WEST Wisdom Blog

Topics: Events, Leadership, Women, Tech, Community, Success, Network, Inspire

WEST membership offers a chance to meet colleagues and form friendships that will enrich your professional and personal life. Members get discounts to all WEST programs and events, free attendance at networking only events, and one free workshop during their birth month.

They get access to members only events, such as book club and rockstar breakfasts.  WEST currently has three members only breakfasts lined up including 5/4 with Meredith Fisher and Jo Viney, 7/25 with Emily Reichert and Chesley Chen, and 9/13 with Deb Vernon and Sandra Glucksmann.

Topics: Events, Leadership, Women, Tech, Science, Community, Cambridge

Feeling stuck or passed over, yet knowing that you can achieve more? Feeling powerless or without choices, yet you are doing it all “right”?  Is fear and doubt holding you back even as you try to rise above?

Kimberly Napier will share her own personal, powerful wake-up experience while a leader in corporate America. Now coach to powerhouse women in Boston as well as around the globe, she is passionate about helping women rise above negative inner dialogue, become their own biggest advocate, and find resilience and happiness. Learn from Kimberly’s interactions with hundreds of women as a professional coach.

Come join the WEST community for an exercise-filled evening and walk away with new techniques and tools to achieve who you want to be.

Topics: Events, Women, Career, Life, Choice, Resilience, Success

In today’s world, technology has made it increasingly easy to expand and do business internationally. With video advancements such as Google Hangouts, Facetime, Skype and Zoom, you can virtually spin up an in person meeting with almost anyone anywhere in the world. Businesses are embracing these technologies to expand their customer base and build teams globally to accelerate their success.

Topics: Events, Leadership, Women, Tech, Science, Communication, Success, Global, Culture

Wishing you could handle the work-life balance with this much finesse?  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ojvk-4IcOE

Wearing yourself out with perfect execution of your job and both the second (often simultaneous) shift at home?  Wearing yourself out even trying?  Feeling like you can't succeed in your career and be a "good mom and partner"?  

Come join us at lunch time (you have to take time to eat anyway!) to learn some tips and tricks for your work-life balance and hear and share some good stories while doing it!  You will walk away with at least 1 idea you can implement immediately.

Topics: Events, Women, Career, Work Life Balance, Inspire, Mom

Are you planning a career change? Thinking of jumping to a competitor? Has a recruiter contacted you about a new job opportunity? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you will need to have a strategy in place to negotiate the best possible compensation package for yourself.

Topics: Events, Women, Financial Planning, Wealth Management, Transitions, Career, negotiation

Then mark your calendar for March 20^th when WEST will co-host a combined speed networking and panel event with the Society of Professional Consultants. Six senior panelists who started out in STEM will describe their path to success in STEM or STEM-related careers. Experience a combination of facilitated networking and small breakout sessions with the panelists to hear about alternative career trajectories, learn how to tell your personal story in a compelling way, and gain confidence in your own skills and abilities.

Topics: Events, Tech, Science, Transitions, Career, Network, Inspire

We are all pulled in many different, often conflicting directions, both professionally and personally and feel the obligation to perform to relentless standards as judged by others. This can leave us feeling frustrated, exhausted and even inadequate. This can lead us to underperform as we continuously strive to over perform.

International Women’s Day is an important time to reflect on the impact these demands are making on the different and important facets of our lives. A moment to examine our own priorities and criteria that define our success and bring us happiness. Come and celebrate the day by joining our workshop on March 8 lead by Debra Woog. Debra will share her formula for articulating your own unique definition of success bringing more prosperity, ease and joy into your busy, multifaceted lives.

Topics: Events, Career, Communication, Work Life Balance, Success

Negotiation skills are required of all professionals. In fact, you use these skills in many phases of both your work and personal life.

According to a recent study in the Journal of Organizational Behavior, failing to negotiate on an initial job offer could mean missing out on over $600,000 in salary during a typical career. 

This session will focus on negotiation strategies to help you achieve better outcomes. We will discuss how to effectively prepare for a negotiation, think on your feet and deal with conflict. This session will be an interactive discussion with exercises to hone your negotiation skills. 

Topics: Events, Women, Transitions, Career, negotiation

Last week, more than 130 men and women gathered in Cambridge to recognize the honorees in WEST’s Annual “Giving Back Awards” ceremony. EACH YEAR for the past 9 years, WEST has brought the biotech and tech community together to honor incredible women from the science, technology and engineering fields who go above and beyond and selflessly give back to society. This year, in addition to recognizing women, WEST added a new accolade designed to recognize men who have demonstrated commitment to supporting and advancing talented women in STEM careers.

Topics: Events, Women, Tech, Science, Awards, Giving Back, Network, Giving, Inspire