Dianne Whitfield
Chief Human Resources Officer
Tarsus Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Inclusive Culture and Community Impact
Dianne Whitfield, MSW has been instrumental in instilling important values at Tarsus Pharmaceuticals designed to foster and retain a dynamic, differentiated, and inclusive corporate culture that celebrates diversity and makes a positive impact in the community. With her help, Tarsus has more than doubled its employee size over the last year, and increased its diversity in a variety of metrics at all levels of the organization, with leadership roles comprising 45% women and 66% people of color.
Since joining Tarsus, Dianne has prioritized Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) efforts, both inside and outside of the organization. She recently worked with Tarsus’ Co-Founder, President, and CEO, Dr. Bobak Azamian, and a cross functional team of leaders across the organization to establish a DEI Leadership Council. The council works to better understand employees’ perspectives about DEI and put those findings into context to develop best practices for creating inclusive workplaces and contributing to larger, relevant societal and healthcare-related industry issues surrounding DEI efforts.
Notably, for Juneteenth last year, Tarsus commemorated the day with a company-wide fireside chat conversation hosted by Arthur Chan, Vice President of Medical Affairs at Tarsus, with ophthalmologist Dr. Renee Bovelle. They discussed DEI in the eye care industry and the disparities in healthcare among Black Americans. Most importantly, the event allowed diverse employee voices to be heard and highlighted how employees can make a positive difference within the eye care industry.
With the goal to help improve the quality of life of those in the local communities where Tarsus operates, Dianne and her team launched “Vision for Change” in September 2021. As part of this corporate social responsibility program, Tarsus partners with local non-profit organizations to drive meaningful impact among various populations in need. Since the program’s inception, the Tarsus team has held events which include building cold weather kits for homeless veteran populations, partnering with the organization Beyond Blindness to create sensory cubes for children with visual impairments, and hosting a drive with Community Action Partnership of Orange County to donate turkeys to the local community during the holidays.
