Inspiring Women in Business

inspiring women
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Carey Connect, the Johns Hopkins Alumni Association, and Hopkins Biotech Network are hosting an Inspiring Women in Business speaker panel. Please join us to hear from women leaders in Biotech, Health Administration, Education, and Consulting. After the panelists share their experiences there will be a networking event with lite fare and beverages.

Panelists
Cherie Butts Cherié Butts, PhD is Associate Director of Program Leadership at Biogen (Cambridge, MA). She obtained undergraduate and graduate degrees from The Johns Hopkins University.  Her pre-doctoral studies characterized dendritic cell-mediated anti-tumor immune responses in ovarian cancer patients. To better understand the role of endocrine factors in regulating immune responses, she conducted postdoctoral studies at the National Institutes of Health and continued this work at the US Food & Drug Administration, taking on additional responsibilities of evaluating drug and biologics applications.  She moved into a project management role in Immunology at Biogen, leading multi-disciplinary teams to establish key questions, Go/NoGo decisions, and effective strategies for moving programs forward. Her role was expanded, and she currently manages preclinical and clinical programs across all therapeutic areas. She is passionate about ensuring individuals from all backgrounds contribute to the furtherance of biomedical research and works with several professional societies (American Association of Immunologists, The Endocrine Society, Society of Leukocyte Biology), scientific and professional development organizations (Keystone Symposia, Biomedical Science Careers Program, The Partnership), and biomedical research institutions (Dana-Farber Cancer Institute) to do so. She also currently serves on the Board of Overseers and Research Oversight Committee of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.   
Tara Gallant

Tara Gallant has over twenty years’ experience working in several industries growing revenue, market share and raising capital.  With a background in strategic planning, Tara takes a holistic approach to expanding a business footprint while maintaining targeted profit margins.  “My philosophy for growing a business is to grow revenues without sacrificing operations.  Accomplishing a balance between operations objectives and sales goals will result in sustainable profit growth” said Tara.  From television to engineering to health care and currently the education industry, Tara has leveraged experience and her education to establish a successful record in all of these industries. She recently developed a proprietary technology focused on the education market and started her own education technology business, Mandrel.  Mandrel has expanded from an idea to active customers and will be adding new customers in 2017.

Tara is the principal owner of Mandrel, the producer of easy to use course organizing tools that save time. Tara is married to Stephen Gallant and together they have five children; Rob, Erin, Taylor, Rachel and Noah.  They currently live in Connecticut and enjoy traveling and home renovation projects.
Jessica Jeang

Jessica Jeang is a Senior Consultant at Sage Growth Partners (SGP), an integrated healthcare-specific research, marketing, operations, and strategy consulting firm in Baltimore, Maryland. With an interdisciplinary background in research, marketing, and finance, Ms. Jeang is recognized as a trusted advisor to healthcare-focused businesses and investors. At SGP, Ms. Jeang has developed go-to-market strategies in the healthcare industry for Fortune 500 corporations and venture-funded startups alike.

Ms. Jeang holds a Master of Science in Finance degree, a Graduate Certificate in Investments, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science with a minor in Philosophy from The Johns Hopkins University. She studied International Business and Comparative Politics at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan, Italy, and holds numerous professional certificates pertaining to healthcare management and research management from The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Lili Portilla

Lili Portilla, MPA has worked in the area of strategic alliances at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), since 1989.  She has extensive experience in negotiating and developing commercialization strategies for complex, and multi-party collaborations and public private partnerships.  Since December of 2011, Lili has been serving as the Director of Strategic Alliances at the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) at the NIH.  NCATS is the newest Center at the NIH.  She oversees the Center’s partnership, strategic alliance, and technology transfer functions as well as the NCATS Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Technology Transfer Research grant and contract program.

Prior to NCATS, Ms. Portilla was Senior Advisor to the Director of the National Center for Research Resources and as the Director of the National, Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, Office of Technology Transfer and Development.  Ms. Portilla has also published several papers on pubic private partnerships.  Lili is an Ex-Officio Board Member of the University Industry Demonstration Project of the National Academies.  She also serves as a Board Member of the University of Kansas, Institute for Advancing Medical Innovation.  She received a Masters in Public Administration in 1992 from American University and a Bachelor in Business Administration, double major in both Finance and Spanish Literature in 1986 from Stephen F. Austin State University.

Valerie Suslow Valerie Y. Suslow, PhD (Economics, Stanford University) joined the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School in August 2015 as Professor and Vice Dean for Faculty & Research. Previously, Suslow was senior associate dean for MBA Programs at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan, where she was also professor of Business Economics and Public Policy, and the Louis and Myrtle Moskowitz Research Professor of Business and Law. Before becoming senior associate dean, she held a number of leadership positions with the Ross School faculty. Her research is focused on the economics of explicit price-fixing and cartel operations, specifically the determinants of cartel duration and how organizational features of cartels contribute to their stability. She has authored numerous articles and book chapters and her research has been published in journals including the Antitrust Law Journal, International Journal of Industrial Organization, Journal of Economic Literature, and Journal of Law and Economics. Suslow is a senior editor of the Antitrust Law Journal. At the Ross School, she taught Applied Microeconomics in the MBA, Executive MBA, MS Entrepreneurship, MS Supply Chain programs, as well as an MBA elective on Competitive Tactics and Antitrust Policy. At Carey, she has taught Economics for Decision-Making in the MS Finance program. Her awards from the Ross School include the Victor L. Bernard Faculty Award for Leadership in Teaching and the Andy Andrews Distinguished Service Award.
Moderator
Kathy Bovard

Kathy Bovard has 30 years of experience as a career coach/counselor, administrator, faculty member, and consultant in higher education. She currently serves as the Director of the Coaching and Education team in the Career Development Office at the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School. She has also served in leadership positions at the Johns Hopkins University School of Continuing Studies and the School of Professional Studies in Business and Education, McDaniel College, and in professional associations in the career development field. Kathy is a skilled facilitator and is committed to helping individuals maximize their potential and succeed in their careers. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from Dickinson College, and her Master’s degree and Advanced Graduate Specialist Diploma in counseling from the University of Maryland at College Park. Kathy is a licensed clinical professional counselor (LCPC) in Maryland and a Certified University Career Coach by The Academies.