00:00:00:27 - 00:00:22:18
Speaker 1
I.
00:00:22:23 - 00:00:50:21
Speaker 2
Hello. Oh. Hey, Cher. How are you? Thank you so much for returning my
phone call. Yeah, I'm. I'm actually calling you from San Diego State
University. Oh. And I'm really glad you called me that, because I was
actually calling you to personally invite you to join Athena's
movement. Because we are so committed to closing the gender gap in
Stem.
00:00:50:26 - 00:01:01:20
Speaker 2
And I'm going to tell you, sherbet, we are expanding Athena globally,
and we're doing this so that we can reach and we can educate and we
can invigorate more women and their.
00:01:01:20 - 00:01:02:28
Speaker 3
Allies.
00:01:02:32 - 00:01:34:12
Speaker 2
To contribute to the Stem workforce. May I interest you in learning
more because there is an awful lot at stake. Awesome. Hey, listen,
there's a lot of people here outside of my office. Can I put you on
speakerphone? Okay. Sweet. Good evening, everyone. I am so excited to
tell you about this global expansion. And I want to thank everybody
for coming out here on this campus, because what we are faced with
right now, if you look around you, I want you to look to your left.
00:01:34:17 - 00:01:58:54
Speaker 2
I want you to look to the right. I want you to look around 360
degrees, because this is what we call a multi generational alliance.
And I am telling you this scenario that you heard on that phone call,
this is the call to action that we are taking to every digital road
and every roadway that will allow us to come in and grow this
workforce.
00:01:58:58 - 00:02:25:57
Speaker 2
Runways from California to New York and to Africa and every hotspot in
between. Now I am really, really excited to stand before all of you as
we represent a very powerful, multi-generational alliance, and we're
all here convening so that we can learn tonight on how to lift up more
women, and then we can recruit more male allies because.00:02:25:57 - 00:02:26:56
Speaker 4
We have got to.
00:02:26:56 - 00:03:05:51
Speaker 2
Expand and diversify our Stem workforce. And I'm telling you, here's
what's at stake across this global Stem hub. We are producing awesome,
awesome breakthroughs in artificial intelligence and genomics, in
cancer research. And all of this is going to intensify our need for
Stem expertise and capacity. In fact, the World Economic Forum
predicts an 85 million shortage and a talent gap and a labor shortage
by 2030.
00:03:05:56 - 00:03:30:29
Speaker 2
And the largest gap is in Stem. So think about that on an on an
individual level, I want you to really think about that. Think about
what happens when you have somebody that's laid off, or you have a lot
of people in your company where there's a, a layoff, where maybe you
have a lot of people leaving because your company doesn't really have
a healthy work culture.
00:03:30:34 - 00:03:58:10
Speaker 2
And I want you to think about your burnout rate. I want you to think
about the team's performance and your businesses overall success. Now
imagine that scenario at scale. And this threatens our ability to
solve our global challenges. And it obviously stifles our economic
growth. And this stem gap is real, folks. And by the way, 2030 is
right around the corner.
00:03:58:15 - 00:04:35:56
Speaker 2
And this demands a concerted action. And it has to be led by a
community. This community who won't back down to a challenge of this
magnitude. And if we look at this slide, the drop to the top, it
actually gets worse with only 12% of women in Stem that ever stepped
foot in the C-suite. Look, politicians, leaders, and business
institutions like the World Economic Forum, like the Academy of
Sciences, are all talking about this.
00:04:36:01 - 00:05:00:23
Speaker 2
They are all talking about this shortage. And I am here on behalf of
Athena with you to close that gap between data and action. And so I
have a question for all of you. And I really want you to think about
this. This is very personal for us. And this is very personal coming
from a global Stem hub.00:05:00:28 - 00:05:15:44
Speaker 2
And I want all of you to consider this. Are we, as a community,
willing to support our next gen Stem leaders? Yes.
00:05:15:49 - 00:05:28:05
Speaker 2
And are we, as a community, ready to advocate for more women leaders?
00:05:28:10 - 00:05:38:36
Speaker 2
And are we as a community, ready to educate and recruit more modern
allies?
00:05:38:41 - 00:06:03:28
Speaker 2
And I love to experience all of this energy with you because as this
powers our community, this is what's going to enable us to widen the
bridge and pave more roads. And we come to realize when we all come
together, the power that we have and the power that we have had all
along. And this is the sound.
00:06:03:28 - 00:06:33:38
Speaker 2
When motion becomes a movement. Think about that and think about your
role in that movement. And speaking of moments, I want to tell you
that last year, this time last year, we celebrated Athena's 25th
anniversary. And with that anniversary, we put our flag in the ground.
And we shared with all of you our commitment and our vision to take
Athena Global.
00:06:33:42 - 00:07:00:31
Speaker 2
And one year later, I am so proud to tell you that we've gone
platinum. Kind of like Simone Biles. We're just taking the raising the
bar a little bit higher than ever before. And by deploying technology
and activating Athena's network, we are reaching women worldwide who
are all ready to contribute to the world of Stem with equal access.
00:07:00:35 - 00:07:35:08
Speaker 2
And by extending Athena's global network and its advocacy efforts with
the United Nations and our portfolio of women's leadership content, we
are connecting and we're exposing more women and this untapped talent
pool to meet the rising demands of our global Stem workforce. This is
big stuff, and there is a massive demand, and there requires an
organization to make sure that we can execute in the fashion that is
expected of a global Stem hub.
00:07:35:12 - 00:08:06:38Speaker 2
So that's why we're all here tonight. That's why we invited all of you
to come here and be a part of this global summit. We are not playing
small ball. We are not just a San Diego organization. We are a global
entity, and we are focused on mission one. And so please understand
what you're a part of and what we've invited you to actually be the
fuel in this vehicle as we launch this rocket.
00:08:06:42 - 00:08:37:26
Speaker 2
So there's been a lot of advertisement marketing to tell everybody
about this awesome vision that we can't do without you. And part of
the education and the marketing that we put out over the last six
months, we've talked about some big reveals. And so I want to share
with you two of those big reveals tonight. And I am pleased to
announce that we just launched our operations on the East Coast.
00:08:37:31 - 00:08:52:04
Speaker 2
Can I just say that again? Because it feels so good to say that I want
to invite you and direct your attention to the woman to the left of me
and to the right of you. This is Sophia Harrell, and with high heeled
boots on the ground.
00:08:52:08 - 00:08:56:15
Speaker 5
Who?
00:08:56:20 - 00:09:17:30
Speaker 2
With high heeled boots on the ground, Sophia Harrell, Athena's program
director, director of programs and strategic partners, has relocated
from California to New York. And establish our presence in the New
York and New Jersey region.
00:09:17:35 - 00:09:41:11
Speaker 2
You know, I have the great privilege to have this platform. And I
share so much affection with all of you. And the ones outside that
weren't able to join this summit. But I'm going to tell you the
connection that I have with that woman, and, she makes me a better
leader. She certainly, certainly drives me to be a better person and a
better, better visionary for all of you.
00:09:41:16 - 00:10:03:11
Speaker 2
And she has the audacity to pick up and relocate from California to
New York, where she knows no one, so that she can serve these these 30
companies who call themselves Athena Partners and make sure that we
are serving their leadership needs in the same way that we were doing
that we're doing here in California. And you know what that requires.And she has the audacity to pick up and relocate from California to
New York, where she knows no one, so that she can serve these these 30
companies who call themselves Athena Partners and make sure that we
are serving their leadership needs in the same way that we were doing
that we're doing here in California. And you know what that requires.
00:10:03:16 - 00:10:33:30
Speaker 2
Audacity, tenacity, and a whole lot of verve. And I cannot tell you
the amount of confidence that I have. And Sophia and all the people
that she's going to hire to make sure that we can execute in the same
fashion all of you have come to expect of us here in California. So
this is the one stop in our global strategy to expand and make sure
that we are delivering on our mission to expand a million women in
Stem by 2030.
00:10:33:35 - 00:10:57:54
Speaker 2
Okay. So if that wasn't exciting enough, I want to share with you our
second reveal tonight, and this is our 2.0 launch of Athena's On
Demand Leadership Lab. So here's what I want from you. I want you to
think I want you to thank Netflix for Stem checks or Stem flex. I'm
sure there's going to be some lawsuit.
00:10:57:54 - 00:11:20:23
Speaker 2
I haven't talked to my lawyers at Cooley, but we like to think that
Stem flex is going to be far more successful than Netflix. But this on
demand leadership platform, on a serious note, is really offering
leadership training without borders. And so all of the women around
the world and whatever pocket they find themselves in, they actually
get to come on here to this lab.
00:11:20:28 - 00:11:45:08
Speaker 2
They get to download and stream it and experience it and own it. And
by the way, all of this content that we've uploaded, it's all content
that has been curated by women, by Stem women and our male allies.
This isn't a cut and paste. This is real deal. And this is the market
differentiation that we want to bring to women all over the world.
00:11:45:13 - 00:12:13:38
Speaker 2
And I want to tell you that part of offering this 24 over seven,
leadership training, it also offers transcription and translation
services. Over 270 different languages are offered, from Arabic to
Mandarin to French. It doesn't matter. We are going to reach you
regardless of your language and regardless of your geography, because
ultimately we're here to lift up more women.
00:12:13:43 - 00:12:42:17
Speaker 2
We're here to invite more male allies, and this is how we're going to
move faster and further as we advance. 1 million of you by 2030. And
so as Athena continually expands its global footprint, we are also
rolling out an awesome member initiative. And this leverages our
greatest asset. I want to present to you Athena's global task force.We're here to invite more male allies, and this is how we're going to
move faster and further as we advance. 1 million of you by 2030. And
so as Athena continually expands its global footprint, we are also
rolling out an awesome member initiative. And this leverages our
greatest asset. I want to present to you Athena's global task force.
00:12:42:22 - 00:13:24:13
Speaker 2
They are not joining us here live because they are around the world,
but they are joining us on demand on our flex. And I want to tell you
that we are going to be connecting more women and empower them with
our leadership content. We're going to be mobilizing these Athena
agents to amplify our impact across their networks. And these
ambassadors, these micro influencers, and these thought leaders
comprise a task force that are operating out of New Delhi, out of new
Jersey, Zambia, Copenhagen, New York and Uganda as they directly
introduce Athena to new and untapped markets of talent.
