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Kristina Pabayo started at 23andMe a few months before we launched our initial product in 2007. She was a Receptionist with many responsibilities that ranged from assembling kits to scheduling interviews. “I started when there were about 20 employees and everybody had several hats to fill. You pretty much knew what was going on in all departments and it felt like a family. Now that we're a larger company, it’s not as intimate. But 23andMe has still done a great job of continuing to be transparent, keeping employees engaged, and providing opportunities for us all to interact.” Kristina has been an integral part of building our customer care team. She is now a Customer Care Manager where she supports and manages our call centers and customer care team. She continuously communicates with both teams to ensure they have the resources they need to comply with our high customer support standards. “We wouldn’t be the company we are today without our customers. Satisfied customers encourage their friends and family to join 23andMe and their feedback helps us continue to improve our product.
On June 2nd for #BlackoutTuesday we pledged to hold ourselves accountable and make improvements to ensure 23andMe is more diverse, equitable, and inclusive. Since then, we have conducted an in-depth audit, created company-wide objectives in four focus areas, and seen incredible employee engagement. While we know our journey to make changes is just beginning, we have some clear milestones and plan to continue sharing news and updates.
New 23andMe research findings show that race and ethnicity stand out as significant risk factors for infection and hospitalization from COVID-19, underscoring the larger issue of disparities in health care for under-represented ethnic groups.
Since Aushawna joined 23andMe as a college graduate in 2017 she has taken on a variety of roles, learned new skills, and grown her career. She started as a temporary receptionist then was quickly hired as a full-time Office Services Coordinator. There she harnessed her newfound passion for 23andMe to impact and improve office culture. Last year, she transitioned to the 23andMe Communications team where she manages media relations and coordinates executive speaking engagements. "Internal mobility allowed me to align my long term career goals without sacrificing my love for 23andMe. I'm immensely grateful for my colleagues' recognition and support of my journey. Advocating for your coworkers and helping them grow in their career can take many forms - hearing their ideas, giving them projects, inviting them to new meetings. However you go about it, you should love what you do and you should want the same for others too." - Aushawna, 23andMe Communications Coordinator
Welcome to the gene pool, L. Okey Onyejekwe Jr., MD, JD (he/his), 23andMe's new VP of Consumer Clinical Operations and Medical Affairs. As a physician, lawyer, and business leader, we're excited about the breadth of experience and expertise that he's bringing to 23andMe!
Meet Krizel Casanova, 23andMe's Sr. Benefits Manager! Krizel said, “The company strived to be thoughtful about what benefits would best support our employees and their families during this pandemic and shelter in place.” She was the force behind changes that upgraded 23andMe’s supplemental disability, paid family leave, and mental health benefits; suspended sick time tracking; and removed vacation accrual caps, all with an eye towards helping employees through these unprecedented times. As a single mom of three kids, she knows first hand the importance of flexibility and ensures our employees and their families are as much a priority as their work. “I am inspired by how 23andMe is supporting our employees during a time when it is needed most and I know that by taking care of our employees, we are enabling and empowering them to take care of our business and our customers.”
Continuing with our 23andMe speaker series, we had the pleasure of hearing from Baratunde Thurston. From discussing inequalities spotlighted by the pandemic, to ways we can help address systemic racism, it helped keep us energized and focused on the work we have to do.
We joined with other companies as a Founding Partner to assist in the launch of iHeartMedia’s Black Information Network, a 24/7 news service with a Black voice and perspective.
“I’m part of the team that helped launch the 23andMe COVID-19 Study. As a statistical geneticist on the team, I am looking for regions of the genome that are associated with people getting sick from an infection with the coronavirus. Our hope is to understand why some people get very sick from COVID-19 while others experience only mild symptoms and to investigate to what extent genetics plays a role. I hope we can make a meaningful contribution to research in this area and help scientists better understand this disease. Hundreds of thousands of our customers that have consented to participate in research have already completed our COVID-19 survey. We are now also inviting people who have been hospitalized with COVID-19 but aren't yet 23andMe customers to join the study. Of course, we couldn't do any of this without our research participants, and are really grateful for their participation.” - Adam Auton, 23andMe Principal Scientist Learn more about the 23andMe COVID-19 Study here https://lnkd.in/gzvrjkW
We’re constantly thinking about how we can make our product, research, and workplace more equitable for everyone, including the LGBTQ+ community. This includes being aware of the difference between biological sex and gender identity and thinking about how those traits impact people's experiences. Check out our blog post to learn more about our initiatives.
