people that are in MedTech Color and relationships that have formed, from the organization.

NADA HANAFI: I think that’s amazing advice, because so much of our work is about connecting with historically marginalized professionals who are trying to innovate and design in the medtech world.

I think also I’d add on there: Don’t be afraid to ask questions. My motto is if I’m training anyone, or anyone who works with me knows, there’s no stupid question in my mind. Some of the basic questions can be the most insightful in terms of what solution you develop.

We all need to work collectively to make sure that everyone gets health care — if you’re not healthy, you don’t really have a life. So, it’s at the core of everything. It’s a human right. Health equity means your voice matters. Your needs matter. And when it comes to innovation and medical devices, they really have the potential to improve health outcomes.

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