[gwaMIT] gwaMIT Newsletter, December 14th, 2020

Mon Dec 14 11:29:36 EST 2020

gwaMIT Newsletter

December 14th, 2020

gwaMIT's BLM Commitments - Update

As part of our commitments to the Black Lives Matter movement, we write with a brief update on our efforts from the Fall semester. We began the semester with a Board-internal reading and reflection on intersectional feminism (see a list of our reading materials here<https://gsc.mit.edu/gwamit/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/2020-gwaMIT%E2%80%99s-internal-Board-reflection-on-intersectional_white-feminism-Summer-2020-reading-list.pdf>). We began building contacts with inspiring Black womxn from a diverse set of backgrounds who we could invite to speak at future gwaMIT events. In collaboration with MIT Institutional Research, we have been analyzing existing survey data to investigate how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected womxn and underrepresented minorities, and are in the process of designing focus groups in order to gain a more granular understanding of how the intersection of gender and racial identities affects student experiences. We are also organizing a series of outreach events with Black Girls Code; stay tuned to learn how to get involved if you are interested!

Survey for Spring 2021 gwaMIT Leadership Conference
Please fill out this survey<https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfkoMpZaucUeu0TxiA3uveBgA37miX0QEsYiRN7HXqfbaa_ig/viewform?usp=sf_link> for gwaMIT's Spring 2021 Leadership Conference. We are interested to hear what kind of events would be most beneficial to our members.

Stay Tuned! gwaMIT Picture a Scientist Screening Coming Soon!

gwaMIT and the gwaMIT Mentoring Committee will be hosting a virtual screening of Picture a Scientist in early January. Stay tuned for more announcements!

About the film: PICTURE A SCIENTIST is a feature-length documentary film chronicling the groundswell of researchers who are writing a new chapter for women scientists. A biologist, a chemist and a geologist lead viewers on a journey deep into their own experiences in the sciences, overcoming brutal harassment, institutional discrimination, and years of subtle slights to revolutionize the culture of science. From cramped laboratories to spectacular field sites, we also encounter scientific luminaries who provide new perspectives on how to make science itself more diverse, equitable, and open to all.

Meet the Department Reps!

[cid:image001.jpg at 01D6D20C.66A3A710]Amrutha Killada/ IDM

Please tell us about your interests and work experience. I am currently in the Integrated Design Management program (IDM) at MIT. Previously I have worked in Pharmaceuticals and Management Consulting before IDM. As part of the program I am super excited to learn Human-centered design process and much more at MIT.

Who is your favorite womxn from history or the present times, and why? Indra Nooyi, who is currently serving on the board of directors for Amazon is my role model for womxn in leadership position. Her successful journey as a woman of color and as an  immigrant from India is extremely inspirational to me.

What do you like about being a gwaMIT Rep? gwaMIT provided me the opportunity to learn about  the important issues of the womxn in my program. During this semester I have enjoyed working with my Co-rep Angelica Chincaro and the broader graduate womxn network at MIT.

Did you know? Here is some womxn-related news from around the world:
Read this article<https://www-nbcnews-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.nbcnews.com/know-your-value/amp/ncna1249022> by NBC News on how to support womxn-owned businesses this holiday season!

Forbes just released its list: "The World's Most Powerful Women 2020<https://www.forbes.com/power-women/?utm_source=LINKEDIN_COMPANY&utm_medium=social&utm_content=4289559267&utm_campaign=sprinklrForbesMainLI#3448f2985e25>" - take a look at these amazing womxn if you're looking for some inspiration!

Read this article<https://www-latimes-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2020-11-24/mickey-guyton-grammys-history-black-woman-country-solo-performance?_amp=true> about Mickey Guyton, the first solo Black womxn to be nominated for a Grammy!

9 of NASA's Artemis team are womxn, which is one of the most diverse NASA teams in history! Their bios are included in the article<https://www.cbsnews.com/news/nasa-astronaut-artemis-program-first-woman-walk-moon-landing/#app>. The Artemis program will make history with the first womxn to walk on the moon!

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation just published an article<https://ww2.gatesfoundation.org/ideas/articles/women-in-media-report/?utm_source=MG&utm_medium=LI> about the lack of female voices in journalism. Read more about the far-reaching effects of this underrepresentation.

Events & Opportunities

  1.  ICEO Community Dialogues (Dec. 17th)
  2.  Take the survey - COVID-19 and Race
  3.  Grad IAP Workshop on Engineering Leadership (January 2021)
  4.  GCWS Spring 2021 Courses (apply by Jan. 3rd)
  5.  Vida Ventures Fellowship Program (apply now!)
  6.  "Amplify Your Technical Education to Build a Better World!" (sign up now!)
  7.  Job opportunities at J-PAL (apply now!)
  8.  BCG ADC Recruiting (apply now!)
  9.  Become a gwaMIT Department Rep (now!)

