How Amy is advancing disability inclusion

Amy Ellixson, Head of Cash Flow Generation at Johnson & Johnson, isn’t just balancing family and work commitments—she’s connecting the two in a way that drives meaningful change every day. Recently named one of our 2024 “Working Parents of the Year,” Amy’s purpose-driven journey is a testament to how personal challenges can inspire professional advocacy.

Taking action around disability inclusion

As a senior finance executive at an organization of Johnson & Johnson’s size, Amy, unsurprisingly, has a pretty busy schedule. But she still finds time to serve as the Enterprise Sponsor of the Alliance for Diverse Abilities (ADA), one of our employee business resource groups.

One way Amy advances this is by advocating for the company’s Access Ability program, connecting talent with disabilities to job openings that match their unique skills. She also mentors college students with disabilities as they start their careers.

For Amy, this work is deeply personal. At the age of three, her daughter Mckenna was diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), a genetic disease that affects muscle function. Although recent FDA-approved treatments have enhanced the prognosis for SMA, cure and substantial unmet needs still exist.

Amy and her family are doing their part to help change that.

“Every year, my family puts on a special gala called ‘Muscles for Mckenna.’ It’s a way to celebrate Mckenna while also raising money to support SMA research,” Amy says. Proceeds from the event go to support Cure SMA, a nonprofit spearheading the effort to discover breakthrough treatments for SMA.

Balancing career and family with flexibility

Balancing all of this would be next to impossible without workplace policies designed to support working parents, according to Amy.

She says, “I love having that flexibility, getting more time with my kids and being able to role model qualities like hard work, ambition and perseverance.”

For Amy, these qualities resonate not just for working parents but also for individuals with disabilities. Her story highlights the vital role that workplace accommodations—like the kind offered at Johnson & Johnson—play in empowering employees to thrive professionally as well as personally.

Amy’s advice for working parents

Having built a successful 30-plus-year career with Johnson & Johnson as a working mother of three, Amy has some advice to share with other working parents, especially those who may be less familiar with the terrain.

• Plan and organize. “Stay true to yourself and your own north star by developing a system to manage your time as effectively as possible. Know what’s important to you and make that a priority.”
• Communicate with your manager. “Since you’re going to have to design support systems that work for you and your schedule, it makes sense to put your manager at the center. It’s important to build a trust-based relationship with your manager.”
• Prioritize self-care. “While it’s easy to forget about self-care when you’re trying to manage your career and your family at the same time, you still need to prioritize taking care of yourself. Your physical and mental well-being can positively or negatively impact your ability to be present and engage everywhere else.”
• Be present and enjoy quality time. “Being present—being fully engaged in the moment—is a skill, and it may be the most important one in life. Try to focus on the quality, not the quantity, of the time that you have available to spend with the people you care about.”

“The other key thing to recognize,” Amy adds, “is that it’s going to be very exciting and very challenging at the same time—and that’s perfectly okay.”

I’ve taken advantage of many career development opportunities at J&J—too many to count. This company is unique in offering those opportunities while also allowing you the flexibility and work-life balance you need as a working parent. It’s one of the ways we’re living Our Credo, and it makes a world of difference for working parents.

Best-in-class support for working parents

Feeling empowered by best-in-class benefits, policies and resources makes a world of difference, especially for working parents. What might it mean for your career growth?

Exploring and applying for jobs at Johnson & Johnson is the first step to find out. Next, sign up for our global talent community—it’s an easy way to get updates about jobs that might interest you in the future.