00:13:24:18 - 00:13:55:00
Speaker 2
And they are sharing their digital platforms to expand our reach and
expose more women and their allies on the Demand Leadership Lab that
is now available. And together, we are fueling a movement that ensures
no women is left behind. Next, as Athena is thrilled to unveil a new
product offering that we believe is going to spread our global wings
even further in 2025.
00:13:55:05 - 00:14:21:11
Speaker 2
And we have found, certainly as a CEO of this organization for the
last seven years, what I have personally experienced is that women
struggle and this is a very material. And if this lands for you, I'd
appreciate a nod of the head. The struggle is for women to actually
advocate for themselves. Does that resonate with anybody in this
auditorium?
00:14:21:16 - 00:14:48:09
Speaker 2
Yeah. And this this opportunity allows us to create a virtual forum
where women from all over the country get a seat at the table. We
actually get to share what we're working on. We get to share with a
colleague our achievements and our contributions and get the
visibility that we deserve. And it's not just here in San Diego or in
California or in the US.
00:14:48:22 - 00:15:19:29
Speaker 2
It is around the world. And we get to tap into this very rich network
so that we can all see an audience that hears us and sees us and
celebrates us. I don't like that idea. And this is exactly what we're
trying to do here as we go global. And this we believe this forum will
enable us to celebrate the achievements faster, these cross-border
connections, and really build powerful networks.It is around the world. And we get to tap into this very rich network
so that we can all see an audience that hears us and sees us and
celebrates us. I don't like that idea. And this is exactly what we're
trying to do here as we go global. And this we believe this forum will
enable us to celebrate the achievements faster, these cross-border
connections, and really build powerful networks.
00:15:19:34 - 00:15:44:37
Speaker 2
And each month, it amplifies her voice and amplifies her innovation.
And it opens doors limited opportunities. All right, so this is just a
sneak peek. All of what I shared with you is just a sneak little
window into what we're doing on your behalf. So I want you all to walk
away from tonight's summit, understanding this is in motion.
00:15:44:51 - 00:16:15:30
Speaker 2
This is your movement and you are a part of this. So please understand
the role that you play and the time that you have come in to this
movement. And I have to understand that above all else, we have to
recognize we have to recognize, support the sponsors of our lifting
while climbing summit. And as you look up here at these logos, I want
you to really look at these companies.
00:16:15:35 - 00:16:39:23
Speaker 2
Do we have anybody representing them here from these companies?
Because I see fragment over there. I see Stockholm. I see you see
them. Rebel. Nami. But I want you to understand. I see Wd40 over
there. Yes, ma'am. Thank you very much, sir. Heizer. You know you
know, Mary, you don't miss the tall, blond in the back. But I want you
to understand what these companies understand.
00:16:39:28 - 00:16:54:08
Speaker 2
These companies, they so get it. They know that the most powerful and
the most advanced technology and the planet is you.
00:16:54:12 - 00:16:54:52
Speaker 2
So let's.
00:16:54:52 - 00:16:55:12
Speaker 4
Get this.
00:16:55:12 - 00:17:19:56
Speaker 2
Global summit underway. And I'm about to introduce to you. We have
three lightning talks that are going to come on this stage. And
they're going to educate every single one of you on what it takes as a
next gen Stem leader, as an executive woman and as a modern male ally.
What it takes so that we can all lift up this workforce and contribute
to humanity in the way that Stem provides.00:17:20:01 - 00:17:42:35
Speaker 2
So I want all of you to get ready as these three, these next three
talks are going to expand your horizons, and they're going to show how
to gather across all of these generations. We can lift up one another
and we can unlock the greatest impact on humanity stem. So I would
like to invite Doctor Harlow, moderator I'd like to invite her.
00:17:42:49 - 00:17:49:04
Speaker 2
innovation.
San Diego State University's vice president of research and
00:17:49:09 - 00:18:01:17
Speaker 2
And I would like to and I would like to I would like to hug, Hala and
I'd like to invite the rest of our Lightning Talk segment speakers to
please rise and join on the stage.
00:18:01:22 - 00:18:15:21
Unknown
Let's give her a big round of applause for lightning talk. Thank you.
00:18:15:26 - 00:18:39:26
Speaker 4
I figured it out. Good afternoon, everyone, and a big thank you to
Holly for the introduction. I want to really emphasize the partnership
that CSU has with Athena. This is the first time we host on our
campus, and I hope not the last. It is an important and, area for us.
While Holly said companies.
00:18:39:26 - 00:19:03:35
Speaker 4
I want to shout out to higher education. We are the pipeline to Stem.
And we really, really believe in what we do in that area of supporting
our women in Stem. I think today you're going to be enlightened by the
four amazing women I have here with us who have had an exceptional
journey into, their in their Stem journey.
00:19:03:35 - 00:19:26:51
Speaker 4
And we were going to talk to them about who how they were lifted in
that journey. And I welcome each one of them. I also want to give a
shout out to Holly because Athena's colors are purple and she's
wearing black and red. So it's a, have to recognize have to recognize
that that's a big deal for CSU to recognize our asset colors.
00:19:26:51 - 00:19:57:41
Speaker 4
So. Thank you. Holly. So huge. Thank you. But today, what you'll see
is of a women who come from a variety of places. Obviously, our San
Diego State University system, the Sol Institute Centella and and each
of these women have had a remarkable journey that you'll hear from,
some are interesting journeys. I would say some are challenging.So. Thank you. Holly. So huge. Thank you. But today, what you'll see
is of a women who come from a variety of places. Obviously, our San
Diego State University system, the Sol Institute Centella and and each
of these women have had a remarkable journey that you'll hear from,
some are interesting journeys. I would say some are challenging.
00:19:57:41 - 00:20:17:52
Speaker 4
There won't be fun stories to hear because they really went through a
lot of different experiences. But that's okay. That's part of the
journey that many of us had, and those journeys are important for us
to learn from and to think about how we move forward from. So.
00:20:17:57 - 00:20:18:51
Speaker 5
00:20:18:56 - 00:20:33:18
Speaker 4
But I think they they'll be they'll be very interesting. So I'm going
to start with Zinnia. Zinnia is our, high school student. She comes.
00:20:33:23 - 00:20:55:38
Speaker 4
She's a Del Norte High School student, for the year in the in the
region. She's a Stem student, obviously, and a co-leader of science,
which is she'll talk about a little later. And what that means. But
what's impressive about your journeys and. Yeah, from my perspective,
you know, we spent time on a zoom call learning about each other.
00:20:56:00 - 00:21:16:40
Speaker 4
And I think what's really impressive is the journey you took to engage
with researchers. So can you tell us how you embarked on that journey?
And then I will talk a little bit about Saint Ella. So let's start
with your journey across you.
00:21:16:45 - 00:21:38:12
Speaker 4
Here. Oh, yeah. Hi everyone. I'm Zinnia, and I want to start off by
first thanking Miss Smithson and the entire Athena team for inviting
me here on this prestigious panel alongside these esteemed leaders.
And it's a big highlight of my year to attend the Athena Lifting While
Climbing summit, because it's super important to advance the 1 million
women in Stem by 2030 that Athena's looking to do.
00:21:38:16 - 00:21:46:36
Speaker 4
So can I please get a round of applause for who?
00:21:46:41 - 00:22:08:41Speaker 4
Now, to answer that question about what could my internal drive be? I
mean, there's a lot of things that contributed to why I wanted to go
into molecular and cellular biology and start research as a high
schooler, but I can touch upon one of them. So I vividly remember in
2017, sitting down with my grandmother, who was a former science
teacher, and she would teach me about the Krebs cycle.
00:22:08:54 - 00:22:25:12
Speaker 4
So at that point, I knew nothing about the Krebs cycle, right. And she
would call out these names iso citrate and alpha acuta glutathione.
And I think just like a normal kid, I just wanted to learn more about
all these terms so I could go to my parents and say, look, I know more
than you or something like that, right?
00:22:25:17 - 00:22:46:17
Speaker 4
So I didn't really understand what they meant, but I definitely wanted
to learn more about what all was there. So in sixth grade, I joined a
program you might all know about Science Olympiad, right? So I took
part in an event called an Albino Physiology. And I was fortunate to
work with Doctor Gordon Young, who is a pulmonologist at UCSD.
00:22:46:21 - 00:23:11:14
Speaker 4
And he essentially enlighten me that it's not just knowing these
names. You have to understand their function to how they work together
in the body to help prevent the onset of disease and just keep us
well. So from that point on, you can probably expect I had hundreds of
questions, and the first thing I did was I reached out to scientists
and I wasn't really inhibited because I was going blindly into it.
00:23:11:19 - 00:23:22:25
Speaker 4
So I reached out to Doctor Wiseman and Nicole Madrazo. Nicole is in
the audience today, so can we please get a round of applause for her
as well?
00:23:22:30 - 00:23:39:40
Speaker 4
Doctor Weissman and Nicole have been working with me for the longest
of times, and I'm incredibly in awe and how they can entertain a
teenager. Imagine they have, like, world class researchers, but
they're still dedicated to helping students like me. And so I
essentially wanted.
00:23:39:40 - 00:23:40:35
Speaker 2
To.00:23:40:40 - 00:24:00:41
Speaker 4
Acknowledge that this was an incredibly select opportunity, and I was
incredibly grateful for it. But another thing I realized was that my
peers were not necessarily getting the same opportunities, getting
access to these internships. So that's why I joined Santella, and I'm
now a national headquarter leader for the organization, and I can talk
about it a little bit later.
00:24:00:46 - 00:24:22:36
Speaker 4
But essentially what we do is we harness our connections with these
corporate companies like Qualcomm, Microsoft, Illumina, ResMed, and we
essentially take different internships, research, consulting projects
and webinars and hand it directly to the students who may be
interested. So we're essentially trying to do the heavy lifting so
that more students can get the opportunities to achieve their Stem
dreams.
