They came from Pfizer and Bristol-Myers Squibb, from Merck and Novartis. In one corner, top managers from Abbott and Schering-Plough exchanged business cards. Nearby, human resources executives from GlaxoSmithKline, AstraZeneca and Genentech shared a laugh. Across the room, diversity leaders from Wyeth and Johnson & Johnson traded "I'll call you" signals. Reps from TAP Pharmaceutical Products and Sanofi-Aventis were there, too. It was a rare occasion of cooperation in the competitive pharmaceutical industry when companies convened to address key challenges faced by women of color.

"This is the beginning of a movement for our industry," said Leslie Mays, vice president of global diversity and inclusion for Pfizer. "We're trying to set our industry apart, for all women, using all the resources at our disposal."

Mays's brainchild, the collaboration took place this past November at the Working Mother Media Multicultural Women's Pharmaceutical Town Hall in Pennington, NJ, attracting more than 180 executives from nearly every company in the pharmaceutical sector. This unique, industry-specific event, one of an ongoing series of Multicultural Town Halls taking place across the country, encouraged parti-cipants to tackle workplace gender and race issues together. And in this industry where tight lips are the norm, the chatter among rivals spoke volumes. One of the ideas born that day was the formation of a professional group for Latinas working in pharmaceutical companies. "I've never been in a dialogue with a group of fellow Latinas from across this industry until today," gushed 28-year Pfizer veteran Sylvia Montero, senior vice president of worldwide talent development and human resources. "Regardless of where you work, what you do and what your race is, Latinas must find ways to support each other."Group TherapyDespite the pharmaceutical industry's clear commitment to women of color—illustrated by the town hall's large turnout—much work still remains to be done. Instant polling revealed that most of the attendees (68 percent) feel their company is not sensitive to the cultural issues facing women of color in the workplace. A stunning 89 percent said that microin-equities—subtle actions by others that can hold back women of color—continue to remain a problem.

The biggest hurdles, say participants, involve representation and advancement. Women of color say that too often they lack the role models, mentors and sponsors who are often necessary to help them move up the corporate ladder: 30 percent of the women of color at the town hall said they don't work with any other women of color on a daily basis. As a result, these women typically are faced with feelings of isolation.

After a day of speeches, workshops and honest talk about race and gender, participants voted not to wait a year for the next Pharmaceutical Town Hall but instead speed up the dialogue to maintain momentum. Promising signs: Affinity group leaders discussed creating joint company events. And many participants also pledged to bring diversity best practices from other companies in the industry back to their own offices.

"If women of color are going to have a commonality, then we need to seek each other out," said Dana Brooks, a staffing and diversity consultant currently working with Genentech, stressing the importance of the industry town hall. "We're looking for answers to make sure our daughters' daughters are in a different position than we are right now."

For Brooks and other leaders across the pharmaceutical industry dedicated to the success of women of color, working together is the first step.    Photo: Robyn Davis-Mahoney, Pfizer; Susan Hahn, Pfizer; Leslie Mays, Pfizer