To help MIT women thrive in their careers, the women of the MIT Club of Northern California are excited to launch the Women’s Career Series.  We're starting with a panel discussion on one of the most requested topics - Developing Executive Presence! Executive presence is frequently identified as a leadership trait that can make a key difference in progressing in one’s career. But what, exactly, is it—and how can you develop it? In this session, we’ll bring together a panel of accomplished MIT women to have an open, honest discussion on their own journeys to developing executive presence . They will share their personal experiences and challenges, strategies that worked for them, and resources that helped them along the way.

We hope you will join us to learn from each others’ experiences, forge new connections, and discuss the hard issues about developing and managing executive presence. Bring your questions for the Q&A session after the panel!

While this event will focus on executive presence for women, all are welcome to attend.

Speakers:

Grace Colón
Grace has over 25 years’ experience in biopharma, genomics, healthcare, and industrial biotechnology. She has held executive and management positions at Gilead, Affymetrix, Intrexon and McKinsey, and has been a partner at a venture capital firm and CEO, board member and/or advisor at several early-stage biotech companies. She has served on multiple boards (public, private and non-profit), and is a strong advocate of mentorship, diversity, and inclusion, and social entrepreneurship. She has a Ph.D. from MIT and a BS from Penn, both in chemical engineering. She lives with her husband and three kids in Los Gatos, CA.

Andrea Leszek
Andrea Leszek is the Chief Operating Officer for the Technology organization at Salesforce. She leads internal engineering operations and enablement including innovation programs, agile coaching, engineering training, recognition, diversity, and engineering marketing.  Andrea is also responsible for customer-facing technology communications, documentation, and in-app user assistance.  She is a founding member of Salesforce’s Women in Technology network, and is passionate about diversity in tech. She holds a B.S. and M.S. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Parul Somani
Parul is a storyteller and thought partner inspiring people to create their own silver linings. As the Founder & CEO of Silver Linings, Parul works with organizations to engage, educate, and empower their members to better navigate personal and professional uncertainty and challenges. As a cancer survivor, Parul also advocates for patient empowerment, the power of genomics, and healthcare transparency and access. Previously, Parul held a 15+ year career in leadership roles at start-ups and as a Manager at Bain & Company. Parul holds a B.S. in EECS with a Minor in Economics from MIT and an MBA from Harvard. More info at parulsomani.com.

Dingli Graham
Dingli heads New Island Capital’s liquid investment strategy as Principal, Liquid Assets.  She focuses on identifying and managing impact-aligned investments in the public markets and private shorter-duration credit markets.  Prior to that, she was a portfolio manager at ArrowMark, a $19B alternative asset manager.  As a buy-side investor for over fifteen years, she has invested in a wide array of asset classes, including public equities and credit, leveraged loans, structured products, and other alternative areas.  Dingli holds an MBA and BS from MIT and was named a Siebel Scholar in 2006.

MIT Alums:

Please make sure you are a current member of your local club before registering. If you are unsure please ask your club representative or if you would like to join MIT Club of Northern California, click here.