MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL (March 14, 2022) – Children’s Minnesota is pleased to announce the promotion of James C. Burroughs II to senior vice president, government and community relations, chief equity and inclusion officer, effective immediately.
The promotion adds advocacy, government affairs and community relations under Burroughs’ purview as Children’s Minnesota looks to increase its impact in the community and accelerate its engagement in government affairs to advocate for policies that positively impact the health and well being of children.
“James has been a vital leader at Children’s Minnesota and the community. This promotion recognizes the impact of his leadership and will help us drive towards our vision of being every family’s essential partner in raising healthier kids,” said Dr. Marc Gorelick, president and CEO of Children’s Minnesota. “I’m confident that James will continue to advance critical issues impacting kids in our community.”
Burroughs has served as vice president, chief equity and inclusion officer since 2020, and previously as senior director, chief equity and inclusion officer since 2019. In that first-ever role at Children’s Minnesota, James has made strides towards equity within the organization. He led the development and implementation of a strategic plan to advance diversity, equity and inclusion; created the equity and inclusion internship program designed to provide a more racially diverse employee pipeline; enhanced and aligned the organization’s six Employee Resource Groups; designed a revised approach to safety, security and policing at Children’s Minnesota; and led an organizational commitment to transparency in the development of disaggregated racial data reporting for hiring, retention and supplier diversity.
Other achievements within his three-year tenure include:
- Children’s Minnesota increased its executive leadership diversity from 0% to 33%.
- Staff diversity increased from 19% to 24%, with a goal to reach 34% people of color representation among staff by 2024.
- Advanced health equity by increasing COVID-19 vaccine information and access to communities of color.
“As the kid experts, Children’s Minnesota is uniquely poised to advocate for issues critical to the health and wellness of generations to come,” said Burroughs, “I look forward to not only continuing to advance diversity, equity and inclusion efforts at Children’s Minnesota but also accelerating our work and impact in the communities we serve so that we can create a better future for all of Minnesota’s kids.”
Prior to Children’s Minnesota, Burroughs served in the Office of Governor Mark Dayton, where he was the State of Minnesota’s first chief inclusion officer. Burroughs has a juris doctorate from Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C., and completed his bachelor of arts in political science at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia.
About Children’s Minnesota
Children’s Minnesota is one of the largest pediatric health systems in the United States and the only health system in Minnesota to provide care exclusively to children, from before birth through young adulthood. An independent and not-for-profit system since 1924, Children’s Minnesota is one system serving kids throughout the Upper Midwest at two free-standing hospitals, nine primary care clinics, multiple specialty clinics and seven rehabilitation sites. As The Kids ExpertsTM in our region, Children’s Minnesota is regularly ranked by U.S. News & World Report as a top children’s hospital.
Find us on Facebook @childrensminnesota or on Twitter and Instagram @childrensmn. Please visit childrensMN.org.
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Dina Elrashidy