Colleen works with the faculty leadership of the Gender Initiative to support a research community and a platform for disseminating practice-relevant insights for advancing equity, diversity, and inclusion in organizations. She oversees the Initiative’s staff, operations, and activities, including student and alumni engagement, programs for companies, and research conferences. She is a member of the Life & Leadership After HBS research team, an ongoing longitudinal study of Harvard Business School alumni which examines the influence of gender and race on their life and career outcomes. She has authored various teaching materials and articles and is currently at work on a book manuscript about gender and career in the 21st century.
Katherine Andersen, Forum HostHead of Healthcare Corporate Finance and East / Central Life Science, Silicon Valley Bank
Katherine Andersen is a senior market manager covering Healthcare Corporate Finance in the U.S. in addition to the East and Central regions for SVB’s national Life Science practice. Prior to SVB, Katherine was a Senior Vice President for Wells Fargo Bank leading the Life Sciences business development and relationship management efforts for the New England region. Before that, she was a Director at Wells Fargo Capital Finance focused on front-end business development and underwriting of structured loans, ultimately totaling over $3.0B in commitments. Prior to Wells, she held various positions across mergers and acquisitions, finance, equity derivatives, audit, and management while at Affiliated Managers Group, Merrill Lynch, GE Corporate Audit Staff and GE Capital.
Katherine has a bachelor’s degree in finance and economics from Virginia Tech. She has also completed Dartmouth’s Tuck Executive Leadership and Strategic Impact Program, Wells Fargo’s Transformational Leadership Program, the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School and the GE Capital Financial Management Program.
Andrea Armstrong joined Atlas in 2018 and serves as chief talent officer. Her focus is on identifying, developing, coaching and building the pipeline of senior talent for Atlas’ seed and portfolio companies.
Andrea has a demonstrated history of working in the biotechnology industry where she is skilled in biotech recruiting, professional development, executive coaching, strategic organizational development planning, and management. Previously she served as chief administrative officer at C4 Therapeutics, Inc., where she was responsible for human resources, talent acquisition, facilities, IT, lab operations, contracts, IP, and administration for over 2 years. She led the recruitment of 64 C4T employees and had overall responsibility for the new facility completion in Watertown. Prior to that, Andrea was chief human resources officer and vice president of administration at the New York Genome Center for 2 1/2 years where she hired over 125 people and oversaw enterprise computing, facilities, EHS, office administration and all human resources and recruiting activities. Earlier in her career Andrea led recruiting for Infinity Pharmaceuticals and was vice president at D.P. Parker and Associates, a boutique executive search firm, where she specialized in life sciences senior recruitment.
Andrea has a bachelor’s degree from Tufts University in international relations and a master’s degree in energy and environmental studies from Boston University. Outside the office, Andrea enjoys tennis, wine tasting and traveling with her husband and two children.
Leslie Brunner joined Devoted as the Chief People Officer in the fall of 2017. Prior to Devoted, Leslie was the President of MiniLuxe from 2016-2017. Leslie spent 17 years (1998-2015) at Athenahealth in a variety of senior leadership roles, serving as the Chief People Officer for the last 7 years.
Courtney Karnes is the director of SVB’s Access to Innovation program, an initiative aimed to transform lives through creating opportunities in the innovation economy. With a deep passion for mission-driven work, Courtney thrives on assisting multiple stakeholders for the betterment of all. She benefits her community by helping underserved and underrepresented groups find paths to success in the tech industry, and in doing so, expanding pools of talent available to SVB as well as the clients they serve.
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 developmentand culture transformation. During this time, she was often inspired by therapeutic advancements in cancer research; now, she finds it extremely gratifying that her work could potentially help discover and mentor the next generation of game-changers in the field. Courtney holds a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of California, Davis.
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
David Sabow is the head of Silicon Valley Bank’s life science and healthcare practice, client funds and products. He manages deal teams across the country, drives the sales and marketing strategy, assists with the structuring of complex credits and presents regularly at global industry conferences. With more than 15 years of life science and healthcare finance experience, David’s background includes structuring senior and subordinated debt, IPOs, follow-on offerings, mergers & acquisitions and strategic advisory roles across the sector.
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.
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.
Minita Shah-Mara is an experienced diversity and inclusion professional who spent a decade in the legal industry, prior to joining Biogen in 2015, where she attained industry recognition by both Mass Lawyers Weekly and the Massachusetts Bar Association for her work.
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 NorthernCalifornia, and heading the Diversity and Inclusion functions for two AmLaw100 law firms. Prior to that, Minita worked as a clinical social worker working with adolescents to overcome multiple and simultaneous challenges, including homelessness, economic disadvantage, mental health and cognitive disabilities, and histories of significant trauma and loss. Minita received a master's degree in clinical social work from Boston University and an MBA from Babson College. Minita sits on Bentley University's Business Advisory Council, is a Board member of ATASK, the Asian task force against domestic violence, and coaches students as a part of Babson College's Coaching for Leadership Program.
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
Paris Wallace is CEO of Ovia Health, the leading maternity and family benefits solution for employers and health plans. Ovia Health's benefits help women and parents grow their families and their careers, while reducing healthcare costs, improving clinical outcomes, and helping employers retain and attract talent. Since launching in 2012, Ovia Health has supported over 10 million people and is the #1 health app for women and families.
Prior to Ovia Health, Paris co-founded Good Start Genetics, a genomics technology company focused on fertility and reproductive health, which was acquired byInvitae in 2017. He also worked in the asset management division at Goldman Sachs, and consulted for A.T. Kearney. He co-founded and ran the Harvard Business School Alumni Angels Association, and he is a mentor at Techstars Boston.
Paris attended Harvard Business School, Harvard Kennedy School, and Amherst College.
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 |
 |
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 |
 |
|
 |
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
