OREANDA-NEWS. October 07, 2016. The Healthcare Businesswomen's Association (HBA) has named Quest Diagnostics' Women in Leadership (WIL) Employee Business Network as the winner of the 2016 HBA ACE award.

ACE (Advancement, Commitment, Engagement) recognizes internal leadership programs that perform by advancing and enhancing the careers of women in their respective organizations.  The award will be presented to Quest Diagnostics on November 3 at the 2016 HBA Annual Conference in St Louis.

At Quest Diagnostics, WIL's goal is to create a sustainable and competitive advantage for the company by fostering an inclusive community of gender diversity and increasing leadership, educational and networking opportunities for women.   

"Approximately 70% of our employees are women, and Women in Leadership has expanded our talent pool of women leaders who contribute their unique talents, backgrounds and viewpoints to help advance our business," said Steve Rusckowski, Quest Diagnostics president and CEO.  "WIL is growing our business and contributing to our bottom line."

"One of the key ways the HBA accomplishes our mission to further the advancement and impact of women in healthcare worldwide is by recognizing companies that can serve as role models to others" said Laurie Cooke, HBA's CEO. "The HBA serves as a convener supporting companies to learn from each other. By identifying and sharing what great looks like, we strive to inspire more companies to achieve direct corporate benefits from their gender diversity initiatives."

A panel of industry leaders and academics judged ACE Award entrants against five criteria: measurable results and impact on target population; degree to which it supports the overall business; stewardship, or depth of commitment to the program; effectiveness of the execution; and built-in sustainability.

The HBA thanks our 2016 ACE award judges:  
Wendy White, senior VP, rare disease, Dohmen Life Science Services– ACE award judging chair
Cameron Durrant MD, chairman and CEO, KaloBios Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
James J. Gillespie, PhD, JD, CEO, Chicago Life Sciences Consortium
Rayona Sharpnack, founder and CEO, Institute for Women's Leadership Inc.
David Desch, CHRO, Telerx
Anne Dunn, VP, CCI Consulting, A Career Partners International Firm

The ACE Award builds on the HBA's leadership role in recognizing women in the healthcare industry and creating high-profile role models. The HBA Woman of the Year award, which recognizes an outstanding woman in the industry, is presented each May at a luncheon in New York City attended by more than 2,000 industry executives. Also honored at the Woman of the Year event are the Honorable Mentor, a male industry leader who supports the HBA mission; the HBA STAR winner as well as over 100 Rising Stars and Luminaries, top performing women leaders at HBA Corporate Partners.

About The HBA
The Healthcare Businesswomen's Association (HBA) is a global nonprofit organization, with chapters in the US and Europe, committed to: achieving gender parity in leadership positions; facilitating career and business connections and providing effective practices that enable organizations to realize the full potential of their female talent. The HBA accomplishes its mission through strong business networks, education, research, advocacy, and recognition for individuals and companies. For more information, visit www.HBAnet.org  

About Quest Diagnostics
Quest Diagnostics empowers people to take action to improve health outcomes.  Derived from the world's largest database of clinical lab results, our diagnostic insights reveal new avenues to identify and treat disease, inspire healthy behaviors and improve health care management.  Quest annually serves one in three adult Americans and half the physicians and hospitals in the United States, and our 44,000 employees understand that, in the right hands and with the right context, our diagnostic insights can inspire actions that transform lives. www.QuestDiagnostics.com.