00:24:22:41 - 00:24:47:25
Speaker 4
And essentially, having someone to be reliant on me, like helping
people, is what really takes me forward. Because now it's not just me,
it's about everybody else. So thank you for the question. Well, I'm
going to follow up on that. So saying tell us tell us more about how
we came to be where you are. You mentioned a little bit about where
you engage and what you hope to do, but can you give us how people
engage?
00:24:47:30 - 00:25:12:28
Speaker 4
How did you come to be? Totally. So Sound Hollow was founded in 2020
by Ricardo and Ricardo Santos, and essentially during the Covid time,
we realized that students were, again, not getting these opportunities
as well. So we tried initially to empower the next generation of women
Stem leaders by harnessing the connections that these adults we
already knew had in their different companies, like simply just by
going on LinkedIn.
00:25:12:33 - 00:25:33:26
Speaker 4
Right. And essentially what we did from that was we read many
different articles about what were the limitations with students,
like, what do they want? We really wanted to get to know our audience.
And we also realized that a lot of programs are directed to adult
women in Stem, but a big problem is that the younger generation gets
these inhibitions.
00:25:33:41 - 00:25:57:52Speaker 4
So we wanted to target middle school, high school, and college going
girls by providing these opportunities. I just mentioned the research
consulting projects, webinars, internships, mentorships, which is
incredibly crucial and also offer financial scholarships, as we call
it, impact based scholarships. So we essentially removed the financial
barrier that students may have if they want to venture even beyond
going global, too.
00:25:57:57 - 00:26:05:20
Speaker 4
Thank you so much for that.
00:26:05:25 - 00:26:33:21
Speaker 4
Okay, so I'm an academic. I don't follow rules, so I'm going to do
whatever I want. I have a notes of what I'm supposed to ask and
whatever, but I'm going to do what I want. So. Girl. I think you have
a great story, a journey, right, that took you through multiple
countries Spain, Switzerland, a, breast cancer research right now in
the US and San Diego with the Salk Institute.
00:26:33:26 - 00:26:53:24
Speaker 4
Tell us how that happened. And what was the journey? What was this
thing that uplifted you as a woman in Stem to make it here today?
Yeah. So thank you very much. It's really a great honor to be in front
of all of you. So I'm originally from Spain. I'm from Girona, a small
city in the north of Barcelona, and that's where I grew up.
00:26:53:58 - 00:27:12:05
Speaker 4
Very simple family. My parents grew up in a dictatorship time in the
60s and 70s, so no chance to go to university. But they did give us
some values. I think that that I would carry forever, and I hope to
keep on passing them. And it's the hard work, the motivation, the
curiosity, this inner force. Right.
00:27:12:10 - 00:27:31:50
Speaker 4
And I think there's kind of two, two big forces. Right. So it's our
inner force and it's obvious right over here we have that right. Like
we just heard senior like, it's it's beautiful how we all have this
ambition. Probably we are quite competitive. At work and probably as
well in life. I love to win at all the games, even if I play with
little kids.
00:27:34:04 - 00:28:02:44
Speaker 4
But, you know, this is one aspect, of course. You know, I was very
curious. I love my biology teacher because I think was one of the
classes that I could see that it was more to learn, more to dive in.
Right. Amazing. Teachers, of course, are inspiring to all of us, too.
But I think as well, there is a component of the environment in the
same way that in my research in cancer research, we study the cancer
cells, but we as well as study the environment, and we understand very
well that the environment is crucial to drive or inhibit cancerBut, you know, this is one aspect, of course. You know, I was very
curious. I love my biology teacher because I think was one of the
classes that I could see that it was more to learn, more to dive in.
Right. Amazing. Teachers, of course, are inspiring to all of us, too.
But I think as well, there is a component of the environment in the
same way that in my research in cancer research, we study the cancer
cells, but we as well as study the environment, and we understand very
well that the environment is crucial to drive or inhibit cancer.
00:28:02:49 - 00:28:21:22
Speaker 4
It's the same with us, right? We can have a lot of force, but we can
be stopped and we can have a lot of force and be propelled. And I
think I've been very lucky, like probably many of us, of course, this
kind of work, a lot of hard work, but there is also a lot of support.
And these mentors, these people that saw something on us and trusted
in us, right.
00:28:21:22 - 00:28:41:10
Speaker 4
And that empowered us. And of course, my foundation is my family.
They've been incredibly supportive. I love traveling, and that
explains a bit my career path. I'm also a believer that if you follow
what you if you do what you like and you follow, what you want to do
is not by chance that I chose San Diego, a great city in the US.
00:28:41:10 - 00:29:00:19
Speaker 4
Right? So you will be happy or you will be closer to succeed because
you'll put everything you have and more, right? So, yeah. And and
having a family that supported me in these, that helped me find
finding funding when we didn't have it and, and look for every
opportunity and also totally take every opportunity you have.
00:29:00:19 - 00:29:18:47
Speaker 4
So at university that was an opportunity during my college time in
Barcelona. That's what I went to study undergrad to go to the you see,
and of course it was a scary to come to the US with 19 year old, but I
did it and I had the support to to come here with very broken English.
I still have a strong accent, but imagine then so so yeah.
00:29:18:47 - 00:29:37:31
Speaker 4
And then later I just want to share the story of how I joined. So I
did my PhD in Switzerland. I was in bioengineering. So, so not too
much biology yet, but I really wanted to get into biology. And of
course, I know I knew the limitations. Right. Because there are some
people that may be experts already in the thing that I want to get
into.00:29:37:31 - 00:29:58:22
Speaker 4
So they'll be they may have an easier path to get there. But actually
what I realized through different interviews, and that's why I end up
here as well at the Salk Institute with Professor Jeff Wall, was that
he saw something in me that even though I didn't have the perfect
background in biology, he wanted to teach me. He wanted to help me get
there.
00:29:58:24 - 00:30:17:26
Speaker 4
And I think I'm getting there. Of course, imposter syndrome is real,
and it's a fact. And especially now, it's been three years here, so
it's got to be about the first year. It's many days that I thought, I
don't belong here, but having someone that tells you yes, don't worry,
read this paper, read these other literature. You will understand this
or you don't know that.
00:30:17:26 - 00:30:41:25
Speaker 4
Oh, don't worry, it's not that basic, actually. Right. But it's like
having another mentor that tells you, oh, come on, you should know
that. So for me was always very, very important to develop these these
relationships with my mentors. And I call them my friends, my
scientific fathers. And, and I transition to many. I'm in contact with
all of them because I think that's also why I love what I do.
00:30:41:26 - 00:31:01:21
Speaker 4
You know, because I have these people that have helped me and at some
moment has given me the spotlight and have also given me sometimes
harsh feedback because we also need that. So yeah, bit because snippet
of my life you.
00:31:01:26 - 00:31:40:37
Speaker 4
Thank you for that. That's a great story. Okay, Sophia, I had to pick
in a student. Come on. Right. Like we're here. So, Sophia, your
journey is particularly interesting because you could have been
actually derailed in your Stem journey, but your particular
experience. That wasn't pleasant. Let's put it nicely. And would love
to share you to share with us a little bit of that experience at what
made you continue your SEM journey despite that experience?
00:31:41:35 - 00:32:05:09
Speaker 5
Thank you for having me. I want to start off by I went to school at
North Dakota State, and over there it's a big, research institute. And
they really motivate the undergrad students who want to continue into
research and, into graduate school or industry, to participate in
undergraduate research and I, I decided to join a lab.Thank you for having me. I want to start off by I went to school at
North Dakota State, and over there it's a big, research institute. And
they really motivate the undergrad students who want to continue into
research and, into graduate school or industry, to participate in
undergraduate research and I, I decided to join a lab.
00:32:05:12 - 00:32:34:48
Speaker 5
And at this lab was really it was a great experience at first. Like
the mentor that I had, she was really hands on with me, was teaching
me all of the skills I needed to do, like cell culture very well. But
then things started to take a turn. I'm not sure why things changed
with her, but she coming to lab every day was such a mental chore for
me.
00:32:34:53 - 00:33:05:06
Speaker 5
It got to the point where some days, like we would be trying to do
simple math for cell culture or like an experiment, and I would leave
tears and I never did anything to upset her. And there was also
another time where we had a symposium for the undergrad students for
them to present their research, and I sent her my poster for feedback
and, for a final go ahead before I went to go print this poster.
00:33:05:11 - 00:33:31:37
Speaker 5
And she changed the whole entire thing, I, I saw this new poster that
she had made, and she, she rearranged all of the authors on there and
every, every single thing had some major edit to it that I wasn't
aware of that she would be doing. There was there was no clear
communication with her. And what got me through that was my
resilience.
00:33:31:47 - 00:34:01:14
Speaker 5
I was also a student athlete too, and being at North Dakota like, it's
very cold. I'm from here and it's it's not. It wasn't fun, but it
taught me this resilience within myself. And to have this tenacity
that I can, I can grow where I'm planted. But if my surrounding
environments are not allowing me to thrive like I need to find
something else that's going to help me get to where I want to be.
00:34:01:19 - 00:34:25:29
Speaker 5
So after that, that undergraduate lab experience towards the end of
it, I had an individual meeting with the lab, next door, the next
door, and he brought me in, and he said, I know it's very hard. Like,
I, I can hear the conversations that you're having with her. I can
hear the way that she's talking to you.
00:34:25:33 - 00:34:53:15
Speaker 5
And it's going to be better. Like you are going to go to graduate
school, and the lab that you're going to join is it's going to be
okay. And him telling me that and him bringing me in and seeing that
in me is what brought me here today. And now I'm here attending a
state. I'm a I'm a second year PhD student, and I'm in an amazing lab
with an amazing mentor who, she really empowers me every day.And it's going to be better. Like you are going to go to graduate
school, and the lab that you're going to join is it's going to be
okay. And him telling me that and him bringing me in and seeing that
in me is what brought me here today. And now I'm here attending a
state. I'm a I'm a second year PhD student, and I'm in an amazing lab
with an amazing mentor who, she really empowers me every day.
00:34:53:15 - 00:35:20:43
Speaker 5
And I'm really excited every day to go to lab and do research with
her. She's a great mentor. And she's she told me about Athena in this
event. And, I'm very grateful for her and this this journey for me to
be here and to find, glimpses of success wouldn't be. I wouldn't be
who I am today without finding that resilience within myself with a
bad experience back then.
