Black and minority workers are consistently overlooked in the biomanufacturing industry due to unconscious – or perhaps conscious – racism, LucasPye Bio CEO Tia Lyles-Williams explains in The BioProcess Insider Expression System podcast.

In the first episode of this new podcast series, Tia-Lyles Williams, CEO of LucasPye Bio, talks about diversity in the biopharma workplace and the hurdles that continue to hold back black and minority workers.

Tia now leads a Philadelphia-based CDMO that recently raised $50 million in funding from investment firm Black Pearl Global Investments and its limited partners, but has faced prejudice and systemic racism to get there.

Tia-Lyles Williams, CEO of LucasPye Bio

In this podcast, she explains how unconscious – or perhaps conscious – bias is holding African-Americans and others back and how, through LucasPye, she is now offering minorities a fair deal in the sector that has traditionally overlooked them.

While such discrimination could make for bleak listening, Tia describes the positive changes already occurring in the industry, including the appointment of Michelle McMurray-Heath as head of trade group BIO, as evidence for a leveler playing filed in the future.

Listen here, or from wherever you normally get your podcasts:

If you want more information about The BioProcess Insider Expression Platform (BIEP) or think you’d be an interesting guest, contact dan.stanton@informa.com