i3 conference
Impact on Innovation through Intrapreneurship
(draft 12/22/03)
Saturday, March 27, 2004
8:00 am – 3:30 pm
MIT, Cambridge, MA
Purpose of conference:
- To celebrate intrapreneurial women in science and technology
- To explore the issues women scientists and engineers face as intrapreneurs
- To build the skills needed to be a successful intrapreneur
Target audience:
- Women scientists and engineers
- All stages of career development
- 250 – 300 attendees expected
Intrapreneurship is defined as entrepreneurship within an
existing organization. The successful intrapreneur recognizes an
opportunity, takes initiative, overcomes obstacles and achieves
results for the benefit of the organization.
Speakers:
- Leaders who foster intrapreneurship within their company
- Successful intrapreneurs
-Women scientists and engineers
-Mix of life science and high tech companies
-All levels of professional development (engineer/scientist, group leaders, directors, VPs, etc)
Proposed Program Content and Format:
I. Opening keynote address – Senior executive from prominent technology company
II. Keynote panel - Business school professors with expertise in intrapreneurship
*III. Morning Topics (6 concurrent sessions)
“Environment Creation”- Creating an intrapreneurinal environment to leverage the talent and productivity of women
“Assessing and Setting Up an Intrapreneurial Environment”
“Stay within or Spin” – Should the project be developed within the company or developed outside of the company
“Intrapreneurship in Government and Non-Profit Organizations”
“People Power: Improving Innovation”
“Risk Takers and Innovation - I” – Corporate Panel or Team discussion
IV. Luncheon Keynote address - Senior executive from prominent technology company
*V. Afternoon Topics (6 concurrent sessions)
“Intrepreneuring in Action”- Founders who have launched 400 new products and businesses
“Does the Shoe Fit”? – What amount of individual entrepreneurships fits into a company?
“Intrapreneurial Enablers” - Corporate environments designed to proactively promote Intrapreneurship
“Sustainable Impact” – Creating a pipeline of Intrapreneurs throughout the company
“Open”
“Risk Takers and Innovation-II”- Corporate panel or team discussion
VI. Evening Workshops (optional sessions at end of conference).
Topics include: Negotiation, Marketing, Finance, Team Dynamics, Nuts & Bolts of Intrapreneurship
Mini-career fair concurrent with workshop
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* The session topics focus on two topics: the organization and the individual. Organization: what it is specifically doing to
promote intrapreneurship. Including Formal Strategies and policies to support Intrapreneurs; the Mentoring and fostering of
intrapreneurs; when is intrapreneurship appropriate, etc. Individual: Assessing opportunities and the corporate environment,
Moving beyond your job description, Finding a sponsor and building a team within the organization, Building a new venture –
division, product line, project or process.
Background Information
WEST is a membership organization for women trained in science and engineering. WEST is dedicated to
supporting these women in their quest to discover, explore, and pursue their professional passions and
dreams. WEST is the first readily accessible organization that focuses on developing the entrepreneurial
talents of women with substantial training in science and technology.
Mission
To empower women scientists and engineers to realize their innovative potential, thereby enabling them to
make a sustainable impact on economic growth and social advancement.
Target Audience
WEST’s core membership consists of women who have advanced training in science, mathematics,
engineering, medicine, or related fields and have interests in exploring entrepreneurship, intrapreneurship,
or other non-traditional career paths. WEST’s members are evenly divided between the life sciences and
high technology.
History
WEST was founded in the fall of 2000 by three women scientists: Dr. Jiahong Juda (physics), Dr. Paula
Wamsley (physics), and Dr. Barbara Whitney (astronomy). Dr. Juda is the current President and CEO.
WEST has grown and developed rapidly over the past 3 years:
- 500+ members
- 3000+ people subscribe to WEST monthly newsletters and weekly announcements
- Collaborations with over 20+ organizations
- Sponsored more than 60 forums and events
- Attracted about 2000 participants to events
2003 Showcase
Our 2003 showcase was entitled “Celebrating the Entrepreneurial Spirit of Women in the Life Sciences”,
and was co-hosted by the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council. The 2003 Showcase was highly
successful and oversubscribed with over 200 attendees; 50% of the attendees had Ph.D. degrees, and
75% had masters degrees in Science and Engineering.
The 2003 conference sponsors included PerkinElmer, MIT Entrepreneurship Center,
Science Magazine, Mass HighTech, Foley Hoag and Feinstein Kean Healthcare.
More information about WEST
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Visit our website for more information (www.westorg.org).
2003 showcase recap (http://westorg.org/prog/conf03/showcase.html)
Science Magazine article highlighting WEST
(http://recruit.sciencemag.org/feature/advice/foc_02_07_03.shl).