BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The second annual Liftstream diversity conference will take place on September 15th 2016 in Cambridge, Massachusetts at the headquarters of global biotech firm Biogen. Over 250 executives from the life sciences and investment industries will attend this forum of keynote speakers, panel sessions and roundtables aimed at addressing the sector’s executive diversity. The event titled; The Board Meeting on Biotech Boardroom Diversity, is produced by Liftstream in collaboration with partner Biogen, and will bring together industry leaders to target practical approaches to increase diversity at the C-suite and Board level.
“After the success of last year’s gender diversity leadership forum, Liftstream is pleased to partner once again with Biogen to host our annual diversity conference for the biotech sector.” said Karl Simpson, founder of Liftstream. “I am proud of Liftstream’s international leadership on this issue and how we’ve managed to transfer our expertise and research into action with key industry stakeholders.”
Javier Barrientos, Senior Director of Global Diversity and Inclusion at Biogen said “It takes a multi-stakeholder approach to fully harness the power of diversity for our industry, in the boardroom, and beyond. So, we are thrilled to welcome back, a uniquely qualified set of leaders, thinkers and game changers, who are certain to re-examine opportunities and challenge us to push forward. Inclusion is a Biogen driver and on September 15th, all who share in this drive will find plenty of fuel to go on.”
The event will feature prominent leaders from across the biotech and investment sectors with substantial expertise of diverse business cultures:
- Deborah Dunsire - former President and CEO, FORUM Pharmaceuticals Inc.
- Jeremy Levin – Chairman and CEO, Ovid Therapeutics Inc.
- Michael Bonney – former Partner, Third Rock Ventures and Chairman, Alnylam
- Meredith Miller – Chief Corporate Governance Officer, UAW Retiree Medical Benefits Trust
- Chris Viebacher – Managing Partner, Gurnet Point Capital
- Kathleen Behrens Wilsey – Chairwoman, Sarepta Therapeutics Inc.
- John Cox – CEO, Biogen Hemophilia
- Kiersten Salander Barnet – Deputy Chief of Staff to Chairman, Bloomberg LP
- Professor Roberto M. Fernandez – Professor of Management, MIT Sloan
“This year’s event will introduce a new and exciting format that will encourage a rigorous debate of the topic and generate practical actions or initiatives which have the potential to change the face of corporate boards throughout biotech” Simpson added.
One such initiative the event will feature is the Women in Bio ‘Boardroom Ready’ program, which was established following last year’s event and which adopts the successful ‘Raising the Bar’ program from Biogen.
“The Women in Bio program is an excellent approach to improve the preparedness of executives to serve corporate boards and builds upon a very successful blueprint developed by Biogen over recent years.” said Simpson. “Liftstream is focused on tackling some of the industry’s systemic issues that we believe prevent greater diversification of executive committees and boards, but we fully support any approach which effectively heightens the vocational expertise of those wishing to serve on corporate boards.”
The event will showcase the first selected participants of the program.
Dawn Hocevar, President Elect of Women in Bio commented: “After years of the industry talking about the lack of women on corporate boards WIB decided to do something to tackle the common opinion that women did not have experience to sit on a board. Our Boardroom Ready program will take this perceived issue out of the equation. There are many women already qualified to sit on a board and WIB is giving them the opportunity to gain board experience with our Boardroom Ready program via George Washington University.
Simpson continued: “The issue of diversity has gained considerable attention this year in biotech and reminds us all how much more can be done to unify around the principle of building better businesses through diversified human capital. This event will bring together some of the industry’s thought-leaders to tackle this issue at the organisational level.”
Registration for the event: http://www.liftstream.com/boardstep.html
Event enquiries: diversity@liftstream.com
About Liftstream
Liftstream is an executive search recruitment practice focused exclusively on the global life sciences sector. Our clients benefit from the advanced sector knowledge we possess and the exceptional people we’re able to recruit for them into positions of leadership. Since 2003, Liftstream has been recruiting outstanding people to the unique and complex challenges of life sciences and who have contributed to innovative new treatments improving global health. Our client partnerships always focus on strengthening our clients’ teams. We achieve this through comprehensive searches and rigorous candidate assessments to identify and appoint the person most suited to our clients. Liftstream is committed to equal opportunities, diversity and inclusion. For more information about Liftstream, please visit www.liftstream.com.
SOURCE Liftstream Ltd.