00:35:20:47 - 00:35:30:13
Speaker 5
Yeah.
00:35:30:59 - 00:36:07:35
Speaker 4
I want to point out two things in your story the importance of male
allies. Because in the second part of your story, you really
emphasized the role of the next story. Pi, a male who really heard
those stories. And I also want to remind women in the room that we
have a role in uplifting each other, because the first part of your
story is one that I hear a lot, which is instead of women lifting
women, women putting women down, and it's our role to not do that, and
it's our role to really emphasize pulling people up.
00:36:07:40 - 00:36:14:07
Speaker 4
And so those are really important elements of your story.
00:36:14:12 - 00:36:38:45
Speaker 4
And I'm glad that you have a female mentor who's amazing. And she is I
know her personally. She's incredible. So hugely important to have
those experiences in our careers. We've all had both sides of the
story. But that's really, really, your resilience is impressive. Most
people would have like. No, thank you. Stem is not for me.
00:36:38:45 - 00:36:42:44
Speaker 4
So congratulations on making it this far. And you will go places.
00:36:42:49 - 00:36:47:50
Speaker 5
Thank you. Thank you.
00:36:47:55 - 00:37:15:14Speaker 4
So, Kelly, I'm turning to you, engineer bd. And really, one of the
things that was most impressive in our call in our conversation is the
accelerated trajectory that you've had. So maybe give us insight into
what happened, how did you get here and maybe the items that made it
happen. Okay.
00:37:15:18 - 00:37:38:41
Speaker 5
How did I get here? Well, thank you. Thank you for having me here.
And, Holly, thank you for the opportunity. I think a lot. And we
probably look a lot at that professional resume, maybe on your
LinkedIn. You look at that one. But equally for me, I look at my
volunteer resume, and those two have really been hand in hand with one
another.
00:37:38:41 - 00:38:06:08
Speaker 5
One wouldn't have really happened without the other. I've been
volunteering since my college days. I started off with the Society of
Women Engineers and have been actively involved with them, starting as
a mere little historian. Back when we actually scrapbook with paper
and pictures that were printed and making sure I attended every
events, I knew what this organization was about, to now being here on
the board of Athena and and everything in between.
00:38:06:08 - 00:38:25:48
Speaker 5
So it is a journey. Like I said, that's been one that's gone hand in
hand, one kind of feeding the other. And, and I think back on that
journey and I say, wow, when I have had that experience that I had in
this volunteer organization at my work at that same time in my life.
And the answer would have been no.
00:38:26:02 - 00:38:47:04
Speaker 5
What? I've coached another person that early in my career, probably
not. Would I have led other people that early in my career? No. Would
I have given someone feedback like I did know? So those experiences I
was able to do earlier on in my life, gain those experiences and then
be able to apply them in that work environment.
00:38:47:04 - 00:39:18:10
Speaker 5
And that's been so crucial for me. And as I progressed from individual
contributor to now people leader, the neat thing to hear from your own
people manager is, wow, I've seen a shift in you. When you're a new
and different person, you are really molding into the leader that you
want to become, and then being able to see that through the
experiences I've had outside of my day job have really amplified those
characteristics that they value and want to see in the future leaders
that we bring to the table.And that's been so crucial for me. And as I progressed from individual
contributor to now people leader, the neat thing to hear from your own
people manager is, wow, I've seen a shift in you. When you're a new
and different person, you are really molding into the leader that you
want to become, and then being able to see that through the
experiences I've had outside of my day job have really amplified those
characteristics that they value and want to see in the future leaders
that we bring to the table.
00:39:18:15 - 00:39:39:19
Speaker 5
And I'll tell you a fun story. I'll never forget this. I was president
at the time of SWE San Diego, and my vice president. She said to me,
Kelly, stop coming to my committee meetings. I was like, why, why,
why? I'm just here to help Kelly. They don't listen to me if you're
there. And I said, so empowering.
00:39:39:19 - 00:39:59:52
Speaker 5
I learned in that moment empowerment. Empowerment of my team doesn't
look like always being present. But sometimes taking that step back
and demonstrating that I trust my team by not showing up and giving
them that space to do that. So those little things of that nature is
what you can learn through these organizations. So my lightning.
00:39:59:52 - 00:40:01:24
Speaker 4
Insight, so to speak to you all.
00:40:01:24 - 00:40:21:53
Speaker 5
Tonight, is to think about an organization or a community that you can
partner with to grow and learn with and really propel your career
forward. Because those experiences are stuff that you'll learn a lot
quicker through partnerships with these groups.
00:40:21:58 - 00:40:50:14
Speaker 4
Thank you to our wonderful panel. I'm going to summarize my version of
what Have we Heard? Because that's what I do. So one is take risk and
that means moving countries, emailing people you don't know, asking
questions you don't understand. Take risk. Right. Like that's a really
important part. Right? Okay. Second, don't be let down by people.
00:40:50:19 - 00:41:14:14
Speaker 4
It's so easy to give up that resilience is probably one of the best
skill sets anybody can have. And it's one that as a mom, always, every
day teaching my daughter the importance of resilience. Resilience is
what makes you thrive. So you heard that in the story city people are
going to put you down. Female, male doesn't matter.
00:41:14:14 - 00:41:45:23
Speaker 4
Anybody in your community do not take that. Move forward. Third, take
experiences that you hear about and make them transform your life.
Whether it's volunteering, whether it's doing science, it doesn't
matter. Just take a risk and go out there and learn from the
opportunities that are presented to you. And yeah, maybe your day is
now 13 hours instead of eight.Anybody in your community do not take that. Move forward. Third, take
experiences that you hear about and make them transform your life.
Whether it's volunteering, whether it's doing science, it doesn't
matter. Just take a risk and go out there and learn from the
opportunities that are presented to you. And yeah, maybe your day is
now 13 hours instead of eight.
00:41:45:27 - 00:42:09:53
Speaker 4
It does propel you into the future that is yours. But it is your
choice whether you do it or not. In a lot of ways, allies, supporters
are important, but a lot of it is the power of you. And I hope that
Athena, in its network and the global impact it has, will teach all of
you the importance of all of that.
00:42:10:02 - 00:42:19:40
Speaker 4
And then I get the pleasure to introduce the next panel. Thank you to
our group.
00:42:20:13 - 00:42:40:59
Speaker 4
Moving forward to our next panel. Wendy, thank you for being here.
Wendy represents Sydney and she will be introducing her panelists.
00:42:41:04 - 00:43:06:03
Speaker 5
Right. Well, did you guys just enjoy that last session? Thank you Hala
and our next gen leaders. All right. So I'd like to welcome this next
group of absolutely amazing women. Pentair coach Dami, please come up.
00:43:06:08 - 00:43:13:19
Speaker 5
Sarah Hossain.
00:43:13:23 - 00:43:21:22
Speaker 5
And, Sheila. Good. It's Rafi.
00:43:21:26 - 00:43:25:48
Unknown
All right, let's get started.
00:43:25:53 - 00:43:53:04
Speaker 5
So that last talk was absolutely wonderful. And just being able to
hear how those impressive next gen leaders really gained their
footing, right? While having to deal with such a shifting landscape.
So what we're going to focus on next is really how do we turn that
career ladder now into a bridge? All right. So Sheila, I love to start
with you.00:43:54:36 - 00:44:31:08
Speaker 5
You shared with me a great personal example. As a highly regarded
expert in your field, right. As a physician and scientist, you were
experiencing a lot of great success at the company. And you had
tremendous influence, right. But you also weren't openly given the
authority for the roles that you were in. So against that backdrop,
how did you make the pivot from the manager role into that executive
role?
00:44:31:13 - 00:44:46:23
Speaker 5
Great. Thanks, Wendy. It's so great to be here with all of you. And
wow, what a panel, right? Those women who. It's really wonderful to
see such great talent. Yeah. So kind of taking that forward.
00:44:47:10 - 00:44:47:53
Speaker 4
But one of.
00:44:47:53 - 00:45:12:19
Speaker 5
My first corporate roles I started, I loved the company really
experiencing a lot of success, getting roles of increasing
responsibility and just feeling like I was thriving. Everything was
going super well, and then all of a sudden it wasn't. And I'm not
exactly sure what happened in terms of the shift. I was getting a lot
more successful.
00:45:12:19 - 00:45:31:03
Speaker 5
And again, you know, stepping up in terms of the, you know, the levels
in the organization. And then, and then a very interesting thing
happened where because I had a lot of support in the organization,
because I was talented, I was smart, and I got things done and all of
these great attributes, hopefully to one in any employee.
00:45:31:08 - 00:46:00:16
Speaker 5
But then I started being placed in roles without the title. And I know
many of us have experienced that, and I know many women have come up
to me and, and people of color have come up to me and, and talked
about this were you're playing the role, but you aren't given the
title and that authority. And when you're in highly matrixed
organizations, you you're a lot of times you are influencing without
authority.
00:46:00:21 - 00:46:22:25
Speaker 5
But having a title really helps, right? Because, you know, that's just
people. People pay attention, especially if you're working with other
individuals on your team who have higher titles than you do, then
you're trying to really. That's a very challenging position to be in.
Thankfully, I hadn't MD and, you know, in the biotech and pharma area,
that does carry a lot of credibility.But having a title really helps, right? Because, you know, that's just
people. People pay attention, especially if you're working with other
individuals on your team who have higher titles than you do, then
you're trying to really. That's a very challenging position to be in.
Thankfully, I hadn't MD and, you know, in the biotech and pharma area,
that does carry a lot of credibility.
00:46:22:25 - 00:46:47:10
Speaker 5
So I, I'm grateful for that. If I didn't have that and and I had other
peers who didn't have that and and that was that would be maybe more
challenging. So, this, this continued for a period of time. And what I
was sharing with Wendy and, and others, on the stage here was it
started her rode my confidence because, you know, initially I was
like, this is fine.
00:46:47:10 - 00:47:09:36
Speaker 5
You know, keep proving myself and it's all good. But then when you're
in that situation and this continued, you start to doubt yourself. You
you start to, you know, that something shifts in you as well. So I
started to my confidence started to erode. And and I think that that's
really when my warning signs went off internally.
