May 31, 2024- As Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month concludes, Cardinal Health shares the stories of several employees. Here, Cardinal’s employees reflect on the significance of building connections, sharing culture and creating community in healthcare. Interviewees included Mei Gong, Senior Global Product Manager, Global Medical Products and Distribution, Dublin, Ohio, Gina Sheehan, Senior Marketing Manager, Consumer Health, Dublin, Ohio, Anagha Vyas, Director, Digital and Commercial Technologies, Dublin, Ohio, and more.
Mei Gong
Senior Global Product Manager, Global Medical Products and Distribution, Dublin, Ohio
I was born in Guangdong, China. My family and I immigrated to the U.S. when I was nine years old, though they had actually begun the application process before I was born. I have been at Cardinal Health for almost four years now, where, as a product manager, I ensure we are able to manufacture and provide the products to support healthcare providers in promoting high quality patient care.
I believe networking helps us better understand ourselves and our role and feel more connected. However, joining a large company in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, I found it especially challenging to meet people outside of my team. The Cardinal Health Asian Pacific American Network (APAN) fosters a sense of belonging to a greater community. Though I can speak to the traditions and culture I grew up celebrating and observing, China is large, with different customs throughout the country, and the Asian American diaspora is vast with so many ethnicities, languages and cultures. Ultimately though, through my conversations with friends and colleagues, I am learning that we are far more similar than we are different, and it’s an extraordinary feeling to be surrounded by people with similar experiences, with whom I share a common goal.
Finding myself inspired by the compassion and passion of the APAN community, I applied to take on more active roles to continue to invite curiosity and support from the broader community. Now, as co-chair of APAN, I work with our Executive and Steering Committee to ensure our programming supports personal growth and development. Our three pillars, Culture, Community, and Career, all contribute to recruiting and retaining talent. APAN and our other employee resource groups (ERGs) continue to work toward making Cardinal Health an attractive company for prospective employees, by allowing people to celebrate who they are and providing them with opportunities to contribute and learn.