  1.  ICEO Community Dialogues
ICEO Community Dialogues: Power & Privilege 2.0, Systems at Play
With PKG Center's Danny Becker
Thursday, December 17
12:00 pm - 1:30 pm EST
Zoom link available upon registration
Everything seems to be about race, sexual orientation, ethnicity, and other identities these days - but why?
What is a system of oppression, and how do our everyday actions perpetuate it?
What does a picnic have to do with it all?
Join Danny from the PKG Center<https://pkgcenter.mit.edu/profiles/danny-becker/> as we go one step further in our analysis of power and privilege as it relates to identity. This will be a conversation-based workshop, so bring your courage, and your lunch!
We are committed to making this dialogue accessible to all MIT community members. For accessibility requests, email rornitz at mit.edu<mailto:rornitz at mit.edu>.

Click here to register!<https://www.eventbrite.com/e/iceo-community-dialogues-power-privilege-20-systems-at-play-tickets-131882125989>

  1.  Take the survey - COVID-19 and Race
How is race associated with perceptions of future COVID-19 vaccines?
MLK Scholar Dr. Charles Senteio has recently launched a project investigating perceptions of a future COVID-19 vaccine, with a focus on POC.
He and his team are actively seeking respondents to complete the ~10 minute online survey<https://www.covidandrace.com/> of all races and ages. The site contains an overview of the project, his team, and a link to the survey which is available in English and Spanish.
Please consider supporting this research!
https://www.covidandrace.com

  1.  Grad IAP Workshop on Engineering Leadership (January 2021)

Developing Skills in Technical Leadership for a Better World

Date: January 15 (Friday), 2021, 1-4:00pm EDT

Instructor: David Nino, Senior Lecturer and Senior Program Manager, Graduate Program in Engineering Leadership

Enrollment: Limited to 60 MIT graduate students and sign-up by January 8 is required

Prerequisites: None required, but we will assign pre-work in advance of the workshop

Workshop Description:

Do you envision "making a difference" in the future as an engineer or technical expert? If so, you will need more than purely technical skills to build the teams and the support needed to implement your ideas. Employers in both academia and industry consistently rank leadership as among their most sought-after skills, and this is even more true today due to the major challenges and changes we are all facing. As we will discuss, anyone who is motivated to "step up" to these challenges can build leadership skills, but the it takes focus, feedback, and years of practice to become highly effective.

Join us and you will learn how leaders emerge in technology organizations and how you can build valuable skills through our program's Graduate Certificate in Technical Leadership. In this hands-on workshop, David Niño will be joined by John Strackhouse, Senior Partner in the Board and CEO Practice with Caldwell Partners, and members of the Dean of Engineering's Graduate Student Advisory Group. Participants will gain skills and perspectives on leadership development and why these capabilities are especially valuable for MIT graduate students.

REGISTER: Email Lisa Stagnone (lstag at mit.edu<mailto:lstag at mit.edu>)

