Debra Goldfarb is Vice President of STG MI and Strategy Systems and Technology Group at IBM Corporation. Debra joined IBM in 2003 as the VP of Strategy and Products for the Deep Computing Division, after spending nearly 16 years with IDC as Group Vice President for Systems, Workstations and High-Performance Systems, Channels, and Life Sciences.
In September 2004, Debra was named Vice President of STG MI and Strategy where she is responsible for driving the STG strategic agenda as well as aligning MI functions with core strategic priorities.
Janice Bourque is Senior Vice President and Group Head-Life Sciences for Comerica Bank. Formerly, Ms. Bourque was President/CEO of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council (MBC) where she led the organization for 12 years. Under her leadership, the MBC membership grew from 80 to over 400 organizations with revenue increasing from $500,000 to over $4.1 million. Ms. Bourque created multiple services, policy initiatives and the Education Foundation (MassBioEd) that focused on science education, workforce training and public awareness. Under Ms. Bourque's tenure, the MassBiotech 2010 was released which provided a blueprint for Massachusetts to remain at the forefront of the biotechnology revolution.
Ms. Bourque has held several previous senior managerial positions, including CFO of Cambridge Medical Technology Corporation, senior public accountant for Coopers & Lybrand Emerging and Middle Market Group, and as a NASA Space Science grant project manager for the first satellite payloads to be repaired by the space shuttle missions.
Ms. Bourque was a member of Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney's Transition Team. She is currently a Board of Director of the Boston History Collaborative and Chair of the Board of the Women Entrepreneurs in Science & Technology (WEST). In 2004, she was awarded the Woman of Valor Award by the American Diabetes Association and the 2004 Distinguished Leadership Award by the Huntington Disease Society for her work in public policy and public health. In 2003, Boston Magazine named her one of Boston's 100 most influential women and the Cambridge Chamber Commerce awarded her Business Person of the Year. Ms. Bourque received her MBA degree in finance and accounting and her BS degree in veterinary science from the University of New Hampshire.
Pat Granahan joined the Fish & Neave IP Group of Ropes & Gray as a partner in 2001. Pat's practice includes patent application drafting and prosecution, technology licensing, and providing patentability, patent validity and non-infringement assessments in a wide variety of scientific disciplines, and especially biotechnology and chemistry. Pat has been in practice since 1983 and during that time, has worked with many non-profit academic and research institutes, as well as companies ranging in size from small startups to large multinational businesses, particularly in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries. Pat is Patent Counsel at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research and will continue in this role. Prior to joining the Firm, she was a partner of Hamilton, Brook, Smith, and Reynolds.
Joy Higa is Vice President, Health Care Reform at United Healthcare where she manages federal health reform policy and implementation.
She previously served as deputy chief of staff to the California State Controller from 2004 to 2006 and chief deputy cabinet secretary in the Office of the Governor during 2003.
Joy Higa received her bachelor of arts degree from Cornell University.
Sharee Umpierre is an Associate Professor at the University of Puerto Rico's Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. She has served as Director of the Division of Gynecologic Oncology of the University of Puerto Rico's School of Medicine since 1993. Sharee Umpierre received her BA in Chemistry from Cornell University and her MD from Harvard.
Vivian Schiller is the former president and CEO of National Public Radio, and former head of news and journalism partnerships at Twitter. She is also the former senior vice president and chief digital officer for NBC News, including oversight of NBCNews.com. Vivian Schiller graduated from Cornell University with a Bachelor's degree in Russian studies and Soviet studies, and a has Master's degree in Russian from Middlebury College.
In 2010, Nicole Cramer joined McCann Worldgroup as global chief of staff-charged with organizing a sandstorm of key initiatives and strategic imperatives into a highly organized, action-oriented sand castle. In the fall of 2011, she switched focus to serve as McCann's global chief creativity catalyst, responsible for developing the network's creative excellence initiatives as well as launching and subsequently managing the global Creative Leadership Collective. After several years in roles in the entertainment and finance industries, Nicole was recruited back to her roots in marketing and into a global training and development role at DDB Worldwide Communications. She then moved to J. Walter Thompson (JWT) in roles including chief of staff for North America and later as director of the worldwide creative council - spearheading global creative projects as well as the agency's global creative assessment and development programs. Nicole Cramer holds a B.S. in Communication from Cornell University and is a graduate of Mannes College of Music and the United Nations International School. An entrepreneur, Nicole is also the managing partner of Cramer Consultants and the founder of NicNic Productions, a theatre production and training program.
Natalie Grillon is the Co-founder and COO at JUST. JUST promotes transparency in fashion supply chains by connecting designers and consumers to ethical suppliers. Natalie has worked with the Peace Corps in Northern Mali as a Natural Resource Management Specialist. She also worked in environmental and sustainability planning for a Massachusetts town government and in sustainability strategy and marketing at SC Johnson. Natalie Grillon holds a B.S. in International Politics from Georgetown University, and an M.B.A. from Cornell University.
Erin O'Connor is a Partner with Cammack Health (formerly Cammack LaRhette). Erin has helped evolve the company's hospital centric services to expand beyond traditional employee benefits by developing strategic partnerships with clients who are migrating to population health management. She works with industry leaders, clients and partners to develop best practices for accountable care.
Erin has 25 years of experience in human resources and health care operations. Prior to joining Cammack Health, she was the chief HR executive at two large healthcare organizations for over seven years, one of which operated several health plans.
Erin O'Connor is a graduate of Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations and Fordham University School of Law.