Our DE&I Strategy

Pursuing diversity, equity, and inclusion With Heart™

At Parexel, we believe that having a diverse, equitable, and inclusive organization allows us to build stronger relationships with patients, sites, customers and suppliers, ultimately expanding access to healthcare to traditionally underrepresented patient populations. As we continue fostering a culture that makes everyone feel valued, respected and supported, we believe our teams will thrive and deepen their commitment to the work we do — With Heart


Parexel - 2022 Catalyst Award winner

Aida Sabo is Senior Vice President and Global Head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Parexel. Under her leadership, the company launched our Gender Partnership Steering Committee in 2014, leading to culture change and significant progress across the organization. Representation of women at Parexel has continued to grow since that time, with women today making up 70% of Parexel’s global workforce and women of color in the U.S. making up 41.5% of our workforce. In addition, 47.4% of VP-and-above staff across the organization are women and 18.9% of women occupying these leadership roles in the U.S. are women of color.

Our DE&I Strategy

At Parexel, our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I) strategy focuses on three pillars — our patients, our people, and our suppliers. We believe that diversity in race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, age, and other differences is key to our success. Our cross-functional, multi-disciplinary team of leaders around the world is committed to ensuring our organization — in our company culture and in practice — is diverse and inclusive. This organization is led by Aida Sabo, Global Head of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, who has dedicated her professional and personal life to pushing the status quo and has a mission to align our organization behind our DE&I commitment.

“Our culture of inclusion means that everyone is valued, respected and supported, and this commitment extends beyond our colleagues to include our customers, patients, and partners. Our ‘We care’ guiding principle and ‘Respect’ core value are not hollow words; they were chosen carefully to speak to who we are as an organization and as a culture.”

- Jamie Macdonald, Chief Executive Officer

DE&I Awards and Recognition

Triangle Business Journal

The Triangle Business Journal selected Parexel in their 2023 and 2021 Leaders in Diversity Awards. This award recognizes small, medium, and large companies in the Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina area that strive to reflect diversity in their organization.

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HBA Luminaries

The HBA Luminary award  recognizes women who serve as a role model in their company and help advance other women’s careers. Amy McKee, Chief Medical Officer & Head of Oncology Center of Excellence was recognized by Healthcare Businesswomen's Association as a 2023 Luminary. Aida Sabo, our Global Head of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, was selected for her work actively mentoring and sponsoring others, helping to advance other women’s careers and exhibiting dedication to the healthcare industry.

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India Workplace Equality Index

In 2023 and 2022, Parexel received the India Workplace Equality Index (IWEI) Bronze Award. The bronze award symbolizes employers who have started their journey to better LGBTQ+ inclusion in their organizations and/or who are developing policies and activities that promote LGBTQ+ inclusion for employees.

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Catalyst Award

Parexel was named a 2022 Catalyst Award winner by the global nonprofit organization Catalyst. We were recognized for our Leveraging Gender Partnership to Advance Women in Leadership initiative that has evolved the company culture to one where women have the right resources and training to succeed.

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Human Rights Campaign Corporate Equality Index 2022

Parexel is proud to be featured on the Human Rights Campaign’s 2022 Corporate Equality Index. The Corporate Equality Index is the premier survey benchmarking tool on how corporations across the US and beyond are adopting equitable workplace policies, practices, and benefits for LGBTQ+ employees. As a top scorer for three consecutive years, including 2021 and 2020, we’ve been recognized for successfully incorporating equitable practices that ensure our colleagues can thrive and live life authentically.

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DivHERsity Awards

Parexel India earned DivHERsity Awards in 2022, 2021 and 2020. Our most recent winning categories include Top 20 Most Innovative Practices – Women Returnee Programs, designed to support women in their ability to return to work during the pandemic. Also, Dr. Arjun Narayan was recognized in the Top 20 DivHERsity Champions (Large Enterprises) for his ongoing efforts to promote gender diversity at Parexel. The DivHERsity Awards by JobsForHer recognizes exceptional work done by companies to accelerate female participation and performance in the Indian workforce.

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