By Rachel Bailey
Professional Women in Health holds Second Annual Leadership Summit
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- Lisa Hohman, CEO of Concordance Healthcare Solutions received the second annual Anne Eiting Klamar Leadership Award of Distinction.
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- Cris Pellegrino, Director of Distributor Relations, Metrex Research LLC received this year’s Jana Quin Inspirational Award. He is also one of the first male PWH® Associate members.
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- PWH® Board Members helped make this year’s event another inspiring and educational success.
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- Leadership panelists seemed to agree that engaged communication with employees and customers helps organizations discover and implement innovative solutions.
“Growth” characterized the second annual PWH® Leadership Summit, held June 5-7 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The industry’s only conference dedicated to diverse and inclusive leadership development drew 200 attendees – including several more professionals of diverse cultures than those in attendance last year – and 23 sponsors.
PWH (http://www.mypwh.org) is a member organization providing a national voice and progressive leadership for women in healthcare products manufacturing and delivery industries.
The event kicked off with its signature variety of PWH Leadership Insights. Respected influencers from within and beyond the healthcare industry shared their vision on topics from cultivating positive and socially responsible corporate cultures to planning for a “future state” of individual membership on corporate boards. Learning sessions included the following:
- David and Jonah Stillman, first father-son Gen X/Gen Z speaking team, enlightened attendees on how to make way for the newest generation to hit the workforce – Gen Z.
- A panel of industry leaders moderated by Repertoire Publisher Scott Adams discussed the challenges of leading through emerging technologies and disruptive innovation.
- During a featured conversation between Cardinal Health CEO Mike Kauffman and Founder of the Institute for Gender Partnership™ Rayona Sharpnack, Kauffman challenged every attendee to invite at least one man to next year’s event.
- Finally, former Enron executive Cindy Kay Olson shared lessons learned (i.e. what to avoid) from the quick demise of one of the most complex and successful businesses in recent history.
“What I’ve gotten out of this conference has been very, very beneficial for me personally and in my professional career,” said Reggie Newhouse, director of national accounts for PDI Healthcare. “The Gen Z [session] was very interesting, but just the thoughts around diversity and what that means. Being an African American male in this industry, I’ve dealt with that my whole career. So, to look at it from a different perspective is going to be really impactful.”
Don Lovre, director of distribution for B. Braun Medical, Inc., explained that he initially signed up to attend to support women from his organization and to network with customers. “What I’ve gotten out of this conference has far exceeded my expectations. I would highly recommend this to other men in my organization, and I’ll take it back to my boss and discuss it, and have a conversation about me possibly becoming an associate member of PWH.”
PWH Chair Rachelle Ferrara thanked PWH Summit sponsors and PWH Corporate Partners. “We wouldn’t be here without you.”
To all current and future PWH members she said, “We want you to know that you are not alone. You have a network like PWH to align with you and to mentor you. We hope that PWH can be your compass as you grow and navigate through your career. We look forward to seeing you next year, right back here in Minneapolis, June 3-5, 2020.”
Rachel Bailey is PWH® Connect editor