  1.  GCWS Spring 2021 Courses
Consortium for Graduate Studies in Gender, Culture, Women, and Sexuality's Spring 2021 courses are open to graduate students from any discipline. Applications are due by January 3, 2021 and can be found on our website<https://www.gcws.mit.edu/applications>.  I'm happy to answer any questions.
Women in Science and Academia: Challenges and Policy Solutions<https://www.gcws.mit.edu/new-events/womeninscienceandacademia>
SP21 - Tuesdays, 5:00-8:00PM
Dr. Kathrin Zippel & Dr. Gerhard Sonnert
Using a variety of disciplinary lenses (history, psychology, policy studies, and sociology), this course explores the factors that impede women from successful participation in academia. We focus on the academic workplace and explore organizational factors that create gender inequities in academic careers as well as factors deeply rooted in culture and gender socialization. Furthermore, we discuss programs that promote the advancement of women in academia. A special focus is on science where the underrepresentation of women is most pronounced, and we examine how the situation is different and how it is similar for women in science and women in other academic fields. This seminar is of particular interest for anyone who aims to pursue an academic career and wants to learn about theories of the underrepresentation of women in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM) and in academic leadership positions more broadly.
Death and Feminism<https://www.gcws.mit.edu/new-events/deathandfeminism>
SP21 - Wednesdays, 11:00AM-2:00PM
Dr. Jyoti Puri & Dr. Harleen Singh
Death in feminist thought and writing is both a metaphor and a means to unearthing material conditions that place gendered, sexualized and racialized bodies and non-human entities at risk.  Feminists have written extensively on death, highlighting matters such as sexual and physical violence, reproductive politics, colonial and postcolonial genocides, slavery and its wakes, war, the environment, mourning, witnessing, memorializing, funeralizing and deathways, and more.
Drawing on feminist thought from academic and activist literatures, fiction, and performance, this course assembles an archive of readings on death through a geopolitical lens. It engages matters of governance, nationalisms, empire, settler colonialism, slavery, and migration across a variety of sites-Central and Southern Africa, South Asia, the Caribbean, Europe, Latin America, Middle-East, and North America, while turning to feminist scholarship in Critical Race Studies, Indigenous Studies, Postcolonialism, Queer and Trans Studies, Disability Studies, Environmental Studies, among others.
Feminist Inquiry<https://www.gcws.mit.edu/new-events/feministinquiry2020>
SP21 - Wednesdays 3:00-6:00PM
Dr. Roberta Micallef & Dr. Anne Blaschke
Feminist Inquiry is an interdisciplinary exploration of feminist ways of learning, thinking, collaborating, listening, and speaking in the interest of producing innovative scholarship and meaningful public engagement. Our seminar will study feminist approaches, theories, and epistemologies that form the intellectual framework necessary to conduct feminist research both within and across the disciplines. Students will produce a range of written work based on their course reading and research-for example, primary and secondary source analyses, teaching documents, and an academic article-quality research essay. We will learn to understand and teach our respective research foci through a feminist lens, and to extend this feminist approach into our public engagement outside academia.
Given the range and diversity of feminist inquiry, the course will not attempt to examine all areas of the field; instead, we will study a curated selection of works that range from the classic to the innovative. Throughout the course, we will consider the complexity and multiplicity of modern feminisms while learning to understand the core power dynamics of feminism across place and time.

  1.  Vida Ventures Fellowship Program

[cid:image002.png at 01D6D20C.66A3A710]

Vida Ventures is a Boston-based life sciences venture capital and company formation firm started in 2017

with approximately $1 billion under management and currently investing out of Vida II, a $600M fund that

closed in July 2019. We are offering fellowship opportunities to late-stage Ph.D. and M.D. students, post

docs, and residents who want to gain exposure to life sciences venture capital and start-ups.

Fellows in this program will have an opportunity to participate in a myriad of roles across science, medicine,

business, strategy, operations, and investing. We are flexible on the fellowship duration and timing. The

typical initial fellowship is a minimum of 12 weeks in our downtown Boston location with the potential for

longer term opportunities.

Interested applicants should submit a CV/resume and cover letter to fellowship at vidaventures.com.

Responsibilities

* Member of core team conducting due diligence and company build activities

* Evaluate scientific evidence, clinical paradigms, IP, and commercial landscapes

* Contribute to internal investment committee review process to arrive at financing decisions

* Screen business plans and investment proposals

* Work on operational and strategic issues for current and potential portfolio companies

* Scientific and clinical data analysis

* Generate new investment themes through primary research and source potential new investment

opportunities

* Ability to commit ~15-20 hours a week, including at least one day spent in the office

Qualifications

* Ph.D. and/or M.D. degree in life sciences required/in progress. Strong translational focus is favorable

* Additional business experience a plus (e.g. BD, operations, finance, consulting)

* Quick learner that can get up speed in technical areas outside core expertise

* Strong passion for medical innovation and entrepreneurial drive

* Strong presentation and communication skills (Excel and PowerPoint proficiency)

* Self-starter; ability to run with things without much oversight

* Team player with low ego

Our Vision

To advance biomedical innovations into therapies that make a meaningful difference for patients