00:47:09:40 - 00:47:31:06
Speaker 5
Because when you don't believe in yourself or when that starts
slipping, I think you can really, you know, get derailed. And, I also
found out, just as an aside, that I was severely underpaid, and that
was something that I had also was shocking to me. And HR came and told
me that they had to do some serious salary adjustments, and I didn't
know that as well.
00:47:31:06 - 00:47:53:51
Speaker 5
So it was a constellation of things that were happening at the same
time. And I had confidence if I was patient, you know, I would get the
increasing roles and all of that. But but in the meantime, I actually
was approached, to have an executive role that was two levels plus
higher than where I was. And after a lot of deliberation, although I
love the company I was working at, I decided to move.
00:47:53:56 - 00:48:16:58
Speaker 5
And I think it was a story that that we heard before because I wasn't
thriving, I was thriving, and then I wasn't thriving, and I paid
attention and I moved, and, really stepped into a very senior level
role and everything that I was kind of told that I wasn't able to do
or that I didn't have the skills maybe to do that I did beautifully in
my next role.00:48:17:03 - 00:48:38:32
Speaker 5
So my my lesson learned in terms of all those experiences was really
to believe in myself, all of us to believe in ourselves and to have
our own backs. And, and if you find that that slipping of your
confidence is eroding, then really take some action to address it,
because really, that's not where you want to be operating from.
00:48:38:32 - 00:48:46:35
Speaker 5
So I wanted to share that with all of you.
00:48:46:39 - 00:49:11:13
Speaker 5
Great. That was that was a great story and a story of one gaining that
confidence. Right. And truly being that advocate for yourself. Thank
you for sharing that. Sarah, I love to go to you next. And you shared,
a great example as well in terms of how you really took full ownership
of your career growth.
00:49:11:17 - 00:49:37:00
Speaker 5
Right? You've had stints that the United Nations on Qualcomm and now
at ResNet. Right. How did you embrace your climb when one of the
employers said to you that it would take another five years before you
would get to that director level, all. Yeah. Thank you. It's always
interesting when someone recounts your life, you're like, oh, that was
me.
00:49:37:45 - 00:50:00:34
Speaker 5
So yeah. Thank you. Thank you all so much for being here. I know
you're all very busy and and shout out to everyone wearing purple and
to my colleagues from ResNet. It's good to see you all. Thank you,
Athena, for the invitation today. I love this topic. And sometimes you
don't even realize you're climbing until you, like, you hit a certain
point on that mountain and you're like, oh my God, I'm winded and
exhausted right now.
00:50:00:34 - 00:50:26:39
Speaker 5
Why? I come from a background where a household of hard workers, my
parents, work hard. I'm daughter of a biologist and a physicist, so
there was no excuse, child of immigrants and got the degrees. Worked
hard, right? Companies. So there was this expectation to always
deliver. And I had that expectation of myself as well. But that
doesn't mean it's going to be married to you in the corporate
workforce.
00:50:27:09 - 00:50:48:56Speaker 5
And I look back at younger Sarah, and I thought I was, like, stepping
into my worth. But then you realize you're not getting paid equitably,
and that someone else sitting next to you with a master's degree is
making $45,000 more. And that that was a hard realization for me. That
was at Amazon. And, yeah, that was that was painful.
00:50:50:11 - 00:51:08:00
Speaker 5
So you I had a personal journey with self-worth. I had had a traumatic
divorce. Go to Amazon. I got hit again. I'm like, okay, the universe
is giving me this lesson about stepping into my self-worth and my
confidence. And so I go to Qualcomm and one of their first hires, the
inclusion of diversity team that out to Qualcomm loved working at
Qualcomm.
00:51:08:00 - 00:51:29:27
Speaker 5
However, it is hard sometimes when you feel like you are working at a
certain level and, you are filling in the roles for the person that's
not there, and then they hire someone. So you were doing that job and
you're performing, and I can really relate to you, Sheila. You're
performing at a certain level. You know, you can do the job, but
you're still two positions below.
00:51:29:27 - 00:51:47:46
Speaker 5
And they're saying, you know, you're not up for promotion. That
happens again. You're not up for promotion. It's like, well, give me
that feedback. What do I need to do? And the feedback is always
positive. And so then yes, I shared how I was told, well, it's going
to take you five years to become director. And I remember this moment
in the room where I'm like, no, it's not.
00:51:47:58 - 00:52:06:44
Speaker 5
It's not going to take me five years to become director because I'm
operating already at this level, and that activates the job search.
You know, these moments fuel you, and sometimes the fuel is there and
you just kind of need to turn it on. And that's turned me on because
it's it's that moment where you look in the mirror and you're saying,
no, I can do this.
00:52:06:58 - 00:52:35:23
Speaker 5
It took me three months, right? And I it takes diligence, it takes
resilience, it takes grit. It takes a lot of late nights and updating
and networking. But I did become a director in three months, and. All
right. Thank you. Yeah, but it it took a lot. It didn't just take
those three months. I'll be honest. It took years to get to that point
where I could look in the mirror and say, I can do this because it
took two years of being underpaid.It took me three months, right? And I it takes diligence, it takes
resilience, it takes grit. It takes a lot of late nights and updating
and networking. But I did become a director in three months, and. All
right. Thank you. Yeah, but it it took a lot. It didn't just take
those three months. I'll be honest. It took years to get to that point
where I could look in the mirror and say, I can do this because it
took two years of being underpaid.
00:52:35:23 - 00:53:00:05
Speaker 5
It took years of probably being underpaid for a long time and not
operating at the role that I should have been. And I that moment
activated me. And I remember just thinking, like, that person said
that to me, and I remember just thinking silently, no, it won't. And I
it did change me and it's changed how I show up, because once I got
it, I had shown myself that I can actually do anything I put my mind
to, you have to visualize it.
00:53:00:05 - 00:53:19:21
Speaker 5
You have to manifest that you put your energy towards it. And so that
did happen. And, and I got the chance to build something from scratch.
I got the chance to really develop and work on a culture at ResNet.
And, and it's been it's been a beautiful journey since. And but it
doesn't stop. I am still in a position of advocacy.
00:53:19:21 - 00:53:37:08
Speaker 5
Well, what's next for me and how do I keep growing so it doesn't end?
And that's the thing with confidence, is that there are always things
that, you know, make you step back because you have to still advocate
for resources for budget and then advocate for yourself. What's next
for me? So I anticipate this is going to be a continuous journey.
00:53:37:33 - 00:53:47:28
Speaker 5
Throughout my career. Awesome.
00:53:47:33 - 00:54:11:35
Speaker 5
Thank you for sharing that story, Sarah. What what I loved about it is
you coming into your self-confidence. And during that moment that
activated you, right? Like you got empowered and you took something
where someone said, hey, it's going to take you five years and you
made it happen in three months. That is impressive. Great job. All
right CompTIA.
00:54:12:49 - 00:54:47:28
Speaker 5
So as an Ivy League engineer, your career climb, right. Basically at
the two of the most imminent mountains out there, Illumina and now at
AWS. So what were some of the key turning points within your career
that allowed your rapid ascent? What? Thank you for everyone for being
here. And, it's incredible to hear Sheila stories, Tara story, and, to
actually acknowledge how much their similarity, the name of their
companies are different and the role you're going for different.So as an Ivy League engineer, your career climb, right. Basically at
the two of the most imminent mountains out there, Illumina and now at
AWS. So what were some of the key turning points within your career
that allowed your rapid ascent? What? Thank you for everyone for being
here. And, it's incredible to hear Sheila stories, Tara story, and, to
actually acknowledge how much their similarity, the name of their
companies are different and the role you're going for different.
00:54:47:28 - 00:55:11:49
Speaker 5
But there is a lot of, you know, shared, I guess mountains for us to
climb. I would say, you know, when you look at success or rapid
growth, it's usually not one factor. It's, you know, five, six, seven,
ten, things all coming together. As you know, the is shared confidence
and acknowledging self-worth is one of them.
00:55:11:53 - 00:55:31:44
Speaker 5
As I were going through their stories, I'm kind of thinking, do I even
belong to be on this panel? And then I'm like, nope, we're working on
the confidence. So as Sarah was saying, you know, that kind of working
on yourself, it never ends. And you have to have a dedication to your
self-growth to, invest in yourself on a daily, hourly basis.
00:55:32:04 - 00:55:52:03
Speaker 5
I would say for me, there are a few factors. One of them was around
strategic risk taking, which I don't think as women were necessarily
really good at. And for me, that manifested itself in terms of,
putting my hand up for opportunities that I knew enough that I needed
to get fixed, but I didn't know the full solution.
00:55:52:10 - 00:56:10:06
Speaker 5
And then one example I give you is that at Illumina, the first job
that I had was a job that actually I applied for. I had five other
jobs during that 11 years at Illumina, and all the other five jobs
were jobs that I created for myself. I saw a problem. I put together a
proposal, went to the VP.
00:56:10:47 - 00:56:34:26
Speaker 5
They were kind of lukewarm about it. I did it the job, you know, for
three months, doing two jobs at the time. Prove to them that something
works, and then went to China and built our first professional
services team in China, Asia Pacific, Japan, and 2013, I was the
youngest ever product manager who led the thousand dollar genome
platform launch, and that was managing 400 million revenue a year.
00:56:35:03 - 00:56:59:16
Speaker 5
And, my last ride, Illumina, I was ahead of our, global software
strategy. And, you know, I moved from doing instrumentation to core
consumables to building professional services to software and all of
that kind of opened a lot of opportunities for me, but came from this
outlook of willingness to take a risk, never kind of stopping
learning, because every time I went to a new field, there was a lot to
know.And, my last ride, Illumina, I was ahead of our, global software
strategy. And, you know, I moved from doing instrumentation to core
consumables to building professional services to software and all of
that kind of opened a lot of opportunities for me, but came from this
outlook of willingness to take a risk, never kind of stopping
learning, because every time I went to a new field, there was a lot to
know.
00:56:59:31 - 00:57:19:43
Speaker 5
So I had to hire experts or I had to become the expert. And then, if
you can kind of look at my shift to AWS at some point, you know, I
looked at the the market and where the industry's going. And the
biggest bottleneck is around data now in precision medicine. And I'm
like, we're not going to solve that by, you know, on premise,
computing.
