Building and Engaging a Diverse Workforce

Roswell Park continues to strive for a more diverse workforce, that exceeds the diversity of the region. Below are 2022 numbers (across roughly 3,700 employees).

Our employees 2022

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32%

of new hires in 2022 identified as Black, Hispanic, Indigenous or People of Color

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64%

of our workforce identifies as female 

Our growth over the last decade

We remain dedicated to continuing to build and retain a diverse workforce and to increase job opportunities for all Western New Yorkers. Employment of diverse communities grew significantly over the last decade:

• Nearly 25% more Native Americans and Alaska Natives
• 40% more Blacks and African Americans
• 21% more identifying as Hispanic or Latino
• 120% more representing two or more races
• Among current Roswell Park managers, 52% identify as women and 17.5% that are historically underrepresented — exceeding representation of minoritized backgrounds in our local community as a whole.

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Building the pipeline

Roswell Park believes that more diversity in medicine, research, management, and the healthcare workforce requires introductions and interventions as early as possible. These initiatives range from educational and employment opportunities to promoting a healthy environment for children to learn and grow. Below are a few of the many ways Roswell Park reaches out to youth and our community:

• Summer youth employment: Each year Roswell Park hires 100 inner city youth for the summer. We work with Buffalo City Hall on recruitment, but Roswell Park pays 100% of the young Western New Yorker's paycheck. Our summer youth work across campus in labs, clinical spaces, facilities, beautification projects in nearby neighborhoods, and with partner organizations close to their homes.
• NIH-funded NARCH Grant partnership: 14 Indigenous high school and college students from the Akwesasne region of upstate New York participated in educational and experiential learning focused on cancer science through classes and lab activities.
• Education to employment nursing pipeline: Partnership with Trocaire College to provide a path for underserved and diverse individuals from education to employment with Roswell Park in nursing and radiology professions.
• Our Stories program: We delivered, in collaboration with Buffalo Public Schools, five weeks of culturally relevant summer internship learning based on the book "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot. The book provided the backdrop for a curriculum that explored health disparities, cancer, clinical trials, the racial implication of science and health and more in-depth topics presented by experts to 15 minority Buffalo Public High School Students.
• Buffalo Prep partnership: Buffalo Prep, an academically focused minority student program with 30 years of experience, allowed us to introduce 130+ of their 5th through 7th grade students to Roswell Park as a research and academic institution. The students experienced the Roswell Park campus, were lead in activities by our Masters and Doctoral students and were taught cancer-related concepts and laboratory techniques.
• Summer experiential programs: High school, college and professional students (nursing and physician’s assistant students) are introduced to real-world cancer research. The programs vary in length from 7 to 10 weeks and impact the future plans of the alumni. Between 2018 and 2021 we hosted 112 students in the program and 20% have been from underrepresented backgrounds. Fifteen alumni have returned for additional training or educational opportunities at Roswell Park. Roughly 25% of those who returned were URM. Finally, six of the experiential program alumni have entered our graduate programs.

Roswell Park Howard University Scholars Program

This program enables honors biology sophomores from Howard University to deeply explore an interest in cancer research under the mentorship of researchers at Roswell Park.

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Employee Network Resource Groups (ENRGs)

To engage our workforce and foster an inclusive environment, Roswell Park created staff-led networking groups, called Employee Network Resource Groups (ENRGs). These groups provide direct access to management, allowing the groups to raise issues on behalf of employees. They also provide a space for networking, sharing resources, and celebrating the culture of the group. Roswell Park actively promotes the Employee Network Resource Groups to all staff.