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

Having just concluded WEST's fiscal year, we would like to thank our 2020-2021 Board Officers: Meena Subramanyam, President; Etta Jacobs, Vice President; Meredith Fisher, Clerk; Eleanor Howe, Treasurer; and Chesley Chen, Advisor & previous Co-Chair. Meredith and Chesley completed their board terms in June and we welcomed a few new Board Members to the team in July. Learn more about WEST's Board of Directors.

Topics: Leadership, Women, Financial Planning, Wealth Management, Transitions, Career, Community, Work Life Balance, Resilience, Success, Women in STEM, Discount, Upcoming Events, Professional, Discussion, Financial, Resources, Interactive, Lessons Learned, Tools, Career Path, Developing Your Skills, Self-Awareness, Decision Making, Confidence, Strengths, Values, Impact, Career Development, Empowerment, Advice, Learn, #WESTorg, Gender Parity, Grow, goals, Purpose

Senior Leader Interview: Jackie Schumacher

Introduction: Jackie Schumacher has been a part of WEST for the last two years. During that time, she has worn several hats. Serving on the Board of Directors, Jackie has contributed greatly to WEST and is currently Chair of the Advisory Board committee. She is also Regulatory and Quality Lead at RallyBio. She was gracious enough to sit down and share her journey with me and the rest of the WEST community.

Topics: Leadership, Women, Career, Community, Interview, Resilience, Mentoring, Women in STEM, Networking, Biotech, Rockstars, Connect, Inspiration, Leaders, Storytelling, Impact, Career Development, Learn, Advocate, #WESTorg

Facebook, Whatsapp, Slack, Zoom, Teams, Instagram, emails, and all the other communication systems that I am forgetting to list right now. In today’s world we constantly communicate with others. The question is: do we actually connect with them? And, what does it mean to connect with others?

For Kemi Sorinmade -leadership trainer, coach, and owner of the Growth Studio- to connect means to be able to build a common ground and to be on the same page with your audience. This building process might often need some time and effort: if we want to connect, we need to take an extra step in exploring the other person’s world. In this exploration, we need to bring with us curiosity, interest, and empathy. These tools will help us unlock a safe common space, in which we will be willing to share, trust, and open up with each other.

Topics: Leadership, Women, Career, Communication, Women in STEM, Upcoming Events, Interactive, Developing Your Skills, Impact, Learn, #WESTevent, #WESTorg

Jo Viney is the President, Co-founder, and Chief Scientific Officer of Pandion Therapeutics. She is a prominent figure in the field of autoimmunity, and a past board member of WEST. She served as the WEST board’s president from 2016 - 2017, and she continues her affiliation with our organization as an active “Friend of WEST” sponsor. She is no stranger when it comes to supporting and inspiring women in the field of STEM. I recently sat down with Jo (virtually), where we talked about her journey. Her smile was infectious, and her journey struck a chord with me.

Topics: Leadership, Science, Transitions, Career, Community, Giving Back, Interview, Women in STEM, Member Spotlight, Biotech, Rockstars, Inspiration, Role Models, Leaders, Impact, Career Development, Mentor, Advice, Advocate, #WESTorg

WEST is kicking off its Career Possibilities Series with New Commercial Strategy, Product Planning, and Marketing on 1/20. There will be many topics discussed during the series. In a world where career structures are rapidly evolving, people in the workforce need to have the mindset to be prepared for what their careers could look like. This event series was created to prepare early and mid-career people for the future and give them the tools to be successful.

Topics: Leadership, Women, Career, Panel, Women in STEM, Upcoming Events, Interactive, Career Path, Career Development, Career Possibilities, #WESTevent, #WESTorg

Dr. Irene Ghobrial is a Professor of Medicine at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute at Harvard Medical School. She is also the Lavine Family Chair of Preventative Cancer Therapies. Dr. Ghobrial received her M.D. from Cairo University in 1995. She trained as a medical oncology fellow and became an Instructor in Medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota from 2001 to 2005.

Topics: Leadership, Science, Career, Community, Interview, Resilience, Women in STEM, Member Spotlight, Rockstars, Inspiration, Role Models, Leaders, Impact, Career Development, Advocate, #WESTorg

 

Anna Barnacka is the CEO and Founder at MindMics. She earned her Master’s in Physics in 2008 and two PhDs in Physics and Astronomy in 2013. Anna worked as a NASA Einstein Fellow at Harvard University from 2015-2018 and focused on turning galaxies into high resolution telescopes. In May 2018, she founded her own company because Anna was interested in applying her knowledge from previous experiences on research on the human body.

Topics: Leadership, Science, Career, Community, Interview, Resilience, Women in STEM, Member Spotlight, Rockstars, Inspiration, Role Models, Leaders, Impact, Career Development, Advocate, #WESTorg

This webinar, led by Clara Angelina Diaz, will help you focus on your goals for the upcoming year and create an actionable plan to accomplish these goals. This begins with focusing on your life’s mission, purpose, goals, plans, values, and career. Creating a vision statement allows you to have a clear idea about how you want to improve each aspect of your life.

Topics: Leadership, Women, Women in STEM, Upcoming Events, Interactive, Vision, Developing Your Skills, Values, #WESTevent, #WESTorg, Webinar, goals, Purpose

Being able to communicate, and to do it effectively, is probably the most important of all life skills. As human beings and social animals we urge to communicate to others, as this enables us to pass information, to understand, and to be understood. While this is a very natural process, communication skills may take a lifetime to master and nobody would argue against the fact that we can all become better at this, at any point.

Topics: Leadership, Women, Women in STEM, Upcoming Events, Relationships, Interactive, Developing Your Skills, Empathy, #WESTevent, #WESTorg, Webinar