Two Boston Scientific employees share how being involved in the Developing a Community of Black Leaders (BRIDGE) employee resource group has allowed them to create meaningful social connections, advance their careers and help others grow.
In March 2020, Kay Bailey moved from Wisconsin to Valencia, California to take on a role as an R&D engineer at Boston Scientific. Due to COVID-19, it would be a year and a half before she would meet any of her coworkers in person.
Bailey looked for ways to connect informally with her colleagues, including joining the Developing a Community of Black Leaders (BRIDGE) employee resource group. “When I interviewed with my manager, I saw posters related to BRIDGE in his office area,” Bailey recalls. “He told me more about it, and I was immediately interested.”
Bailey joined the ERG less than a month after starting at the company and later became co-lead for the Valencia chapter. The role gave her an opportunity to take on special projects, such as a BRIDGE-sponsored event with Boston Scientific Board Member Nelda Connors and hundreds of ERG members across the globe. “My role was to interview Nelda,” says Bailey. “It was an amazing moment, and we still keep in touch.”
Bailey’s involvement in BRIDGE helped build her network, which opened the door to other opportunities, like being nominated to represent the company at the John Robert Lewis Program based in Washington, D.C. About 30 people from different companies and universities went through the program, which involved learning about John Robert Lewis and meeting members of Congress. It concluded with a pilgrimage through meaningful historical sites in Alabama: “We made the same walk across the Edmund Pettus Bridge that John Robert Lewis and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. did,” recalls Bailey. “It was an overwhelmingly powerful moment.”
As Bailey reflects on civil rights heroes like Congressman Lewis and Dr. King, she also thinks about her grandfather, whose story inspires her and serves as a reminder of why supporting her Black colleagues and their allies as part of the BRIDGE community means so much to her.
“My Grandpa Hines was an incredible man,” Bailey says. “He lived during a time when there was still a lot of segregation, and he didn’t fulfill his dream of becoming a Chemistry professor until close to the time he passed away. But he never gave up, and he instilled that same confidence, resilience and determination in me.” Through BRIDGE and other opportunities in and outside of work, Bailey hopes to lift others up the way her grandfather did for her.
A selfless approach to leadership
Helping others has always been a priority for production supervisor Quinte Osborne. He attributes it to the admiration he felt growing up for people like Dr. King: “He always put others first and conducted himself in a peaceful manner, no matter the circumstance,” says Osborne. “That’s one of the things I’ve always respected about him. And he never gave up, even when it would’ve been easy to do so.”
Like Bailey, Osborne was drawn to BRIDGE for its mission to support Black employees and their allies, and the wealth of networking opportunities it offers, after joining Boston Scientific in August 2020. He currently leads the Alpharetta, Georgia chapter, and has found it to be a rewarding experience, especially from a mentorship perspective.
“To me, leadership is all about serving others — seeing the potential in people and helping them grow,” says Osborne. “If I have knowledge or experience I can share with someone to help them develop, I’m not going to gatekeep; I’m going to share it. Being in a leadership role for BRIDGE has allowed me to do that on a broader scale.”
The BRIDGE Alpharetta chapter hosts activities to support the local community, such as a recent visit to Atlanta Mission, which provides shelter, meals, life skills classes and other services to those suffering from homelessness. Participating in these and other BRIDGE chapter efforts has helped Osborne strengthen his interpersonal skills and relationships with his colleagues.
“Leading the ERG has taught me to be more intentional in my conversations with people and in how I spend my time,” says Osborne. “I’ve also learned never to be content and to always keep growing, and that’s something I also try to instill in the people I mentor.”
Learn more about our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs at Boston Scientific.