00:57:19:43 - 00:57:38:48
Speaker 5
It has to be cloud computing. So so I'm sharing that story because a
lot of it is also, having vision about where the industry is going and
where you need to be to be at the forefront of that change and really
kind of, knowing that going to be hard, but knowing that, the journey
is going to be a lot more fun because you're constantly learning.
00:57:38:48 - 00:58:00:23
Speaker 5
And, and it's also humbling experience to, to never know enough. So
you have to always, learn. And one last thing I would share is, I
think communication is a key thing that, I tried to be good at. I so
need to get better at it. I think as a woman, we do the job and then
that's it.
00:58:00:28 - 00:58:25:03
Speaker 5
We don't communicate, we don't promote. So I think, knowing how to
share the impact you're having with the right person at the right
time, at the right level, it's really them. I think what has really
helped me, and I probably did not do that for the first six years of
my career. And as soon as I started doing it, it was just one
opportunity after another opportunity.
00:58:25:03 - 00:58:33:57
Speaker 5
Because a lot of time, if you don't verbalize it, leadership might not
know what you're ready for or what you want. And it's just it takes
one person that.
00:58:33:57 - 00:58:34:44
Speaker 4
Is in a room, one.
00:58:34:44 - 00:58:56:26
Speaker 5
Sponsor that says, hey, you know, Aponte is really interested in doing
a global leadership role. And if we are, you know, expanding this into
Europe, maybe she would be the candidate. So so that's also, a key, a
key point that I would say you.Sponsor that says, hey, you know, Aponte is really interested in doing
a global leadership role. And if we are, you know, expanding this into
Europe, maybe she would be the candidate. So so that's also, a key, a
key point that I would say you.
00:58:56:31 - 00:59:03:36
Speaker 5
I think she belongs in the panel. What do you guys think? Oh.
00:59:03:41 - 00:59:32:38
Speaker 5
I love that story panel here because it really focuses in on the idea
of advocacy. Right. Like you really have to be not just do a great
job, but advocate for yourself so that you can continue basically your
climb. So in reference to Sheila's TEDx talk last month, I do want to
commend each of you up here for being elegant, full length mirrors
that other women can hold up.
00:59:32:43 - 00:59:58:03
Speaker 5
So as we experience a shift from a societal perspective, right where
we're seeing more value in women leading in the workplace, what
challenge or call to action do you have for our audience here? Sarah,
why don't we start with you? It's funny, actually, when I was hearing
you talk, you made me think of this book called How Women Rise.
00:59:58:08 - 01:00:26:37
Speaker 5
And there's a whole section about the importance of, like, how you
manage up and how to talk about your wins and what you work on. And
there are a lot of best practices around that, whether it's like
emailing your manager every week, putting it in writing or busy so you
want it documented. But I do believe, you know, it's very important to
learn to find your voice and do it in a way that's authentic to you,
and learn how to self advocate and maybe find out, like with your team
and your your manager, what that looks like.
01:00:26:42 - 01:00:51:13
Speaker 5
What's the best way for me to share? I want you to be in the know, but
also constantly ask for feedback. It's very important to always
there's a distinction between the perception versus how you think
you're coming across. Maybe I think I'm communicating with maybe my
boss or my team doesn't think I am. So it's really important to always
ask for feedback and understand your trajectory and make sure there's
alignment with the people that you work with your stakeholders.
01:00:51:18 - 01:01:04:50
Speaker 5
So I really want to, you know, kind of piggyback off the whole
communication, but also making sure that it's landing in the planning
in a way that resonates across to you.So I really want to, you know, kind of piggyback off the whole
communication, but also making sure that it's landing in the planning
in a way that resonates across to you.
01:01:05:18 - 01:01:35:38
Speaker 5
So, I guess Call to action, would be around. Having a macro plan of
where you want to be in life and what kind of, you know, impact you
want to have. And you don't need to know the details. But, for
example, if you want to become, an executive in the commercial space,
you don't have to get specifics, but knowing, you know what it is that
you want to become and then, kind of being honest with yourself that
can you see yourself there?
01:01:35:43 - 01:01:57:16
Speaker 5
Because if there's something that you want but you can't see yourself
there, it's sort of you're never going to get there. So understanding,
you know, if you can't see yourself there, what is the reason? Is it,
a skillset gap that you have that you need to work on? Is it
communication that I need to work on? Is almost always having this
honest, honest like view of your strengths and weaknesses.
01:01:57:16 - 01:01:58:54
Speaker 4
So what is it required?
01:01:58:58 - 01:02:20:13
Speaker 5
I give you an example. I've always wanted to be executive in a
commercial, area, and I had a lot of product management and marketing,
but no sales experience. And all my mentors told me and I could never
really see myself there. I wanted it, but I could never see myself
there because I'd never done sales. And then, you know, even though it
was like hard for me to actually get into it, I had to do it to get to
where I want it to be.
01:02:20:24 - 01:02:41:08
Speaker 5
So it's basically having a macro idea of where you want to be and
working backwards from that, being honest with what you have
accomplished and what kind of experiences skill set, whether soft
skill sets or technology that you need to understand. And then, you
know, taking steps towards that and then climbing that mountain.
Awesome. Sheila. It thanks so much.
01:02:41:08 - 01:03:02:11
Speaker 5
I actually wish I could just give the TEDx talk again, because there's
so many things in there that I want to share. And so this is a kind of
a hard question. The one call to action. But, hope you all get a
chance to, to hear it. I but I would say, building on things that
we've already spoken about is to one thing I talk about in the TEDx
talk is to surround yourself with mirrors.I actually wish I could just give the TEDx talk again, because there's
so many things in there that I want to share. And so this is a kind of
a hard question. The one call to action. But, hope you all get a
chance to, to hear it. I but I would say, building on things that
we've already spoken about is to one thing I talk about in the TEDx
talk is to surround yourself with mirrors.
01:03:02:16 - 01:03:27:47
Speaker 5
And that's what Athena is. It's so beautiful looking out and seeing
all of you, including our allies. And, you know, being surrounded here
on, on stage so strong of yourself with mirrors. And when I talk about
that, I talk about building this community. And when you do that, you
create these safe environments, and then you really understand what it
feels like to belong and to know that you're not alone.
01:03:27:52 - 01:03:49:45
Speaker 5
And so, I also talk about building a personal board of directors as
another way to think about that. And it's really, again, finding role
models and sponsors and mentors who you can reach out to, who are safe
spaces for you, who will challenge you to help you grow, and go out of
their way for you? Because we are not in this alone.
01:03:49:45 - 01:04:05:18
Speaker 5
You know, we don't we don't need to do this alone. So I challenge all
of you. The call to action is go find your book. Goes are building
your personal board of directors. If you don't have one or continue to
build that show, you all have one. You don't even realize it. Who are
those people who have your back, who are supporting you?
01:04:05:23 - 01:04:27:45
Speaker 5
Who are always there for you, who want your success, who want you to
be successful there on your personal board. It could be family,
friends, people you work with, your professors, teachers, and friends
and just continue to build that and, you know, build as much
complementarity as you can on that to complement what you know, and to
strengthen, and teach you what you don't.
01:04:28:10 - 01:04:47:10
Speaker 5
And so I think and women I think, you know, we don't maybe do that as
well, you know, have to ask for help. Put yourself out there.
Sometimes people will not respond. That's okay. Doesn't matter. You
know, keep keep asking. And you know, you're going to find a wonderful
group, to really support you in your career, in life.
01:04:47:15 - 01:04:54:41
Speaker 5
Awesome. Thank you. Sheila, just.
01:04:54:46 - 01:05:31:01Speaker 5
Just want to summarize what I heard here, right. One was around
relationship building and having that strong network that you can
really lean on and rely upon, especially as you move throughout your,
your career. And that can be a very powerful thing. And then the
second key point, I also heard it was around really just understanding
where you can build up your skill sets, right, whether it's in
communication or in different area, but really knowing the gaps that
you have and really focusing in on it.
01:05:31:06 - 01:06:00:32
Speaker 5
And you know, throughout the the talk tonight, we really hit on three
key themes, right? One around confidence and making sure that you
really fully believe in yourself and what you're capable of, feeling
empowered to go and fight for yourself and to truly, you know, grab at
those opportunities in spite of what you may be hearing others say, to
you.
01:06:00:32 - 01:06:25:45
Speaker 5
Right. And then the last is be your be your strongest and best
advocate, because only you can be that person, right? To really
advocate for what you're looking for and driving towards. So I just
want to thank all of you guys for for the discussion tonight.
01:06:25:50 - 01:06:46:06
Speaker 5
So now I'd like to welcome up, Bright Brian Prudente, who's going to
introduce the next panel.
01:06:46:11 - 01:06:59:17
Speaker 3
Wendy, great job. That was we're going to need some lifting and
climbing to get over that bar. That was,
01:06:59:22 - 01:07:27:55
Speaker 3
I would say that, That was pretty inspiring and not just inspiring to
women. So you have a special talent of all three of you. So I think
you've inspired a lot of people. I want to make a couple of comments
just in general about, about this panel before I introduce them. We
have a group of people here that, are in positions of power.
01:07:27:55 - 01:08:15:39
Speaker 3
They have titles and obviously, they've had challenges to accomplish
what they've accomplished in their career. What they don't have is
they don't have the, shared challenge most of you in the audience
have. And because of that, they need to listen. And, when we were
preparing for this, it became pretty obvious that the key takeaway
from our panel that we hope we leave you with is that there are men
out there that are truly vested in, gender diversity and inclusion,
truly vested in closing that gender gap.They have titles and obviously, they've had challenges to accomplish
what they've accomplished in their career. What they don't have is
they don't have the, shared challenge most of you in the audience
have. And because of that, they need to listen. And, when we were
preparing for this, it became pretty obvious that the key takeaway
from our panel that we hope we leave you with is that there are men
out there that are truly vested in, gender diversity and inclusion,
truly vested in closing that gender gap.
