People & CultureHighlighting Kyowa Kirin's initiatives across regions for PRIDE MONTH 2024

In Princeton, NJ, our North American base, employees participated in the Princeton PRIDE parade. Our, La Jolla, CA, employees look forward to participating in the annual San Diego PRIDE parade. The ERG (Employee Resource Group) in Kyowa Kirin North America held several fun and educational events as well. They launched a munch n’ learn series with a session entitled “10 Years of Hope: Reversing inequities for HIV-positive organ donors and recipients” aimed at educating colleagues on the healthcare disparities that exist within the LGBTQ+ population and will close out the month with PRIDE trivia and a prepare-your-own rainbow candy bag event.

Within the EMEA region, every year colleagues from Kyowa Kirin International (EMEA) demonstrate their commitment to the LGBTQ+ community in August by participating in Brighton pride. The day consists of music, dancing and parading the streets of Brighton (UK), showcasing a drive for raising equality for the LGBTQ+ community.
Moreover, ERG groups spanning across Europe and North America plan regional activities to commemorate National Coming Out Day in October.

The largest LGBTQ+ event in Japan, Tokyo Rainbow Pride, takes place every year in April. Kyowa Kirin has participated in this event for the past two years by hosting booths and joining the parade. They also held an internal online session to share their experience with various employees in June. Such efforts have had a positive impact on the other sites in Japan, and this year volunteers from the Ube Plant (Ube City, Yamaguchi Prefecture) took part in the Pride Event held in Yamaguchi Prefecture.

In 2022, we were proud for Kyowa Kirin to be awarded ‘Gold’ in the ‘Pride Index ’, an index developed by the private association ‘Work with Pride’, which evaluates the efforts of companies and organisations regarding LGBTQ+ and other sexual minorities.