Today, more women are advancing to senior positions within the life sciences industry. Along with added responsibilities, senior executives usually receive stock options or other forms of equity compensation as part of their compensation packages. In this lunch program, financial advisor Beata Dragovics provides an overview of the various forms of equity compensation, along with current compensation trends within the life sciences industry. Attendees will learn how to optimize their equity compensation packages, with a particular focus on managing concentrated wealth. Other topics include the tax ramifications of exercising stock options, along with tactics for treating equity compensation as a vital piece of your overall financial plan.
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Topics:
Events,
Financial Planning,
Wealth Management
Meet the extraordinary and inspiring women and men being honored and hear the stories of how they have made a profound impact on society. The honorees are role models who balance job and personal responsibilities while making a difference in their community. Join us to congratulate them, be inspired, network, and support the career advancement of women in the enterprise of science and technology!
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Topics:
Events,
STEM,
Awards,
Community,
Giving Back,
Network,
Inspire
How you portray yourself on a resume and in person during an interview are essential elements on the path to an epic career. It also requires putting in the effort to be completely prepared, and reflect to others why you are the only person for that position. Come join us for an interactive evening and be inspired to take a step back and evaluate how you can effectively communicate your strengths and career path, on paper and in person.
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Topics:
Events,
Transitions,
Career,
Resume,
Interview,
Success,
Job
WEST is accepting nominations through December 15th for our 9th Annual Giving Back Awards. You can nominate a deserving contender for one of the awards listed below. All nominees should be providing direct service to the community, be giving outside of the core responsibilities of his or her job, have a day job in science or technology, and be willing to have his or her story printed in the event program. The nominations should include name, title, company, giving back award category, and 1-3 paragraphs about their giving back. Please send nominations to Jaime Luna, WEST’s Director of Operations, at jluna@westorg.org.
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Topics:
Events,
Women,
Tech,
Science,
Nominate,
Awards,
Community,
Giving Back,
Network,
Inspire
A STEM degree is one of the most flexible degrees available, but when pursuing one it can be difficult to engage with scientists who’ve moved away from the bench for their career path and see why that is true. Who has the time to tear themselves away from lab or that coding project?? Worse still, even the most supportive mentors reinforce the notion that a job in the world outside is a sell-out and suggests failure in some sense.
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Topics:
Events,
Transitions,
Career,
Network
It was an energized and exciting evening at the November 14th WEST event, Pathways to Leadership Success: Working Toward Gender Balance Senior Panel Discussion. Biogen, Xconomy, and WEST hosted the event, which provided an exceptional opportunity for networking with around 150 members of the STEM community attending. The panel discussion featured the following leaders in academia and industry: Sangeeta Bhatia, Professor, MIT; Bruce Booth, Partner, Atlas Venture; and Sophie Vandebroek, CTO, Xerox. Jo Viney of Biogen/WEST and Bob Buderi of Xconomy moderated the event. The panel provided their perspectives and insights on actions that can be taken in the workplace to improve gender balance and increase awareness of gender bias.
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Topics:
Events,
Leadership,
Gender Balance,
Tech,
Science,
Success,
Network
We have a day for giving thanks. We have two days for getting deals (Black Friday and Cyber Monday). Now, we have #GivingTuesday, a global day dedicated to giving back. On Tuesday, November 29, 2016, charities, families, businesses, community centers, and students around the world will come together for the common purpose of giving and celebrating generosity.
If you are looking to donate time or money this Giving Tuesday, please think of WEST.
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Topics:
Donation,
Events,
Leadership,
STEM,
Women,
Giving
More than half of the doctorate degrees awarded in biomedical studies go to women and women make up 50% of the talent pool in the biomedical workforce. Yet, we don’t have to look hard to see that women are underrepresented in leadership positions, in virtually all sectors, but certainly in biotechnology and technology. Why is this, and what can we do to change it?
On November 14, 2016, we will be taking this issue head-on in a discussion co-sponsored by WEST, Xconomy and Biogen. (More information and registration information can be found here.)
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Topics:
Events,
Leadership,
Gender Balance,
Tech,
Science,
Success,
Network
We all have to be leaders – leaders of teams, leaders of projects, leaders of families, leaders of ourselves. Leadership skills can and should be cultivated throughout your career, and well before you reach traditional roles of authority. Leadership is hard, even rocket science can seem easier at times. Leadership requires strong self-awareness and personal competencies that can be developed though continuous improvement and practice.
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Topics:
Events,
Leadership,
Team,
Mentoring,
Coaching
Did you know that 57% of women have more earning power than before, that women are making major investment decisions, and 60% of women are the "breadwinners" of their families? Therefore, it is crucial to be informed and proactive about financial planning.
Beata Dragovics from Freedom Trail Financial takes a quite different and effective approach to financial planning, starting with the individual's values to set financial goals and plans. Beata graciously shared her take on 5 mistakes most people make when it comes to financial planning below. If you're interested in learning how to avoid these mis-steps, evaluate your own values and how they can map to your own financial goals and plans please join WEST for an interactive session with Beata on October 26th at 6pm. Participants will leave with a clear sense of how to plan for their values and how to set financial goals as it relates to compensation, equity, and savings.
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Topics:
Events,
Women,
Financial Planning,
Wealth Management
