WEST Wisdom Blog

Biogen's WIN group is offering roundtable discussions with women from various areas of Biogen. They will be talking to female grad students and post-docs about their career paths and decision to work in industry. 

Topics: Events, Women, Tech, Science, Career, Community, Women in STEM, Networking, Upcoming Events, Biotech, Interactive, Connect, Career Development, Own It

Are you passionate about women in STEM and community building? Women in the Enterprise of Science and Technology (WEST) is a non-profit Boston-based organization establishing a learning community to provide women with inspiration, knowledge, and connections to advance their careers in the STEM fields. And we are growing! Currently we are seeking to expand our team to include an External Relations & Program Manager. The Program Manager role will focus on managing and growing relationships with our member base and other key stakeholders. The qualified candidate will be responsible for providing support to the marketing and programmatic activities of WEST across multiple platforms (social media, newsletter, blog, calendar, etc.) and be a local point of contact for members, sponsors, and the WEST Board of Directors. The candidate will be a public face for the organization by representing WEST at our Boston area events and coordinating our amazing group of volunteers. This position reports to the Director of Operations and will require attendance at occasional morning events and 2-3 evening events per month. This position offers the opportunity to hone your marketing and web-analytics skills, while allowing for creativity in reaching a broader community, increasing networking opportunities, and bringing efficiencies to the organization. 

Topics: Events, Women, Communication, Community, Job, Networking, Professional, Developing Your Skills, Career Development, Marketing, Outreach

Influencing without authority is one of the most valuable skills you can learn and there are many useful forms of influence that you could be taking greater advantage of. Six sources of influence are positional, expertise, resources, informational, direct, and relationships.

Topics: Events, Women, Tech, Science, Career, Communication, Community, Success, Women in STEM, Networking, Upcoming Events, Professional, Relationships, Biotech, Interactive, Connect, Influence, Developing Your Skills, Support, Career Development, Influence Without Authority, Own It

Sandra Glucksmann, President & CEO at Cedilla Therapeutics, will share stories of her career challenges and successes. She will discuss how to best apply your scientific and analytical abilities to develop influence and negotiation skills. Sandra will share her learning experiences as she transitioned from bench scientist to manager, and from manager to executive in both small and large company settings. 

Topics: Events, Leadership, Women, Tech, Science, Transitions, Career, Communication, Community, Cambridge, Success, negotiation, Leader, Women in STEM, Workshop, Networking, Upcoming Events, Discussion, Connect, Influence, Management, Developing Your Skills, Challenges, Career Development, Influence Without Authority

Learn more about past events listed below

7/25: Leadership Strategies to Advance Your Career
6/12: Leadership and Women of the Future Awards and Panel Discussion
5/23: Providing Impactful Feedback Up, Down, and Across
4/26: How to Present Technical Information so People Will Understand, Care, and Remember
4/23: How Does a Start-up Embrace Open Innovation with a Large Corporation
4/11: Innovation and Entrepreneurship Senior Panel Discussion

Topics: Events, Leadership, Women, Boston, Tech, Career, Communication, Awards, Community, Entrepreneurship, Network, Women in STEM, Networking, Upcoming Events, Innovation, Discussion, Connect, Open Innovation, Start-Up, Feedback, Impact

Coaching circles adapt the principles and methods of individual coaching and apply them to small, intentional groups. They set the stage for peer to peer coaching facilitated by trained and qualified professional coaches offering women a supportive and motivating environment to connect through meaningful conversations. Participants develop a set of peer coaching skills in addition to benefiting from professional coaching, and are often preferred by people who learn well in small groups. Join us to establish new relationships, enhance leadership skills and talents, and develop in an area that is a current challenge. We will do three 30 minute sessions. Some of the table topics will be preset and some will be based on ideas submitted when people register to attend. The preset topics will include the following. 

Topics: Events, Leadership, Women, Tech, Science, Career, Communication, Community, Cambridge, Coaching, Women in STEM, Workshop, Networking, Upcoming Events, Relationships, Discussion, Change, Connect, Developing Your Skills, Talent, Confidence, Personal Branding, Strengths, Values, Challenges, Career Development

Join WEST and Executive Communication Coach and Trainer, Tori Hollingworth on 5/23, for a highly interactive session designed to provide participants with tools and techniques to increase credibility, improve interpersonal effectiveness and strengthen messaging when interacting in a performance review, delivering feedback to senior management, initiating behavior change and providing updates to direct reports, colleagues and/or organizational leaders. 

Topics: Events, Women, Communication, Community, Cambridge, Women in STEM, Workshop, Networking, Upcoming Events, Relationships, Discussion, Connect, Feedback, Impact

Learn more about past events listed below

6/12: Leadership and Women of the Future Awards and Panel Discussion
5/23: Providing Impactful Feedback Up, Down, and Across
4/26: How to Present Technical Information so People Will Understand, Care, and Remember
4/23: How Does a Start-up Embrace Open Innovation with a Large Corporation
4/11: Innovation and Entrepreneurship Senior Panel Discussion

Topics: Events, Women, Boston, Tech, Career, Communication, Community, Network, Women in STEM, Networking, Upcoming Events, Discussion, Rockstars, Breakfast, Connect

Are you looking for an opportunity to network with local senior tech leaders? If so, this is THE event for you. Enjoy a light breakfast accompanied by lots of conversation with Larry Friedman, Tim Mugherini, and Sabine Schilg. Registration is for WEST MEMBERS ONLY and will be limited to a maximum of 20 participants to ensure an intimate experience. 

Topics: Events, Women, Boston, Tech, Career, Communication, Community, Network, Women in STEM, Networking, Upcoming Events, Discussion, Rockstars, Breakfast, Connect

Senior STEM leaders from organizations ranging from incubator to startup to large corporations will share their perspectives on the topic of open innovation and how they help their company embrace it. Key discussion points will include methods for encouraging entrepreneurial concepts, approaches for launching new companies, and how a start-up can adopt open innovation including when/how they start working with larger corporations. Learn what works well and what pitfalls to avoid. Take advantage of this event to meet and network with the movers and shakers in the local STEM ecosystem. 

Topics: Events, Women, Tech, Science, Career, Communication, Community, Entrepreneurship, Panel, Cambridge, Women in STEM, Networking, Upcoming Events, Innovation, Biotech, Discussion, Connect, Open Innovation, Start-Up