Ascend New England 2022 Inspiring Across Generations Conference
Speaker Bios:
Pretty Agrawal
Senior Manager
Deloitte
Pretty Agrawal is a Senior Manager with Deloitte’s Technology Strategy and Analytics practice operating at the intersection of Life Science and Healthcare sectors helping our clients unlock business agility and sustainable value through technology. She has over 19+ years of experience in full Lifecyle of complex technology transformations helping commercial pharma and healthcare clients accelerate their transformation journey. Pretty is also a certified Domestic Violence Response Team Advocate for her local precinct, a fitness and well-being enthusiast, and leads our industry Women in Technology DE&I initiative to empower and upskill our female leaders.
Ash Bhattacharya
Consultant
Deloitte
Ash Bhattacharya graduated from Yale University through a 5-year MPH program with a background in Epidemiology and Psychology. She previously worked in the non-profit global health space doing pandemic preparedness and financing strategy for a multi-national organization and conducting a DEI policy analysis for a federal health organization . At Deloitte, Ash works in the Provider and Plan spaces, doing Op model, health equity, and value-based care work. Her hobbies include Squash and finding new bookstores.
Monyrath Chan
Associate DIrector
Lantheus
Mony Chan is an Associate Director of Marketing at Lantheus where he leads the marketing initiatives for an Ultrasound Enhancing Agent for Echocardiogram in both Canada and the US. Prior to joining Lantheus, Mony spent a majority of his career at Sanofi and held multiple roles within the organization. He has many years of experience within the pharmaceutical industry, with experiences in both research and commercial settings. In addition to his work, Mony is well involved and is a leader with an Employee Resource Group (ERG). At Sanofi, he took initiatives to relaunch and became a North America Co-Lead for an ERG that focuses on leader and talent development. At Lantheus, Mony was quick to get himself involved with the company’s Diversity ERG upon starting his new role. He has passion for talent and career development and is a champion for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
Mony obtained his Master of Business Administration from UMass Amherst, Master of Biotechnology and Biomedical Engineering from UMass Lowell, and a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry from Northeastern University.
Yehmin Chern
International Tax Senior Manager
Deloitte
Min graduated from Bentley University through 5 year MSA program, while doing a part time tax internship and transitioned to being a staff at a mid-sized firm. After spending 8 years there doing corporate, partnership and individual taxes on the federal and state levels, she had a short stint in industry and even spent time as a revenue manager at a shipping container leasing firm. She joined Deloitte in 2019 in International Tax and is still thriving there today. Her hobbies include badminton and food.
Makayla Gessford
Senior Process Engineer II
bluebird bio
Makayla is an experienced biotech industry professional who migrated to Boston in 2020 from Portland, Oregon. She holds an honors B.S. degree from Oregon State University in Bioengineering and worked at the biotech giant Genentech for 6 years prior to coming East. In her current role at the Boston local bluebird bio, she plays a critical role in bringing cutting edge cell and gene therapy to patients with severe genetic diseases. Her passion for DEI comes from personal experience dealing with bias, toxic and hostile work environments, and close-minded colleagues. She identifies as an Asian-American, Adoptee, and Female (pronouns she/her).
Bartholomew Jae
Director of Education and Development
National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)
Bartholomew Jae is the Director of Education and Development at the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). He leads NFPA’s professional development line of business that helps skilled workers to improve performance and safety.
Before NFPA, Bartholomew held leadership roles at Accenture Strategy, PwC, Acadient, Inc., and Scudder Kemper Investments. He has over 25 years of experience helping global Fortune 500 companies develop their leaders, talent, and organization as a Learning & Development Leader, a Human Capital Strategy and Management Consultant, and a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion champion. He volunteers his time and talent as a Board of Director member for the Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center and as a Past President and Board of Advisor member of the New England Chapter of Ascend. Bartholomew has his Master of Business Administration and Bachelor of Science degrees from Bentley University.
Melinda Ng
Director, People and Culture
Biotech Industry
Melinda Ng has operated in the role of Director, People and Culture within the Biotech industry. Most recently, she led a People Partner and People Experience team that focused on people engagement and enablement and how to define and build a culture within an organization.
Before joining the biotech industry, Melinda worked in the healthcare, retail, and entertainment industry. She has been in the HR space for over 10 years and sees herself as a "non-traditional" HR professional. She challenges organizational mindset and infrastructure from viewing people as “resources” and helping organizations understand that investing in their people can be mutually beneficial. In a prior organization, Melinda founded and co-lead a Pan-Asian employee resource group. She is a lifelong learner and champion for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Melinda was the past Vice President of Programming and Board of Advisor member of the New England Chapter of Ascend.
Most recently, Melinda is a proud parent to a 19-month-old toddler that has truly changed how she reprioritizes what is important in her life. She has learned to create boundaries, the value of time, and rethink what type of future she wants to leave behind both in and out of the workplace.
Cha Cha Wang
Head of Insights
PUMA Group
Cha Cha can’t really call herself a native Tucsonan anymore, having studied, worked and lived across New England for the past 20 years. After receiving her undergrad degree at Bowdoin and MBA at Babson, she made a career transition from finance to corporate strategy, where she currently serves as Head of Insights for PUMA Group SE. Cha Cha has lived all over the Boston area, calling Cambridge, Allston/Brighton, Boston and now Newton home.
Qing Xue
Senior Associate
PwC
Qing is an Senior Assurance Associate/ PwC Asset and Wealth Management.
In her spare time, she enjoys the company of her two cats and enjoy working out.
Isabel Zhu
Transfer Pricing Senior Manager
Deloitte
Isabel joined Deloitte in 2014 and has over eight years of transfer pricing experience in advising clients from life sciences, technology and industrial products sectors. Isabel has managed and participated in projects related to global restructuring, global documentation, cost sharing, intangible valuation, and planning studies. Isabel also serves multiple large inbound Chinese clients with their transfer pricing needs. Isabel has a quantitative background related to economics, graduating from Duke University with a Master’s degree in Management studies.