The Conduit spoke with Kris Sterkens, Company Group Chairman, Janssen EMEA and JJIV Investment Committee member about the vital role impact investment can play in providing quality healthcare for all and why a health-worker-first approach is a key to building resilient health systems now and in the future.
How would you summarize Johnson & Johnson’s overarching approach to creating a more equitable healthcare system?
Guided by Our Credo, Johnson & Johnson has always sought to deploy a full and unique range of tools to deliver social impact, from grantmaking to social enterprise and even in many cases our core business. Our philanthropic approach delivered through the Johnson & Johnson Foundation of course utilizes funding, but we also apply our extensive expertise on the ground around the world, and a highly active employee engagement program. Most recently, we created the Johnson & Johnson Center for Health Worker Innovation (CHWI); our aim with CHWI is to formalize the cross-enterprise efforts of our Corporate, Pharmaceutical, Consumer and Medical Devices teams to test, evolve, and scale the best ideas by and for the health workforce, wherever those ideas may originate. CHWI is tasked with guiding a $250 million, 10-year commitment to support one million nurses, midwives and community health workers reaching 100 million people by 2030. Most recently, our Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies and Foundation extended this commitment with an additional $50 million commitment to support frontline health workers battling COVID-19.