Leading for the
FUTURE
5th-9th April, 2021
gwaMIT Leadership Conference
Graduate womxn, we are all poised to be ‘Leading for the Future’! This year, gwaMIT’s Leadership Conference has events that will help you discover and hone the leader in you. We have a wide range of events in different disciplines that will take place from 5th April to 9th April.
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A schedule with conference events, details, and RSVP information can be found below. Hope to see you there! Our events are free of charge and open to the MIT public. Please use your MIT email to register. We are reimbursing up to $20 for the first 30 sign-ups for each event too!
Our Speakers
Dr. Maureen Reitman (PhD) is a Principal Engineer and the Vice President of the Polymers and Biomedical Group at Exponent, a multidisciplinary engineering and scientific consulting firm.
Dayang (Cindy) Wang
Dr. Wang (PhD) is an Environmental & Earth Sciences consultant at Exponent who uses her expertise in fluid mechanics to solve complex environmental problems involving contaminant fate and transport.
Dr. Lindsey Gilman (PhD. PE, CFEI), a thermal sciences consultant at Exponent, is a licensed professional mechanical engineer who specializes in the analysis of thermal (heat), flow, and transport processes.
Maria Zuber
Maria is the E. A. Griswold Professor of Geophysics and Vice President for Research at MIT where she is responsible for research administration and policy.
Dani has been a member of Process Chemistry and Enabling Technologies in Rahway, NJ and as of 2021 became the Director of the Discovery Process Chemistry group in Kenilworth, NJ.
Neetu Bhatia is the co-founder & CEO of Zoonga (f/k/a Kyazoonga). An investment banker turned entrepreneur, Neetu is credited with creating the professional entertainment and sports ticketing market in India.
Dr. Karen J. Murray, an Environmental & Earth Sciences consultant at Exponent, is an environmental chemist and microbiologist who investigates the fate and transport of contaminants such as petroleum, mercury, and other metals in environmental systems.
Duane de Four
Duane de Four is a scholar-educator with more than twenty-five years of experience facilitating workshops and developing curricula, strategic initiatives and policies focused on a variety of intersecting social justice issues.
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Margaret T. Fuller is a Professor in the Departments of Developmental Biology and Genetics at Stanford University School of Medicine and Reed-Hodgkins Professor of Human Biology at Stanford.
Dr. Karen Zheng is a Sloan School Career Development Professor and an Associate Professor of Operations Management at the MIT Sloan School of Management.
Dr. Katie Galloway is an Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering at MIT. Her research interests are in synthetic biology, cellular reprogramming, 3D genome organization & structure and oncogenesis & metastasis.
Schedule
Science for Policy:
Fireside chat with Dr. Maria Zuber
Mon 5th April
12:00pm - 1:00pm
Attend the Leadership Conference Keynote Session to hear directly from Dr. Maria Zuber, the first woman ever to lead a science department at MIT, the first to lead a NASA planetary mission, and the first to co-chair PCAST, on how science and policy can work together to inform decisions that affect society. Gain insights on how policy decisions are driven within MIT and how MIT can help shape policy related to research & development and education. This will also be a unique opportunity to hear from Dr. Zuber about her own successful career trajectory. Read her inspiring bio below and come with questions! We are providing up to $20 credit on GrubHub for the first 30 sign-ups
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Register here
Alumnae Panel: STEM Consulting at Exponent
Wed 7th April
12:00pm - 1:00pm
A panel/Q&A where four Exponent consultants who are MIT alumnae at various stages of their careers talk about their personal transitions from doctoral programs to consulting careers, developing leadership skills on their jobs as consultants, and taking leadership in the student-to-professional transition when starting a new job amid the pandemic.
Exponent is a leading engineering and scientific consulting firm that brings together more than 90 different disciplines to solve the most pressing and complicated challenges facing stakeholders today. Our vision is to engage the brightest scientists and engineers to empower clients with solutions for a safe, healthy, sustainable and technologically complex world. Hear first-hand from our panel of four Exponent Consultants about their personal transitions from doctoral programs to careers in consulting. We are providing up to $20 credit on GrubHub for the first 30 sign-ups
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Register here
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Graduate Womxn Networking + Conversations
Wed 7th April
5:00pm - 6:00pm
Join a safe (Zoom) space for meaningful conversations over dinner. We welcome you to turn on your cameras and microphones to make connections with other graduate womxn. The conversation will be moderated, with opportunities for breakout rooms. This event is organized by Graduate Womxn at MIT for fellow graduate womxn. We are providing up to $20 credit on GrubHub for the first 30 sign-ups
Register here
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Build Your Network
Thu 8th April
12:00pm - 1:00pm
Hear from Dani Schultz, Margaret T. Fuller and Neetu Bhatia on building your network of mentors and cheerleaders. We bring experts from three different walks of life - industry, academia and entrepreneurship - to share how networking played a role in their success. In this hour-long panel discussion our panellists will tell us about their journey and answer your questions about networking! We are providing up to $20 credit on GrubHub for the first 30 sign-ups
Register here.
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Building Healthy Workplaces
Thu 8th April
7:00pm - 8:00pm
Join gwaMIT and Healthy Masculinities to discuss the ways that workplace practices should change to reduce harms to womxn and other marginalized identities and the roles that men can play in bringing about these changes. We will hear practical tips from scholar and educator Duane de Four and discuss real-life scenarios in small interactive groups. Bring a friend, labmate, or partner -- men are especially welcome to attend! We are providing up to $20 credit on GrubHub for the first 30 sign-ups
Register here
Path to Professorship
Fri 9th April
12:00pm - 1:00pm
Hear from Professor Karen Zheng from Sloan and Professor Katie Galloway from ChemE on their path to professorship: how they built a career in academia, what they identify as unique challenges for womxn in this field, and how aspiring academics can find mentors, better network with their peers, manage their time, etc. In this hour-long panel discussion our panelists will share their experience getting “from here to there” and answer your questions about a career in academia! We are providing up to $20 credit on GrubHub for the first 30 sign-ups
Register here
About us
Graduate Womxn at MIT (gwaMIT) is an organization to support MIT graduate students seeking a space to talk about the experiences of being a woman and/or being coded as a woman, while acknowledging the diversity among people who have had these experiences. We use the term “womxn” to signify that gwaMIT is a space for anyone who identifies with this mission, which may include transgender women, cisgender women, non-binary people, and gender diverse people.
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In addition to our annual conferences, we host a mentoring program and a series of smaller workshops and focus groups throughout the year.
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Subscribe to our mailing list to stay up-to-date or visit us at our website. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the gwaMIT board at gwamit-exec@mit.edu.
