WEST Wisdom Blog

Have you ever felt like your productivity and success depend on carrying a load of fear, perfectionism, or anxiety? Are you looking for strategies to continue the work you love without feeling overwhelmed? On June 3, Dr. Courtney Paré, a holistic anxiety and self-advocacy coach and naturopathic doctor, will join WEST to share her personal story of recognizing the anxious go-getter in herself and guide us through her step-by-step process for building a more constructive relationship with anxiety, letting go of perfectionism, and living a values-driven life.

Topics: Women, Career, Work Life Balance, Resilience, Success, Women in STEM, Upcoming Events, Professional, Discussion, Resources, Interactive, Balance, Tools, Role Models, Career Path, Vision, Developing Your Skills, Self-Awareness, Decision Making, Strengths, Values, Impact, Career Development, Empowerment, Advice, Learn, #WESTevent, #WESTorg, Grow, goals, Purpose

Join WEST on Tuesday, May 18 at 12:00 p.m. EST as we host Stephanie Lajoie-Lubin to talk about building a personal advisory board to support your professional and personal goals. Lajoie-Lubin is the founder and principal consultant of Lajoie Consulting Group, a firm that works with organizations to transform their workplace cultures through Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and supports early- to mid-career professionals through career transformation. 

Lajoie-Lubin draws on the concept of a personal advisory board, outlined here by Natascha Saunders, to develop a holistic view of her clients’ and her own personal and professional goals. Lajoie-Lubin's talk will outline the key roles to include on your personal advisory board to help you gain perspective, build a career strategy, stay personally grounded, maintain financial stability, engage with key communities on- and offline, and create a vision for who you want to be.

Topics: Women, Career, Work Life Balance, Resilience, Success, Women in STEM, Networking, Upcoming Events, Professional, Discussion, Resources, Interactive, Balance, Tools, Role Models, Career Path, Vision, Developing Your Skills, Self-Awareness, Decision Making, Strengths, Values, Impact, Career Development, Empowerment, Advice, Learn, Diversity, #WESTevent, #WESTorg, Gender Parity, Grow, goals, Purpose, Equity

Gender Parity

WEST is hosting a gender parity panel discussion on 9/30. This topic is essential because while more women are finding themselves in STEM careers in general, there is still work to be done to get more women into leadership roles. In leadership roles, women often feel like they are walking a tightrope to be likeable and respected. This panel will include leaders from academia, industry, and consulting services who have worked for gender parity in science and technology. They will discuss techniques they have used to achieve gender parity and how to advance more women into leadership roles.

Topics: Leadership, Gender Balance, STEM, Gender Balance, Women, Career, Panel, Mentoring, Women in STEM, Upcoming Events, Equal Pay, Balance, Gender Pay Gap, Advocate, Diversity, #WESTevent, #WESTorg, Gender Parity, Webinar, 20th Anniversary

Celebrating WEST's 20th Anniversary with 20 stories of impact. This week's stories are from Chesley Chen, Maria Lalioti, Joseph Lehar, Anna Li, Enith Morillo, Makeda M, Liz O'Day, and Elizabeth Wu.

Topics: Events, Leadership, Women, Transitions, Career, Awards, Community, Giving Back, Work Life Balance, Resilience, Entrepreneurship, Network, Giving, Job, negotiation, Leader, Women in STEM, Workshop, Networking, Upcoming Events, Professional, Connect, Balance, Inspiration, Role Models, Delegation, Developing Your Skills, Volunteer, Board of Directors, Confidence, Leaders, Book Club, Impact, Career Development, New Opportunities, Mentor, Inclusion, #WESTevent, #WESTorg, 20th Anniversary, Grow

Celebrating WEST's 20th Anniversary with 20 stories of impact. This week's stories are from Anne Cheung, Elissa Hobert, Reina Improgo, Mariana Nacht, Juliana Soto, and Anne Thessen.

Topics: Events, Leadership, Women, Transitions, Career, Work Life Balance, Resilience, Network, Giving, negotiation, Leader, Women in STEM, Networking, Upcoming Events, Professional, Connect, Balance, Inspiration, Role Models, Developing Your Skills, Confidence, Impact, New Opportunities, Mentor, Inclusion, #WESTevent, #WESTorg, 20th Anniversary

Topics: Leadership, Women, Career, Awards, Women in STEM, Upcoming Events, Balance, #WESTevent, #WESTorg, Webinar, 20th Anniversary

What is “Walking the Tightrope?”

Societal expectations have created a world where women are typically seen as either likable or respected, but not both. Many of the stereotypical traits of women align with being caretakers, while for men they are associated with being strong leaders. When women come off as confident and strong, people might associate them with being unlikable.

Topics: Leadership, Women, Career, Women in STEM, Upcoming Events, Balance, #WESTevent, #WESTorg, Webinar

As a new mom of two and taking on a brand new role at my company, I've been asking myself these questions a lot. There are days when I feel like I've figured out a great balance, followed by others that are a complete and utter disaster where I'm dropping the ball on both work and life. Often times work and life are considered polarities, you choose or the other, but not both. 

Topics: Events, STEM, Women, Career, Community, Work Life Balance, Cambridge, Women in STEM, Networking, Upcoming Events, Balance, Polarities

Meet some “Wonder Women” and “Super Men” at the WEST 10^th Annual Giving Back Awards!

 

For most of us, working all day and managing to get dinner on the table is heroic. For others, like Sara Nochur, working all day is a prelude to fundraising that enables young children in rural India to stay in school by providing them with homes, food, and shelter. Or for Elizabeth O’Day, it’s starting a non-profit organization that recycles electronics and uses the resale profits to build computer centers in orphanages around the world. If these sound like incredible feats, it’s because they are. And yet amazing people working in our local STEM community are doing those extraordinary things, and much more. 

Topics: Events, STEM, Women, Tech, Science, Career, Awards, Community, Giving Back, Life, Cambridge, Success, Women in STEM, Networking, Upcoming Events, Female, Balance, Making a Difference, Inspiration, Role Models, Volunteer

January 25th is WEST's 10th Annual Giving Back Awards honoring role models who balance job and personal responsibilities while making a difference in their community. Do you know someone providing direct service to the community, giving outside of the core responsibilities of his or her job, who has a day job in science or technology, and is willing to have his or her story printed in the event program? Nominate him or her during the month of November at http:// bit.ly /2zhweRa.

Topics: Events, STEM, Women, Nominate, Awards, Community, Giving Back, Cambridge, Giving, Women in STEM, Networking, Upcoming Events, Balance, Making a Difference, Inspiration, Role Models