01:08:15:44 - 01:08:43:29
Speaker 3
And there are people out there that will be your allies that are
willing to listen and are willing to act. So what you're going to
hear, for the next few minutes are some stories from people that have
been on that journey. Male allyship is a pretty complicated topic.
John and I talk about it a lot. I talked to a number of people in this
room a lot, and so we want to make sure that you understand that we're
here to learn from you and that you do have allies out there.
01:08:43:32 - 01:09:08:24
Speaker 3
So and I do a couple of introductions. Brian Prudente, run operations
and finance for a company. We have friend John Williams, CEO of Cordis
Engineering, with Dan Benson, CEO and co-founder of Terra Biosciences.
And we have Alex Holtmann, who's senior vice president of engineering
at Qualcomm. Alex, how long have you been at Qualcomm? 30 years.
01:09:08:28 - 01:09:34:23
Speaker 3
I feel like that is something like that. Okay, great. So I'm going to
jump right in. John, as CEO, of course, engineering. You oversee a
technical company. It's an engineering company with 160 ish employees,
probably over that now in California, Washington and Virginia. And
your workforce in that technical company is about 25% women, which is
better than the national average of 15%.
01:09:34:27 - 01:09:53:58
Speaker 3
And I know that you actively recruit, more women to join your team,
support the women that are already there. But you and I have often
talked about our successes and failures and our allyship journey. So
I'd like to ask you to comment on maybe some things you've learned. I
love to first some I mean, all of all the panelists.
01:09:53:58 - 01:10:19:43
Speaker 3
I really appreciate it. I did learn and I really did appreciate that.
And I'm grateful to be here. You know, you know, by the numbers,
different than all of Stem Engineering's lower. It's like 15% of, of
graduates are women. And so from that standpoint, we started with
equity. And we'll just be really fair and we'll hire women and it will
be great.
01:10:19:48 - 01:10:44:09Speaker 3
And then, yeah, it didn't work out right. So what we've started to see
was, when we started, we did an engagement surveys and we started
looking at our numbers of women in leadership. We found that women
were having a different experience at Cordis, and the men were. And
what we found was that being equal wasn't really equitable.
01:10:44:14 - 01:11:01:17
Speaker 3
You know, you have to account for where people are starting from, the
challenges they face. What are they up against, how is it different
for them? And by not doing that, we were actually putting a burden on
the women in our organization like, hey, why don't you want to get
into leadership? You know, like what on what's what's wrong with them?
01:11:01:22 - 01:11:22:59
Speaker 3
And when we started to talk about equity, you know, we really found a
different place that we needed to go, which was we needed to change
us. We needed to change, you know, things that we were doing. And so
that's what we did. We started to take a look at our policies on part
time work. We started to look at, how are we showing up?
01:11:22:59 - 01:11:50:42
Speaker 3
How are we building teams? How are we recruiting? And we also then
said, you know what? These challenges are immense. They're different.
Not just internally but externally. The bias, the caregiving load, the
other things that the men in engineering don't typically face. And so
we actually made a specific initiative called women at CU. And in that
we've partnered with Athena on leadership.
01:11:50:42 - 01:12:14:34
Speaker 3
We're trying new ways of, doing sponsorship. Really trying to change.
Now in the end, we want it to be a better place for everybody. We will
have more women in leadership. But most importantly, we'll keep
talking more about this later. We're going to have a better business
outcome because of that. So.
01:12:14:39 - 01:12:42:10
Speaker 3
Thank you. John. Dan, your company is a bit of an outlier. So you're
CEO and co-founder of Tire Biosciences, 50% workforce. Over the course
of just seven years, you've founded the company, built the company,
took it public, and you have write about a 5050 gender mix female. And
so how?
01:12:42:15 - 01:13:07:22
Speaker 3I, I suspect that you might have some insight about how that diversity
gave you a better business result. And I also will remind you, maybe
talk about diversity beyond just gender and how that impacts your
workforce. Yeah. Thank you. Super humbled to be here. We've been
partnered with Athena, Tara for a long time. We have Tyrion's here in
the audience.
01:13:07:22 - 01:13:30:57
Speaker 3
So appreciate you coming out. Yeah, we're at 50%. You know, at ten, we
looked at that number ten employees and we said, wow, we're like at
50%. Let's keep this going. I have to give credit to and I'll get to
your question in a second, but I'm just going to go, you've got the
mic, Dan, I have to give credit to, our founding board.
01:13:31:44 - 01:13:51:40
Speaker 3
Our board member, one of our first investors. His name is Bob Moore.
He knows him, of course. You know, he said, I'll come on your board
and I'll back to you and go build a syndicate of investors. But, but
I'm bringing I'm bringing a board member with me, and her name is Isla
Kaplan, and she's still our board member.
01:13:51:59 - 01:14:17:26
Speaker 3
She was the longest, standing board member at, Celgene. And she
brought instant diversity to our three person endeavor. And then he,
proceeded to introduce us to every woman venture capitalist in, the
northern hemisphere and sometimes the southern. And, we even, tricked
a few of those women into, investing in our company.
01:14:17:26 - 01:14:36:30
Speaker 3
And they are now still on our board. And, so I have to give credit to,
you know, the nucleus moment when we start a company to having great
board leadership to just kind of instill that into our DNA. How have
we.
01:14:36:35 - 01:15:03:44
Speaker 3
Yeah. And so we set out to start, to, solve really difficult
scientific problems. Goal to create small molecule drugs in oncology,
rare diseases. And they're really intensely hard competitive programs
to differentiate yourself within. So in order to be differentiated in
our products, I think my co-founder and I were really committed to
doing things completely differently.
01:15:03:50 - 01:15:29:55
Speaker 3
We threw the rulebook out the door. We did, you know, we instituted
certain, ways of operating that were not normal. But we really wanted
to commit to building a diverse workforce. And at first I was thinking
mostly about, diversity in, culture, origin, from whether you came
from a large company or a small company, an academic institution.We threw the rulebook out the door. We did, you know, we instituted
certain, ways of operating that were not normal. But we really wanted
to commit to building a diverse workforce. And at first I was thinking
mostly about, diversity in, culture, origin, from whether you came
from a large company or a small company, an academic institution.
01:15:30:00 - 01:15:54:58
Speaker 3
And, yeah, that, that. And then along the way, recognized that, hey,
we're doing pretty good on the on the gender parity. And let's keep
running that forward. As much as we can. Excellent. Thanks, Dan. Alex,
you lead an organization, a large company, and in, an industry that's
critical to close the gender gap in Stem.
01:15:56:02 - 01:16:16:27
Speaker 3
I personally spent a significant time in that industry in Silicon
Valley in the 90s, 2000. I know for how far it still has to go. What
are some of the unique challenges you face in your effort, and where
do you personally invest to make a change at Qualcomm? Yeah. So, I
have, I guess I have a new target 50%.
01:16:16:32 - 01:16:22:58
Speaker 3
That's very challenging, very challenging.
01:16:23:35 - 01:16:49:46
Speaker 3
I think in general, you know, the issue is the amount of graduates
that we get and the amount of women in the industry, I mean, not just,
women, but in general, the diverse group in our industry. We
obviously, you know, very technical, very Stem oriented. There are
some fields very, very difficult to find women, but these days, you
know, there's a lot more software, more, more diversity in software.
01:16:49:46 - 01:17:07:01
Speaker 3
There's a lot more diversity. There's a lot of people interested in
AI. There's a lot of interest in a lot of these careers that we're
finding a lot more talent. So investing early on in talent, even on
high schools, we will go to high schools, try to get women in Stem,
try to get minorities in Stem. So that's very important.
01:17:07:06 - 01:17:30:08
Speaker 3
After high school, of course, college, extreme, effort in trying to
hire diversity in college. You know, we participated in Grace Hopper.
We've been in these conferences where we try to get talent. And then
once you are in the company, obviously, how do you retain them? Right.
So try to make sure that once you're in the company, you know, I was
hearing the previous panels.01:17:30:08 - 01:17:58:24
Speaker 3
How do you make sure that, you know, you find leadership positions and
you keep the talent, right? So, so we have groups, you know, up and
everything, and Qualcomm has a Q so I am at the executive sponsor of
Latin Q, which is for Hispanics. We also have a Q women group. So
there's groups like this where, you know, we it's an opportunity for
people to access some of the leadership to make sure that there's
connections, there's networking.
01:17:58:24 - 01:18:16:49
Speaker 3
So it's it goes at all levels very difficult and quite challenging to,
to, to hit some of these numbers. But, we do our best and, I'll be
collecting resumes after that month. Excellent. Thanks, Alex.
01:18:16:54 - 01:18:42:33
Speaker 3
So what I talked about earlier was that we're here to. Listen, John, I
know that's, it's a big part of what you do. And your leadership style
is listening. Can you tell, the audience a little bit about your
values and how that drives your involvement? Yeah. So when it comes
to, male allyship, I think that there's really three values that I
really tap into a lot.
01:18:42:33 - 01:19:09:22
Speaker 3
It's, empathy, inclusion, and empowerment. And they all stem from
personal journey. So for me, the most influential is, my partner
Tracy, as a black woman. And at the time when I met her engineer, I
had my eyes open. And that was through active listening, which is
easier when you love somebody and you care about them.
01:19:09:22 - 01:19:42:08
Speaker 3
You can listen in a way that taught me how to listen to a lot more
people. You know, I needed to really, because I didn't have the shared
experience. I had to, you know, have that empathy come through that
active listening. So that was really empowering. And now we have three
beautiful children. You know, a young woman, son on the autism
spectrum and a nonbinary adult and, you know, I'm sorry I choked up a
little bit.
01:19:44:12 - 01:19:59:17
Speaker 3
I want to create a world where they don't have to suffer those biases
and the prejudices. And I want to.
01:19:59:22 - 01:20:29:09Speaker 3
And to do that, I have to take action. And I have to use my position
and my power to so they can be their best and most authentic selves.
And I can create that environment. And that's going to come not only
because we create, diverse environments, but inclusive, where we
invite people in, we're active about it. And I also know that when
I've done that with multinational groups across many, many
organizations delivering products, they were more innovative, they
were better, and so on.
