WEST Wisdom Blog

Join WEST and Ipsen on Tuesday, October 5th for a panel discussion, “How to Be Inclusive when Differences are Less Visible.” Cristina Almansa, the Head of Clinical Development and Medical Scientific Affairs at Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, will moderate this conversation with panelists who have broad and deep experience advocating for themselves and others in a variety of professional contexts. Stacey Brewer, Senior Oncology Educator at Ipsen and Paula Cobb, CBO at Affinia Therapeutics will share insights on how to be inclusive of less visible differences. You can sign up to attend the panel and other upcoming WEST events here on the WEST website. 

Topics: Best Practices, Leadership, Women, Career, Community, Resilience, Success, Women in STEM, Upcoming Events, Professional, Discussion, Resources, Interactive, Change, Making a Difference, Tools, Leading Ourselves, Empathy, Focus, Insight, Values, Support, Leaders, Impact, Career Development, Empowerment, Learn, Advocate, Inclusion, Diversity, #WESTevent, Voice, #WESTorg, D&I, Gender Parity, Webinar, goals, LGBTQIA+, Disability

What’s in your portfolio? Join us on Thursday, 4/29 at 5:30 p.m. EST to hear experienced financial advisors explore strategies for aligning your investment portfolio with your personal values through impact investing.

In this interactive discussion, we will hear from Judith Reed, a financial advisor at Morgan Stanley who specializes in helping women in the Life Sciences industry create financial plans for themselves and their families, and William Gambardella, Executive Director of the Morgan Stanley Wealth Management Global Investment Office (GIO). 

Topics: Women, Financial Planning, Wealth Management, Career, Success, Women in STEM, Upcoming Events, Discussion, Financial, Interactive, Change, Values, Impact, Learn, #WESTevent, #WESTorg, Gender Parity, Sustainability, Investing

Five years ago, we held a panel on launching or relaunching scientific careers after a career break, working in an unrelated field, or after a delayed start. We are bringing back the same panelists on 4/7 to talk about where they are now. This promises to be an excellent discussion about career progression, with each participant giving us a retrospective view of their career path choices, including comments on “what I wish I knew.”

Relaunching careers in scientific research and biomedical engineering, moderated by Carol Fishman Cohen, will tell stories of women who took career breaks and achieved success. It is possible for women to return to work in scientific research, biotechnology, and engineering and thrive in these fields. This webinar is an opportunity for people to listen to inspirational stories from women and learn from their experiences.

Topics: Women, Transitions, Career, Success, Job, Women in STEM, Upcoming Events, Biotech, Interactive, Change, Career Path, Insight, Values, Career Development, Career Possibilities, Self-Reflection, #WESTevent, #WESTorg

Communication is the key to success in life, work and relationships… especially in uncertain times, it will decide whether we win or fail navigating a crisis.

And yet, often enough we face situations where our message turns into error, misunderstanding or frustration, simply because it was misinterpreted or maybe poorly delivered. And we’re left off with a feeling of being lost in translation.

Topics: Career, Communication, Success, Women in STEM, Upcoming Events, Biotech, Interactive, Change, #WESTevent, #WESTorg

Change is constant in the industry, so it is necessary to be constantly thinking about your development. Are you facing a career transition or considering your next career move? Are you in a role that is no longer a good fit for you? Are you feeling stagnant in a role with no clear path for growth, but afraid to take the leap? Are you challenged by how best to present yourself in virtual interviews? Or, have you just been laid off, and worried about how to begin a new job hunt in the current remote work environment? You are not alone. 

Topics: Transitions, Career, Success, Job, Culture, Women in STEM, Upcoming Events, Biotech, Interactive, Change, Career Possibilities, #WESTevent, #WESTorg, Hiring

We all have the power to create change, and there is more we can accomplish together than on our own. Together, we can push for organizational change that will echo through all levels of the systems that were created on a foundation of inequality. WEST is hosting Organizational Change to Achieve Equity with YW Boston on 2/18 to demonstrate to the WEST community how we can use our positions to create organizational change. Sheera Bornstein, Director of Partnerships at YW Boston, will be facilitating this workshop. She works to improve workplace inclusivity, and is passionate about social justice and antiracism work.

Topics: Women in STEM, Upcoming Events, Interactive, Change, Developing Your Skills, Impact, Learn, Inclusion, #WESTevent, #WESTorg, Equity, Identity, Organizational Change

When it comes to full shutdowns for public safety, Boston knows how to rally. A baseline of Boston winters. Those summer days when you deliver your elderly neighbor’s groceries. That zero-hesitation all-in drop-everything was all the difference after the Marathon bombing. Anyone who takes their winters below freezing knows that wasting emergency resources by ignoring a #stayhome order costs lives. That said, it’s a lot easier to stay Zen when the outside world is cancelled when you’ve got the infrastructure and daily rhythms down. When the COVID-19 #stayhome orders came, we’d already pulled out all the winter tricks like restarting Purple Carrot and upgrading a few other subscriptions of choice. 

Topics: Change, Career Path, Developing Your Skills, Self-Awareness, Own It, Empowerment, #WESTevent, Women in Business, Be Fearless, Be Brave, Competence, Webinar, Fearlessness

The sudden and total transition to remote work (RemoWo) triggered by COVID19 may mean that you need to tweak your work from home (WFH) setup. Compared to WFH-Fridays, full-time RemoWo requires a much stricter practice of boundaries and connections—both physical and mental. Check out these five quick tips to help you stay productive—and sane—in the weeks ahead. 

Topics: Work Life Balance, Change, Digital, Developing Your Skills, Advice, #WESTevent, Change Management, #WESTorg, Women in Business, Be Fearless, Be Brave

Learn more about past events listed below

5/15: Finding your Voice Among all the Chatter
6/12: How to Inspire, Advocate and Grow During Change
6/20: Building Your Company Culture and Developing Your People

Topics: Events, Best Practices, STEM, Women, Boston, Tech, Science, Career, Communication, Community, Panel, Cambridge, Network, Women in STEM, Workshop, Networking, Innovation, Biotech, Discussion, Interactive, Change, Lessons Learned, Connect, Management, Developing Your Skills, Leaders, Own It, Advocate, Diversity, #WESTevent, Change Management, #WESTorg, Organizational Culture, Corporate Culture

Change may be life's only constant, but unexpected change is tricky for everyone.

You speak. WEST listens! By popular request, the next WESTevent is a workshop on how to own unexpected change. We're talking to Claudette Rowley about handling the change you didn't see coming. Change that is beyond our control. Change that we did not instigate and cannot avoid.

Topics: Women in STEM, Upcoming Events, Change, Developing Your Skills, Self-Awareness, Conflict Resolution, Career Development, Own It, #WESTevent, Change Management, #WESTorg, Women in Business