Erin Feigal, chief human resources officer, named Changemaker of the Year

The Dakota County Regional Chamber of Commerce’s annual WomEn’s Leadership Forum is meant to inspire, motivate and celebrate women’s success in the workplace. Erin Feigal, Prime Therapeutics’ (Prime) chief human resources officer and senior vice president, has spent her career being a role model for change in a variety of male-dominated industries. And her commitment to women and equality for all employees has earned Feigal the recognition of Changemaker of the Year.

As the leader of the human resources function, Feigal seeks to understand, recognize gaps, influence and lead change at Prime. Most notably, a few years ago Feigal identified a need to strengthen Prime’s diversity and inclusion (D&I) efforts. Her team’s groundwork has culminated in the creation of a formal D&I Council, the hiring of Prime’s first dedicated D&I director, the establishment of five employee resource groups, and the forming and chairing of the new Prime Together Foundation.

When the COVID-19 pandemic emerged, Feigal collaborated with other talented leaders to quickly move 99% of Prime’s employees to successfully work from home, increase mental health webinars for employees, lead supportive conversations for caregivers and parents with kids now attending virtual school, and add listening sessions and communication through virtual town halls to keep employees connected and discuss important social issues.

Prime is a stronger organization thanks to Feigal’s routine of starting each day asking, “How can we collaboratively ensure our employees feel empowered, valued, and engaged?”

At the WomEn’s Leadership Forum event, Feigal not only received the Changemaker of the Year award, she also shared her perspective and journey as a member of the ‘Equity & Inclusion – Empowering Women in the Workplace’ panel. Here she shared Prime’s diversity, equity and inclusion mantra of “radical welcomeness” – taking the excitement of first day orientation, to welcome people in and bring them into the team to keep the momentum on Day 2, Month 2 and beyond.