Our Core Values -

PATIENTS - Keep front and center in all that we do

INTEGRITY - Hold ourselves and our partners to the highest standards

ENTREPRENEURSHIP - Take initiative to turn ideas into reality

BOLDNESS - Pioneer fearlessly to improve medicine

HUMILITY - Recognize that the best can come from anywhere

COLLABORATION - Partner to create something grander than the parts

FLEXIBILITY - Embrace each endeavor with an open mind

  1.  "Amplify Your Technical Education to Build a Better World!"
Leadership education develops skills applicable across career paths, from leading research labs to leading project teams in engineering. Enroll in one or both of our Graduate Engineering Leadership Courses for Spring 2021, which qualify towards our Certificate in Technical Leadership.<https://gelp.mit.edu/grad-students/graduate-certificate-technical-leadership-interim-requirements> This certificate is designed to provide important skills that MIT graduate students can draw from to "make a positive difference" in their chosen careers. Grounded in research but experimental and engaging in delivery, these highly valued classes will provide enduring benefits for our graduate students - and future coworkers.*PhD candidates can also explore the option of using these class to satisfy the requirements for your doctoral minor.
Graduate Engineering Leadership Courses for Spring 2021 (**Open to all grad students!):
6.928J Leading Creative Teams<http://gelp.mit.edu/grad-creative-teams>
It takes a team to deliver impactful technical achievements and this class equips students with foundational skills for leading problem-solving teams and one's own professional development.
M/W, 2:30-4pm EDT | Virtual | Units: G3-0-6
Instructor: David Nino (dnino at mit.edu<mailto:dnino at mit.edu>)
6.S979 Multi-Stakeholder Negotiation for Technical Experts<https://gelp.mit.edu/6s979-multi-stakeholder-negotiation-technical-experts>
Expand your natural tendencies and learn experientially both the theory and practice of interpersonal negotiation, influence and overcoming difficult relationship situations.
T, 2-4pm EDT | Virtual | Units: G2-0-4 |
Instructors: Samuel ("Mooly") Dinnar (sdinnar at mit.edu<mailto:sdinnar at mit.edu>)
***For more information, visit our website. <https://gelp.mit.edu/grad>
*If you are interested in earning our certificate, please email Lisa Stagnone (lstag at mit.edu<mailto:lstag at mit.edu>) and David Niño (dnino at mit.edu<mailto:dnino at mit.edu>)

  1.  Job opportunities at J-PAL
J-PAL (the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab<https://www.povertyactionlab.org/global>) is committed to generating rigorous economic research to answer policy-relevant questions, translating evidence into action, and, ultimately, reducing poverty. Currently, we are recruiting for a Policy Associate and Senior Policy Associate (information in the links below).

Policy Associate <https://www.povertyactionlab.org/careers/policy-associate-j-pal-global-103480>

Senior Policy Associate<https://www.povertyactionlab.org/careers/senior-policy-associate-j-pal-global-103481>

  1.  BCG ADC Recruiting
BCG is currently accepting applications for Advanced Degree Candidates (PhDs, JDs, MDs, and Postdocs) interested in starting a full-time position with BCG between February 2021 and May 2021.
If you are interested in a full-time role with BCG and can start within the date range above, we encourage you to submit your application here<https://www.bcg.com/en-us/careers/students/adc-application-process>. We are reviewing applications on a rolling basis and encourage you to submit yours as soon as possible.
To assist you in the application process, we'd like to provide you with the following resources:

  *   BCG ADC Recruiting FAQ<http://media-publications.bcg.com/BCG-ADC-Recruiting-Guide-and-FAQs.pdf>
  *   Resume writing workshop<https://bcg.widencollective.com/portals/tgu7a2dt/BCGResumeWritingWorkshop>: Need help converting your CV to a business-resume? Listen to an ADC consultant share their tips and tricks for writing your resume and cover letter.
     *   Password: bcgadc
     *   Expires: Jan 1, 2021
To learn more about BCG and opportunities for Advanced Degree Candidates, please visit our website<https://www.bcg.com/en-us/careers/students/advanced-degrees>. If you have any questions, please email adcrecruiting at bcg.com<mailto:adcrecruiting at bcg.com>

  1.  Become a gwaMIT department rep!

gwaMIT is accepting applications for the position of department representatives! As a gwaMIT department rep, you'll build connections across MIT and help in the personal & professional development of graduate womxn. It is also a powerful means to bring about department-level change and strive towards a more equitable and inclusive MIT. The position lasts for one year, with an option for renewal. Read more about the role and responsibilities here<https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BepM4QWy2tUO7ju1dkIOt69lb9wJb_DIs9Us_ljVqUA/edit>. Fill out the short application form here<https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfxO1KrUGe7rS_tvZsAW8jOOMFNBnv5BdAi4ssn1svoKUqV9w/viewform>. Womxn who are members of underrepresented and minoritized groups are encouraged to apply. The departments with openings are: Sloan, ChemE, Arch, PolSci, HASTS, Humanities, Writing, NSE, CCWCE, CMS, CSB, MAS, CRE, CCE, CTL, EECS. If the position is currently filled, but you are still interested in being involved with gwaMIT, email us to let us know! We have multiple avenues for engagement in gwaMIT's activities and initiatives.

"What's the greatest lesson a woman should learn? That since day one, she's already had everything she needs within herself. It's the world that convinced her she did not"

-Rupi Kaur, Milk and Honey

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