Rizwana Seeham (she/her)
Director, Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion (ED&I)
Blueprint Medicines

A female Muslim immigrant of South Asian and Arab heritage, Rizwana is an unwavering advocate for equity, diversity, and inclusion (ED&I). Rizwana recognizes the criticality of challenging norms, dissolving barriers, and establishing equitable practices, relentlessly championing the voices of Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC), as well as other historically marginalized groups. Rizwana holds a bachelor’s degree in neuroscience from Boston University and a master’s degree in pharmaceutical sciences, with a specialization in regulatory affairs, from George Washington University. Despite her scientific background, Rizwana’s career trajectory has taken a transformative path catalyzed by her lived experiences. She currently serves as the director of ED&I at Blueprint Medicines where she leads the organization’s global ED&I strategy. Embodying the belief that collective action is the key to sustained change, both in her professional role and her forever roles as a daughter, sister, wife, aunt, and friend, Rizwana is driven by a singular belief — together, we go farther. 

1. Why is diversity, equity, and inclusion important to your company, and how do you prioritize it within your organization?

At Blueprint Medicines, DEI isn’t what we do — it’s how we do everything. We acknowledge the responsibility we carry as an organization to counter systemic disparities and positively impact the patients we serve, the talent within our walls, and the greater community. We believe true DEI impact lies in our ability to sustain efforts over time. As such, we developed a robust DEI integration strategy to focus our work in areas where we believe we can make the greatest impact: people and patients. This strategy drives accountability through business-led initiatives which enable consistent, enduring, and meaningful change.

2. Can you share a few ways your company is working to create a welcoming environment for employees from all backgrounds?

Blueprint believes a welcoming environment for all employees is grounded in equitable processes, robust policies, and inclusive cultural events. For our people processes, we do not take a one-size-fits-all approach. Instead, be it compensation, benefits, performance review, or development, we offer a menu of options to enable our employees to thrive, accounting for different lived experiences, skillsets, and needs. Policies such as zero tolerance towards harassment, discrimination, and/or retaliation, with optionality for anonymous reporting, ensures our employees feel protected. Cultural events are core means of connection for employees, providing gateways to walk in someone else’s shoes and broaden one’s perspective.

3. How do you encourage employees at all levels to embrace and support DEI initiatives?

An organization’s ability to support DEI initiatives first and foremost lies in the employees’ understanding of DEI. DEI is the work of changing how people and organizations function to ensure all people not only have a seat at the table, but their voices are equally weighted in decisions made at that table. To encourage employees at all levels to embrace DEI initiatives, we educate our employees, offer a myriad of means for engagement, and ensure behavioral expectations are clear. Education catalyzes understanding, optionality offers flexibility and grace, and expectations hold employees accountable to treating each other with the utmost respect.

4. What are some of the most rewarding outcomes you’ve seen from your company’s focus on DEI so far?

The evolution of our DEI strategy is one of our most notable accomplishments. What started as a grassroots, volunteer-led effort in June 2020 is now a robust integration strategy led by business functions in areas where we can make meaningful impact. In line with our commitment to people and patients, our accomplishments include expanding our early careers strategy to increase representation among future talent, broadening our learning and development strategy to include targeted programs that support marginalized individuals, revising our performance management process to reduce bias, and exploring health equity efforts to enhance disease-state understanding and patient accessibility.

5. How does your leadership team stay engaged with the company’s DEI efforts, and what role do you personally play in driving these initiatives forward?

At Blueprint Medicines, leadership, inclusive of senior management and executives, are members of our ED&I Committee and visibly showcase their belief in DEI being critical for organizational success. Further, our DEI integration strategy is contingent upon functional leaders taking ownership of goals to drive momentum towards our focus areas of people and patients. These functional leaders are in turn accountable to our executive team to deliver on the set goals. As the director of ED&I, my role entails managing the global integration strategy to ensure we are tracking progress against set goals and evolving tactics as needed for meaningful impact.