Employee Spotlight: Steven Naldi

Inventory Planning Manager II – Spencer, Indiana

Describe your role at Boston Scientific.

I oversee the purchasing and planning teams within Global Manufacturing and Supply Chain.  We work with Global Supply Chain Managers to determine the products we should stock in our distribution centers, ensure we have the required components in stock and partner with our Manufacturing team to schedule and build the forecasted requirement of quality product in a timely manner.

What does a typical day look like for you?

Supply Chain is anything but typical and routine.  The Spencer manufacturing plant makes more than 900 items.  Our team collaborates with Engineering, Quality, Marketing, New Product Development and other teams throughout the day.  No two days are the same.

Boston Scientific’s Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) are voluntary, company-sponsored organizations dedicated to fostering a diverse and inclusive work environment. What has your experience been being a member?

As a member of the PACE (People Accepting and Celebrating Equality) ERG, I’m able to be a role model to the employee who needs to have visibility and to know that inclusion exists. My career has continued to progress into management since I have been “out” at work.  I’m also a resource to others who may have a LGBTQ employee and just need a sounding board to ask a question.

In your opinion, what makes diversity and inclusion so important to a company like ours?

There is a line in one of our children’s’ favorite songs that teaches to love all your friends the same, even though we are all different. The same goes for the workplace.  There is so much to learn from and so many different viewpoints and contributions to be made with a diverse population. When a variety of people contribute inputs we can often resolves challenges more quickly.

I recently attended diversity and inclusion training in the same room where, in 1999, I remember asking Human Resources why we hadn’t yet implemented domestic partner benefits. In the past 18 years, Boston Scientific has evolved and outpaced others in the industry and has earned three perfect 100% Corporate Equality Index scores from the Human Rights Campaign (HRC).  Our family represents the focus of almost half of our Employee Resource Groups.  Besides being gay, I’m disabled, my husband is a US Navy Submarine veteran, and we have transracially adopted two children from foster care.  It is wonderful to work for a company that values the perspectives that I bring.

What gives your work purpose?

It always has been and always will be the ability to improve the quality of patient care, and doing so in an accepting work environment.