01:20:29:09 - 01:20:52:44
Speaker 3
And when it comes to empowerment, I think one of the traps we often
find fall into is that we say, hey, you're empowered, but you're
empowered. But the challenge with that is real empowerment means that
we're going to advocate to tear down the biases and the challenges and
the obstacles so that somebody can actually show up and be themselves
and be empowered.
01:20:52:44 - 01:21:08:15
Speaker 3
And that means we together, all of us, dismantle those, lift everybody
up in the process, and we really find real empowerment out of that.
01:21:08:19 - 01:21:43:04
Speaker 3
Thank you. John, can I get can I work at your company? A little Q and
said, A you sure? John's also accepting resumes. Dan, why did you
agree to participate in this event? What drives you? Great question.
I, like all of us engineering Stem folks. I'm a lifelong learner. I
think it's I have a little bit of imposter syndrome about my allyship.
01:21:43:04 - 01:22:04:49
Speaker 3
It's a continuous, you know, check in with myself. My wife certainly
checks in for me. She tells me what I can't say anymore because of
something that happened last week. And and I like it. She keeps me on
the straight, narrow. But I think coming and and just checking in. And
this is incredible what you've brought together.
01:22:06:42 - 01:22:30:45
Speaker 3
And so, yeah, just coming here and doing kind of, you know, how could
you, a global summit of women in Stem, or a leader in a company that
prides itself on diversity, and inclusivity? How could you not want to
come and just check in?
01:22:30:50 - 01:23:23:08
Speaker 3
Then I have a my spouse is one of my my, inspirations for investing in
this as well. And I have a similar, experience on a regular basis.
Brian. Never do that again. Yeah. Alex, how do you as your email ally,
as your, lifting and helping the, women that work in your
organization? How do you handle criticism that your virtue signaling,
or that your efforts are hollow or, how do you handle those criticisms
and how do you counter that when you, when when you encounter that
from other people as I'm sure you do?Then I have a my spouse is one of my my, inspirations for investing in
this as well. And I have a similar, experience on a regular basis.
Brian. Never do that again. Yeah. Alex, how do you as your email ally,
as your, lifting and helping the, women that work in your
organization? How do you handle criticism that your virtue signaling,
or that your efforts are hollow or, how do you handle those criticisms
and how do you counter that when you, when when you encounter that
from other people, as I'm sure you do?
01:23:23:13 - 01:23:48:56
Speaker 3
Yeah, that's a good question. You know, personally, I haven't heard
that criticism. We try to avoid it as much as possible. We actually
try to, act on it. But even, you know, from early on in the company,
there's there's been, amazing diversity, really surprising, and there
has been incredible, you know, contributions from women in the
company.
01:23:48:56 - 01:24:13:32
Speaker 3
And I'll give you a tip that you may not know, one of the most
prolific, if not the most prolific inventor, a Qualcomm is a woman.
It's unbelievable. Thousands of patents. So there's always been a, you
know, an extreme, you know, adoption of that and saying, hey,
diversity drives innovation. You know, I know we see it all the time.
01:24:13:32 - 01:24:36:27
Speaker 3
You know, Qualcomm needs to thrive on ovation. And we see that we hear
these different perspectives. You're in meetings. You're
brainstorming. There's always different perspectives. And we always
see that drives in. So it's been really found in the company. And I'm
very happy. You know we have a very diverse team. Excellent.
01:24:36:32 - 01:24:56:36
Speaker 3
Well, I just wanted, to to wrap up this point with a couple of
comments. Again, I said it earlier, there allies out there. There are
certainly people that aren't allies, aren't advocates, but I bet
there's just as many or more that are. And they want to help. They
won't always get it right, and they need to learn from you.
01:24:56:36 - 01:25:14:59
Speaker 3
They don't. They have not experienced some of the unique challenges
that you face. So and it doesn't matter at what level it's you have
four people on the stage right here in positions of power that want to
hear from you. They want an out. They want to know how to do better.
They want to know how to help.
01:25:15:04 - 01:25:30:02Speaker 3
So I encourage you to do that. And I tell you what, I'm I'm inspired
by the prior panels as well. I think this is a this would be just as
good an event for a bunch of men as it would be for, for Athena.
01:25:30:07 - 01:25:38:43
Speaker 3
And with that, I'd like to invite Holly up to bring us. So you guys
stay. You guys need to stay.
01:25:38:48 - 01:25:48:10
Speaker 2
Thank you. No, I'm all set. Thank you so much. Let's give a big round
of applause for our modern allies.
01:25:48:15 - 01:26:21:36
Speaker 2
And you know, as I listen to the humility that was on display on the
stage, and I think about the pride and the innovation that these three
allies or allies helped showcase, I actually envision one day, and I
would like to think it's sooner rather than later when we actually are
filled at this auditorium or whatever stadium or whatever venue that
we happen to host Global Summit, that there are more men, and I'm
excited that we have 15% of Athena's membership portfolio are
comprised of male allies.
01:26:21:36 - 01:26:49:24
Speaker 2
This is a new endeavor for us. This happened a couple of years ago,
shortly after the murder of George Floyd, and we all got to look at
ourselves and say, really? Is this where we are as a society? I think
we can do better. I think we should do better. And that was a call to
action for Athena at that time, celebrating our 20th anniversary, that
we wanted to be more inclusive and we wanted to bring more male allies
into the conversation and into the organization.
01:26:49:28 - 01:27:14:07
Speaker 2
And obviously, these men who have taken the stage to more importantly,
be a part of the movement. And in addition to that expansion and our
business model, Athena is we also opened up our portfolio to include
university students and middle school and high school students. Right.
So this has just been an amazing, amazing journey of expand, open and
opportunity.
01:27:14:12 - 01:27:34:35
Speaker 2
And I will tell you that Barbara Bray, the founder of this
organization, 26 years ago, it was a couple of women that were running
biotech and tech companies, and they were all executives. And they
said, you know, there's not a whole lot of us around, and we're in
this biotech hub, we're in this tech hub. And we had to try to solve
for that problem.And I will tell you that Barbara Bray, the founder of this
organization, 26 years ago, it was a couple of women that were running
biotech and tech companies, and they were all executives. And they
said, you know, there's not a whole lot of us around, and we're in
this biotech hub, we're in this tech hub. And we had to try to solve
for that problem.
01:27:34:40 - 01:28:02:44
Speaker 2
And that, in fact, was the genesis of Athena. And it's just been an
incredible journey to go from an executive women organization to all
professional women to male allies and then university and middle
school students. This is what a movement looks like. And it's not
about a vertical or a segment or any of these special affinity groups.
It's about the whole.
01:28:02:49 - 01:28:28:46
Speaker 2
And so I really am grateful that you are here today to give an
audience and to give your participation in this launch. And it is not
an endeavor that we take lightly. I can promise you that, because I
think I heard Sarah say, who am I to do this? Who am I to wait five
years? And then she's like, wait a minute, I'm not going to wait, wait
five years.
01:28:28:51 - 01:28:47:45
Speaker 2
And the same question that we ask ourselves at Team Athena and on our
board of directors, who are we to go global? I think you said it
really nicely. Like, who are we not to go? And I think when you said,
hey, why are you on this stage? Why are you on this conference? You're
like, why am I not at this conference?
01:28:47:49 - 01:29:14:47
Speaker 2
And I want you to really think about what we heard, because we had a
great deal of humility on this stage, and it just makes me feel so
alive. And we had a lot of ambition on display from our aspiring
leaders. And that just light my fire. And obviously we have the
examples and the executive women that are leading the way and lifting
up other women that are coming right behind them.
01:29:14:51 - 01:29:45:14
Speaker 2
So think about your role in this movement. I really hope you take this
to heart, because this is not this is not a one big, huge event at San
Diego State University. This is one in a fury of events. And we want
you to participate, and we want you to take pride in being a part of
this. I said to you at the beginning of tonight's production
introductory remarks that we're onto something huge and we have had
this power the entire time.
01:29:45:18 - 01:30:12:41Speaker 2
It's just when we actually bring the community together and we realize
we've had this power the entire time. And so I want to wrap up this
global summit with all of you. And we asked you you walked into our
summit to look up on the big screen and go into all of the people and
the champions and the supporters and the advocates that have supported
you.
01:30:12:46 - 01:30:49:25
Speaker 2
And so our final reveal all evening, you have shared the names. I see
some people pointing. You have shared the names of mentors and
advocates and champions who have lifted you up, who are lifting you up
and really strengthening this community inside our global Stem hub.
And I'm here to tell you, even though there are only one and four Stem
jobs that are held by women today, please now draw your confidence in
the same way that I do and draw your inspiration in the same way that
I do that our future is brighter because we are organized.
01:30:49:30 - 01:31:08:56
Speaker 2
And I'm here to tell you what excites me more than anything about this
vision is the fact that we have this multi generational alliance
gathered. Focus, excited. Are we excited?
01:31:09:01 - 01:31:35:38
Speaker 2
And together we're unlocking the potential to bridge these gaps. And
really to tell the people at the World Economic Forum and the National
Academy of Sciences, we have this vast, untapped, untapped talent pool
that is waiting to be honored to be invited to come in and actually
contribute to all of the challenges that we face. And that can largely
be solved in the world of Stem.
01:31:35:43 - 01:31:59:44
Speaker 2
So I'm here to tell you create a little bit of sense of urgency that
the clock is ticking and the need for more Stem talent is urgent as
ever. And then when it's organized, we understand the possibilities
and the power are ours, and we are built for this. Can I get an amen?
01:31:59:49 - 01:32:04:24
Unknown
We are down for this. We and.
01:32:04:24 - 01:32:23:10
Speaker 2
Never forget. Where there is community, there is power. And I am so
honored to have all of you come here tonight to make sure that we are
doing everything we can to be lifelong students and to never, ever,
ever forget the power of our community. So thank you so much for for
joining our global Summit.Never forget. Where there is community, there is power. And I am so
honored to have all of you come here tonight to make sure that we are
doing everything we can to be lifelong students and to never, ever,
ever forget the power of our community. So thank you so much for for
joining our global Summit.
01:32:23:24 - 01:32:28:16
Unknown
And thank you all. Thank you.
01:32:28:21 - 01:32:32:13
Unknown
All the baby.
01:32:32:18 - 01:32:32:34
Speaker 1
Thank you.
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