The Diversity & Inclusion Forum
We are delighted to invite you to join Silicon Valley Bank for The Diversity & Inclusion Forum: Perspectives & Possibilities for the Life Science Industry taking place in Boston on December 13 from 9 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
- Workforce & Workplace: Who we hire and how we hire matters. How do we ensure the processes we undertake to evaluate potential employees and where we go to recruit them is free of bias? Once we've hired great people, how do we continue to retain and develop them?
- Game Changers: What are the small changes we can make that collectively can have a big impact? Take ownership. How will you hold yourself accountable for positive change in the industry?
8:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. |
Registration & Networking Breakfast |
9:00 a.m. – 9:05 a.m. |
Welcome Remarks Katherine Andersen, Head of Healthcare Corporate Finance and East / Central Life Science, Silicon Valley Bank |
9:05 a.m. – 9:35 a.m. |
Fireside Chat with Saraswathy (Sara) Nochur Saraswathy (Sara) Nochur, CRO, Alnylam Dave Sabow, Head of Life Sciences, Products and Client Funds, Silicon Valley Bank |
9:35 a.m. – 10:15 a.m. |
Our Workforce & Workplace: Panel Discussion Paris Wallace, CEO & Co-Founder, Ovia Health Andrea Armstrong, CTO, Atlas Venture Minita Shah-Mara, Head of Global Diversity & Inclusion, Biogen Leslie Brunner, Chief People Officer, Devoted Health Moderator: Courtney Karnes, Director of Access to Innovation, Silicon Valley Bank |
10:15 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. |
Networking Break |
10:30 a.m. – 11:10 a.m. |
Game Changers Activations Table Activtation Discussion |
11:10 a.m. – 11:25 a.m. |
Break |
11:25 a.m. – 11:35 a.m. |
Game Changers Presentations |
11:35 a.m. – 12:05 p.m. |
Fireside Chat with Nagesh Mahanthappa, CEO & President, Scholar Rock Colleen Ammerman, Director of Gender Initiative, Harvard Business School |
12:05 p.m. – 12:10 p.m. |
Closing Remarks Katherine Andersen, Head of Healthcare Corporate Finance and East / Central Life Science, Silicon Valley Bank |
12:10 p.m.– 1:00 p.m. |
Networking Lunch |
Time | Event | Location |
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7:00 AM - 8:00 AM | Group Fitness - Tai Chi | Fenway Room / Lawn |
8:30 AM – 9:00 AM | Breakfast Buffet | Sea View Terrace |
9:00 AM – 11:30 AM | Content Sessions Keynote, breakouts, etc. |
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11:30 AM – 12:15 PM |
Free Time
Guests check-in, catch up on work, network
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12:30 PM – 4:30 PM | Activities 1. Golf 2. Fishing on the Bonita 3. Guided Kayak Tour |
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4:45 PM – 5:45 PM | Content and Retreat Wrap Heavy “snacks” available to-go for travelers |
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5:45 PM – 6:00 PM | Departures Shuttles depart for Westerly Train Station |

Head of Healthcare Corporate Finance and East / Central Life Science, Silicon Valley Bank
Courtney has a long-standing passion for building strategic partnerships that solve big problems. Prior to joining SVB in 2017, she spent her earlier career working in the nonprofit sector raising money to cure cancer. Serving the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, most recently as executive director of the Silicon Valley Chapter, she devoted her talents to major gifts fundraising, business development
Dr. Nagesh K. Mahanthappa is the founding employee of Scholar Rock and has served as a director and President and Chief Executive Officer since October 2012. Prior to Scholar Rock, from February 2007 to May 2012, Nagesh was a founding employee and Vice President, Corporate Development and Operations at Avila Therapeutics, Inc. (acquired by Celgene Corporation in March 2012). Previously, from August 2002 to February 2007, he served in roles of increasing responsibility at Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., most recently as Vice President, Scientific and Strategic Development. He was also a founder of TwistDx, Inc. a DNA diagnostics company acquired by Inverness Medical Innovations, Inc. in 2010 (now a division of Abbott). Nagesh received his Ph.D. in Neurobiology from the California Institute of
Dr. Saraswathy (Sara) Nochur joined Alnylam in 2006 as the Vice President of Regulatory Affairs, and also held roles as Program Leader for 2 late-stage programs. She was promoted to Senior Vice President in 2012, and also had Quality Assurance reporting to her. During her time at Alnylam, she has been instrumental in the clinical evaluation of a number of different
Dr. Nochur has been in the biotechnology industry since 1989. Prior to Alnylam, she held the position of Vice President, Regulatory Affairs at The Medicines Company. Before her 4 years there, Dr. Nochur served as Director, Product Development and Regulatory Affairs for CereMedix, Inc. She also held senior positions at BioTrack, Inc. Dr. Nochur started her career as a scientist at DynaGen, Inc., and worked on regulatory submissions for in vitro diagnostics as well as drugs, culminating in the role of Director, New Product Development. Dr. Nochur received her BS and MS degrees in Microbiology from the University of Bombay in India, and her
Prior to joining Silicon Valley Bank, David spent nine years in the life science investment banking practice at Canaccord Genuity, with responsibility for both domestic and international deals across the life science and healthcare spectrum, specializing in public financings and M&A transactions with an aggregate deal value in excess of $1 billion. Before Canaccord, David worked as a relationship manager with U.S. Bank.
David graduated with distinction from Santa Clara University, and recently completed the executive program at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business, focusing on Leadership and Strategic Impact. He lives in Needham, Massachusetts with his wife and three children.
At Biogen, Minita heads the Global Diversity and Inclusion Function. In this role, she brings a data-oriented and collaborative approach to partnering with business and HR Leads to further develop and execute the company’s workforce, workplace, patient and marketplace strategies around diversity and inclusion (D+I), with a focus of embedding D+I principles throughout the employee lifecycle. In addition to assuring a rich mix of talent within the Biogen community, the workforce D+I programs focus on leveraging the power of differences for business impact and innovation.
Before joining Biogen, Minita held positions of successive leadership, including heading the recruiting and development function at a mid-sized firm in Northern
Prior to Ovia Health, Paris co-founded Good Start Genetics, a genomics technology company focused on fertility and reproductive health, which was acquired by
Paris attended Harvard Business School, Harvard Kennedy School, and Amherst College.
Strategic Partners
BIO is the world's largest trade association representing biotechnology companies, academic institutions, state biotechnology centers |
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MassBio is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1985 that represents and provides services and support for the world’s leading life sciences supercluster. We are committed to advancing Massachusetts' leadership in the life sciences to grow the industry, add value to the |
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WEST is a learning community that provides women in the enterprise of science and technology with the inspiration, knowledge, and connections to reach their full potential. Launched in 2000, Boston-based WEST provides a powerful forum and supportive environment for early and mid-career women in the fields of science and technology. We provide our members and our broader community with a comprehensive portfolio of workshops and panels that include advice regarding career advancement, alternate career options, leadership skill building, and exposure to entrepreneurship. |
Location
Convene, 201 Washington St, Floor 2, Boston, MA 02108